The Rookery

After school today, two Prairie Creek alumni (Devyn Gardner and Maggie Miland) came back to work with some fifth graders on their honors projects.  As they talked with the students, guiding them through a process they'd gone through seven years ago, I was struck by the gift they were giving.  Not only were they providing HP guidance and showing interest in our kids, but they were also planting the idea of volunteerism.  Here they were, both with a "7th period release" and, instead of doing whatever it is that many highschoolers do with an extra hour (homework, I expect) they came out to Prairie Creek.

This year there's been quite a trend of high school volunteers from both NHS and ARTech and I think our current fourth and fifth graders are beginning to think that that is what one does when one is a high schooler, one volunteers to help younger kids.  I hope this marks the beginning of a new Prairie Creek tradition — and that I'll see your children coming back through our doors in seven years time to lend a helping hand.

After the fourth and fifth graders left, I got a chance to talk to Devyn and Maggie a little more.  Maggie said something that really made me think. (And while this is a paraphrase, it was so memorable that I think it's close enough to her words to put it in quotations.)  "It's so refreshing to be here and talk to the kids about their projects — they're so excited about what they know and what they're learning!"  She went on, "It makes me remember that about my project.  Now it's like you're just doing it for your teacher."  I asked her what she meant and she explained that much of the work and writing that she does now feels like it's not something she cares as deeply about; it's done primarily for the teacher's benefit and not because she is pursuing her own passion or interests.

What Maggie said was ampliphied for me after viewing "A Race to Nowhere" at St. Olaf tonight.  The documentary asks viewers to question the assumptions we as a society make about achievement and success.  It claims, in part, that students lose the love of learning because of the focus on testing and homework, especially in the upper elementary, middle and highschool years.

Maggie did share that some of what she was feeling was the classic senior slump (and I also know that she's done some really interesting things in high school.)  But I was touched that she remembered her own honors project so fondly and saw the interest and enthusiasm of our students as something to be celebrated.