Damn these times. We just got word from McKinleyville Middle School’s Fine Arts teacher, Ken Weiderman, that the art program — and his position — will likely be cut because of what he calls “unprecedented funding cuts (thanks to the state’s financial mess).”
The Music program might also be cut, he said.
And so, said Weiderman, who’s the only certified art teacher in the district, an upcoming art show by his students may very well be the last. (The school’s band will perform at the show, as well.) There’ll be displays of ceramics, drawings and paintings. But the coolest work might be the “House Project,” in which pairs of students each built a “city block reflecting their own personalities and interests.”
Says Weiderman:
What can we look forward to when school no longer offers a creative outlet that many students crave? How are we preparing the leaders of tomorrow to design creative solutions to problems that haven’t even surfaced yet?
View the work and discuss those questions at the show: 6 to 8 pm on May 21 at the McKinleyville Shopping Center, in the shop space next to Plaza Design.
This article appears in Three for Fourth.
As I understand it, the school board hasn’t made a decision on what areas will be cut, yet. There are a lot of different possibilities on the table.
The next meeting is this Wednesday, May 12th (6:30 p.m. in the Azalea Conference Center at McK Middle School — drive to the back and it’s to your right beyond the fence).
Meanwhile, the school boards in this area plot ways to tangle up taxpayers with bonds for physical structures and huge repairs necessitated by years of school board incompetence so the children can be indoctrinated with standardized tests and not be exposed to anything that would actually cause them to think. (And those that dare to think or not be completely subservient will be pumped full of pharmaceutical toxins like Ritalin, Concerta, etc).
Actually, disillusioned is misinformed. Our schools have husbanded their resources well, and kept up their grounds – unlike many schools in the Bay Area.
The needed upgrades have nothing to do with “school board incompetence.” and more to do with meeting the new needs of new technologies.
I am no fan of the STAR tests – cows grow faster when you feed them than when you weigh them – nor of the ‘teaching to the test’ that results, but lay the blame where it belongs – on your legislators who run promising you to “hold schools accountable” when they know nothing and care nothing about what that means beyond the fact that it sounds good and gets them votes – your vote.
My kids have gone though the schools here – and they have gotten a phenomenal education. It is there for the asking. Too many choose to piss it all away. The gifted teachers are there, the innovative programs are there, the opportunities are there for the asking.
You have to protect it – and you have to protect the vital music and art programs – with your VOTE for STATE LEGISLATORS. They are the ones who have run this state into the ground, they are the ones who sap all monies with their mandates and extreme disregard for husbanding the state’s resources.