Tradition, courage, respect 鈥� and one more
There鈥檚 a lot of hand-wringing聽over US public education at the moment. So why was I thinking it might be fun to be back in high school?
There鈥檚 a lot of hand-wringing聽over US public education at the moment. So why was I thinking it might be fun to be back in high school?
There鈥檚 a lot of hand-wringing over US public education at the moment. So why was I thinking it might be fun to be back in high school?
Travel with me for a moment to San Antonio.
My sister and I visited there recently to attend the dedication of a high school. And we haven鈥檛 stopped talking about how we found ourselves not only touched but uplifted by the experience.聽
Newly minted John M. Harlan High School, which serves a majority-minority, economically diverse student body, is a Texas-sized, 500,000-square-foot structure. Its facilities are state-of-the-art: the bright auto shop, where academic dean Cynthia Tapia鈥檚 car is up on a lift; the orchestra pit that rises and sinks; the science labs that would make MacGyver glow.聽
What鈥檚 most important, even so, is the community that courses through its locker-lined halls. And on a cool October day, the face of Harlan High is that of a changing America 鈥� one that sets me thinking about the promise of American public education.
The task for school officials across the United States is often monumental: to educate all comers, to be supportive while being exacting, to bring kids whose first language is not English up to speed, to teach facts as well as civic spirit.聽
How do you fashion a recipe for that?
On dedication day, trustee Gerald Lopez speaks of three ingredients: tradition, respect, and courage. And I get a glimpse of how all three coexist comfortably alongside a forward-looking ambition.聽
Start with tradition: As the evening pep rally starts, we walk through an arch of sabers formed by young Air Force JROTC men and women. We鈥檙e greeted by poised cheerleaders ready to pin on our corsages. The marching band provides a vigorous backdrop. And I find myself surprisingly moved.
Courage points to the school鈥檚 name, which honors former US Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan, appointed in 1877. (He was my sister鈥檚 and my great-great-grandfather, and the school embraces us 鈥� two faraway Northeasterners 鈥� as part of their community.)聽
Why Harlan? His dissent in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson took a lonely but vocal stand against segregation. His assertion that 鈥淥ur constitution is color-blind鈥� stood out to Katerina Clukey, a then-eighth-grader who penned the winning essay in the school鈥檚 naming competition. She wrote: 鈥淗arlan never failed to stand up for what he ... knew was right.... I can personally say I鈥檝e seen many cases where my fellow students, as well as myself, have failed to stand up for someone in need.鈥澛�
And respect: In Katerina鈥檚 words: 鈥淵ou would be giving the incoming students a role model to look up to and someone who can encourage them to not just be a bystander.鈥�
I might add one more ingredient. Maybe it鈥檚 encapsulated in Wordsworth鈥檚 nod to London, in which he lauded 鈥渁ll that mighty heart.鈥� Principal Robert Harris told me the school aims to make it really hard for anyone to fail. That doesn鈥檛 mean they鈥檒l make it easy to slide through. But Harlan High鈥檚 motto is 鈥淪oaring together, achieving new heights.鈥澛�
On this day, I can鈥檛 think of a better way to head into the future.聽