July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
More feedback on recent letter (02/25/06)
Letter to the Editor
To the editor:
For the last 30 years I worked for the Jay School Corporation. Many times I read letters from parents with all the answers. As with Penny Collins’ letter to the editor, they didn’t really bother to do the parental tasks necessary to help their own children. They need others to blame for their or their children’s failures. I didn’t write back to the newspaper because I worked for the corporation.
Well, now I am retired and ... you, Penny Collins, touched a sore spot with me. I worked in the guidance office for 12 years, and when I left, I left many hard working counselors on the job. I left the corporation with the highest respect for the counseling staff. The respect comes of knowing what they actually do for students, day after day, year after year, even when parents fail to do their part.
Ms. Collins, you said, “Communication is everything.” Communication is very important for any successful endeavor. Maybe that is why the parent/teacher conferences were set up for parents, teachers, and students, four times a year, at the middle of each grading period. What did you say, Ms. Collins? Oh yes, you said, “...I am a shy parent with a phobia of parent/teacher conferences and won’t go to one...” You won’t go to one even it if could help your student? Shyness is hardly a sufficient excuse for abandoning your child’s education. Do you really think that the teachers and counselors like to give up four evenings, after working 8 to 10 hours already, to go talk with parents? Not their first choice, probably, but one of the things they think is a helpful tool for better communication.
Many parents work second shift. However, all people have days they can be off. Maybe one of the things your child needed would have even been important enough to use up one of your vacation days to attend one of the four conferences. The conferences are scheduled a year in advance, so you have plenty of time to schedule this into your yearly plans.
E-mailing information would be great if everything was set up by the corporation. All teachers would have to be given proper computers and time out of their teaching day to e-mail things requested by parents or students. However, I don’t think class assignments and normal everyday things a student is responsible for should be duplicated and e-mailed to parents. Come on...they are in high school, not in kindergarten.
Another thing, Ms. Collins, students who have parents do everything for them will not grow up and be fine. They need to take on the responsibility of being high school students such as completing additional projects when they know it is part of their grade. You should not have to ask the teacher the assignments; high school students should be capable of writing down assignments and fulfilling them. Taking responsibility makes a good student and, eventually, a good employee.
Now, since you didn’t come to parent/teacher conferences, you probably didn’t visit the guidance office very often either. Parents and students have an open invitation to come in and talk to anyone in the office during any school day or even evenings by appointment. As far as not knowing what counselors do, Ms. Collins, I want to educate you just a little. The following is a just a short list I remember them doing:
1. Registration, making many schedule changes to help the students get the courses they need, hours and hours of change after change.
2. Talking with many college representatives who bring information to our students.
3. Helping students visit and choose a college that is right for them.
4. Preparing for ISTEP testing.
5. Administering and returning the ISTEP testing.
6. Counseling parents and students about ISTEP testing results.
7. Scheduling 21st Century information for students who qualify.
8. Speaking in classrooms on the importance of taking the SAT and ACT tests for college entrance.
9. Speaking in classrooms about choosing the right curriculum for each student.
10. Talking with students after a death of another student.
11. Talking with students about personal problems — or those just needing adult contact.
12. Making visitations to East Jay and West Jay to help orient students for the high school future.
13. Assisting students who have had a tragedy, such as a death in the family or a house fire.
14. Dealing with teachers, (their own friends and co-workers) concerning teacher/student conflicts.
15. Plus hundreds of other daily emergencies from worried parents, to bomb threats.
Well, Ms. Collins, I don’t know about you, but I sure feel better knowing that I helped you learn some of what the JCHS counselors do. Maybe next time when you say, “I’m not blaming anyone,” you won’t have to question what the JCHS guidance department is going for our students that day.
Very proud to have worked with JCHS counselors
Georganna Ferguson
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
For the last 30 years I worked for the Jay School Corporation. Many times I read letters from parents with all the answers. As with Penny Collins’ letter to the editor, they didn’t really bother to do the parental tasks necessary to help their own children. They need others to blame for their or their children’s failures. I didn’t write back to the newspaper because I worked for the corporation.
Well, now I am retired and ... you, Penny Collins, touched a sore spot with me. I worked in the guidance office for 12 years, and when I left, I left many hard working counselors on the job. I left the corporation with the highest respect for the counseling staff. The respect comes of knowing what they actually do for students, day after day, year after year, even when parents fail to do their part.
Ms. Collins, you said, “Communication is everything.” Communication is very important for any successful endeavor. Maybe that is why the parent/teacher conferences were set up for parents, teachers, and students, four times a year, at the middle of each grading period. What did you say, Ms. Collins? Oh yes, you said, “...I am a shy parent with a phobia of parent/teacher conferences and won’t go to one...” You won’t go to one even it if could help your student? Shyness is hardly a sufficient excuse for abandoning your child’s education. Do you really think that the teachers and counselors like to give up four evenings, after working 8 to 10 hours already, to go talk with parents? Not their first choice, probably, but one of the things they think is a helpful tool for better communication.
Many parents work second shift. However, all people have days they can be off. Maybe one of the things your child needed would have even been important enough to use up one of your vacation days to attend one of the four conferences. The conferences are scheduled a year in advance, so you have plenty of time to schedule this into your yearly plans.
E-mailing information would be great if everything was set up by the corporation. All teachers would have to be given proper computers and time out of their teaching day to e-mail things requested by parents or students. However, I don’t think class assignments and normal everyday things a student is responsible for should be duplicated and e-mailed to parents. Come on...they are in high school, not in kindergarten.
Another thing, Ms. Collins, students who have parents do everything for them will not grow up and be fine. They need to take on the responsibility of being high school students such as completing additional projects when they know it is part of their grade. You should not have to ask the teacher the assignments; high school students should be capable of writing down assignments and fulfilling them. Taking responsibility makes a good student and, eventually, a good employee.
Now, since you didn’t come to parent/teacher conferences, you probably didn’t visit the guidance office very often either. Parents and students have an open invitation to come in and talk to anyone in the office during any school day or even evenings by appointment. As far as not knowing what counselors do, Ms. Collins, I want to educate you just a little. The following is a just a short list I remember them doing:
1. Registration, making many schedule changes to help the students get the courses they need, hours and hours of change after change.
2. Talking with many college representatives who bring information to our students.
3. Helping students visit and choose a college that is right for them.
4. Preparing for ISTEP testing.
5. Administering and returning the ISTEP testing.
6. Counseling parents and students about ISTEP testing results.
7. Scheduling 21st Century information for students who qualify.
8. Speaking in classrooms on the importance of taking the SAT and ACT tests for college entrance.
9. Speaking in classrooms about choosing the right curriculum for each student.
10. Talking with students after a death of another student.
11. Talking with students about personal problems — or those just needing adult contact.
12. Making visitations to East Jay and West Jay to help orient students for the high school future.
13. Assisting students who have had a tragedy, such as a death in the family or a house fire.
14. Dealing with teachers, (their own friends and co-workers) concerning teacher/student conflicts.
15. Plus hundreds of other daily emergencies from worried parents, to bomb threats.
Well, Ms. Collins, I don’t know about you, but I sure feel better knowing that I helped you learn some of what the JCHS counselors do. Maybe next time when you say, “I’m not blaming anyone,” you won’t have to question what the JCHS guidance department is going for our students that day.
Very proud to have worked with JCHS counselors
Georganna Ferguson
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
Top Stories
9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit
Chartwells marketing
September 17, 2024 7:36 a.m.
Events
250 X 250 AD