In order for a school to succeed in educating its children, cooperation is required from the students themselves, their teachers, administrators and parents. If one of these groups fails in its responsibility, success is impossible to attain.
It might behoove the School Board to spend its time taking a closer look at each of these groups to determine who is dropping the performance ball.
As for the children, call me naïve, but I believe that all children are inherently good. During my 20-year career in education, I can recall few children who did not have a desire to succeed and were able to do so with the cooperative effort of all involved - namely the children, their parents and myself.Children are walking miracles and generally rise to the occasion when they know what is expected of them and are given definitive boundaries. However, in order to succeed, students must be held accountable both at school and at home.
Teachers, on the whole, are the best hoop jumpers you will ever hope to encounter.
New methods of teaching and a wide variety of new programs are introduced routinely. Change is difficult at best, and some find it more challenging than others to adapt. The vast majority of educators I've worked with were virtual chameleons.
Strong administrators desperately are needed to assure the success of children in school. A successful school cannot exist without discipline. Children can't function without boundaries.
And that brings us to the parents. I wish I had a dollar for every time I went through a booksack when I didn't feel like it - I'd be writing this column from my beach house in Destin, Fla. Every aspect of a child's education begins and ends with his or her parents.
It takes more than expecting children to succeed in homes where education is less than valued.
So, who is responsible for the disappointments experienced in our schools? There is no one group solely to blame. However, we must keep one vital fact in mind as we try to find solutions. Each child in this parish still has to go home.
Denise Trahan is a retired teacher, wife and mother of two living in Lafayette.