I had an opportunity this week to see the results of great teaching.
Wednesday night, Pulitzer-Prize winner and Delaware public school product Ron Suskind was the featured speaker at the state’s ACLU dinner. Ron’s speech was great, but the most memorable part of the night for me was his introduction by his high school teacher Bill McLaughlin. I can’t imagine much more of a dream come true for a school teacher than to see one of his students become one of the premiere writers in America, and Bill absolutely radiated pride as he entertained the crowd with anecdotes about Susskind’s high school days. (I had to introduce my friend Tom Allingham, who was winning an ACLU award, immediately after Suskind mesmerized the crowd for 30 minutes. I looked out at them, they looked back at me, and a silent bargain was struck: ‘we will forgive you for not being Ron Suskind as long as you keep this to less than five minutes.’)
On Wednesday and Thursday, as part of my continuing tour of duty in our public schools, I got to spend some time alongside teachers who are working to create the next generation of Ron Suskinds. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to work alongside some teachers at Campus Community Elementary School in Dover, one of the state’s most successful charter schools. What an extraordinary place—the school has established a partnership with Wesley College across the street, and Wesley’s teaching students are an active part of the elementary school faculty. The results are visible in the classroom. Students get an extraordinary amount of one-on-one help, the student teachers bring new ideas and energy to the classroom, and the enthusiasm among the long-term faculty is contagious. These teachers believe that each of their kids have limitless potential.
On Wednesday, I visited John Bassett Moore Intermediate School in Smyrna. The educators at John Bassett Moore are working hard for all their students, but they also pride themselves on the innovative and diligent efforts they are making for their special education students. They have combined an incredibly devoted cadre of special ed teachers, assistants, and paraprofessionals with some of the most innovative techniques for educating kids with special needs. They have dedicated resources to providing individualized attention to students who need it, and spent their stimulus funds on some exciting new assistive technologies for students with disabilities. The sum total of it all is a great environment for students with special needs. At the heart of it are the people who work face to face with the kids—kids who face a whole array of different challenges, but whose teachers believe with all their hearts that they too have a universe of possibilities in front of them. It was inspiring to see.
I look forward to seeing, in years to come, the product of the great work being done at places like Campus Community and John Bassett Moore, and I have renewed gratitude and appreciation for the people who have dedicated their careers to giving all of our kids the opportunity to fulfill their dreams.
