Opportunity to Learn with Great Teachers.
October 9, 2011 The Education Issue
A wonderful compilation of education stories in the Globe this week -- some scholarly research, some political solutions some personal like this one from Phil Primack' 7th grad teacher. (You have to tave taught in middle school to appreciate this miracle man who managed to engagte a bunch of semi-grown 7th graders.)
At one point or another, beauty queens, political candidates, and college applicants get the question: Who has had a major influence on your life? All sorts of people get their due – Jesus, Princess Di, mothers ?–? but my answer would be Dante Ippolito. Mr. Ippolito was my seventh- and eighth-grade social studies teacher (despite his insistence, I have a hard time calling him “Dante”). We have not shared a classroom for 50 years, since I was at Haverhill’s Whittier School, and it’s taken nearly that long for me to fully understand why he made such an imprint on me.
Another favorite of mine was the story of a coach who supported his players in their ambition to be good students too. We'll be hearing about his students in 20 years singing his praises.
Greater Expectations
Coach Barry Robinson once believed GPA requirements for athletes at city high schools should stay low –anything to keep kids off the streets. But today, his thinking has turned around, as his players prove they can make the grade.
As part of its turnaround strategies – which began before the new legislation was even passed – English High’s new standards for athletes required them to maintain a 2.0 grade point average starting in fall 2009 in order to play in the winter season. That standard jumped to a 2.2 last winter, and it’s still rising.
This fall and beyond, students at English will need a 2.5 to qualify for sports. The controversial policy is far more rigorous than the district-wide 1.67 eligibility requirement (a C minus average). And although officials at the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) don’t keep records on academic standards, they believe English’s new benchmark is the toughest among its membership of 377 public and private schools.
