April surely is the cruelest month, especially in our latitude, where bitter winters retreat reluctantly, shrouding the Earth in a stubborn crust instead of breeding lilacs out of the dead land. That was the way of April in Conway in 1924. Madison High School’s baseball team had scheduled a game with Kennett for the afternoon of April 16, on the field behind the new high school, but lingering snow still lay so deep that the game had to be canceled. The boys were forced to contain their pent-up energy for another week or two.
April 16 nevertheless favored New Hampshire with fair skies, and the day brought little news that anyone noted at the time. That was the day the Weimar Republic decided to accept a plan devised by the Allied Reparations Commission, which imposed an escalating scale of war reparations on Germany. The commission abated the impact with international loans for industrial redevelopment, but the increasingly burdensome payments to the victorious allies of World War I helped to cripple the German economy. Adolf Hitler, then serving a prison sentence for an attempted coup d’état, would eventually capitalize on the ensuing resentment.
I'm not sure what the seminal moment or event was when our public school systems decided that academics should take a backseat to "Social & Emotional Learning".
Looking back, I saw signs of it in the 1980s when my children started their public education. Somewhere between, "Everyone gets a trophy" and "We can't publish class rankings because we don't want to hurt students' feelings".
One thing is an undeniable certainty; The public education system is no longer what it used to be, and not in a good way. I'd put my H.S. Diploma (class of '74) up against today's Bachelors degree any day.
It's ironic that ever since the inception of the U.S. Dept. of Education and the billions of dollars spent, things have steadily gotten worse. Even with the lowering of standards and "leveling of playing fields".
You'd think a Dept dedicated to promoting and advancing academics and intelligence as its primary function could figure out just where we've gone wrong and how to fix it.
The dumbing down of America in the name of inclusion and diversity has been the worst travesty in our history. We no longer take pride in excelling and leading as long as everyone of every kind are part of everything. We no longer take pride in being the best, we do not reward the brightest, most enthusiastic, most passionate, because that would leave some excluded.
It's all horsefeathers !
The best should be the best and be rewarded for being such. Thise who are not the best shoukd not be included, but should work harder to be the best. Open doors for all who earn it.
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I'm not sure what the seminal moment or event was when our public school systems decided that academics should take a backseat to "Social & Emotional Learning".
Looking back, I saw signs of it in the 1980s when my children started their public education. Somewhere between, "Everyone gets a trophy" and "We can't publish class rankings because we don't want to hurt students' feelings".
One thing is an undeniable certainty; The public education system is no longer what it used to be, and not in a good way. I'd put my H.S. Diploma (class of '74) up against today's Bachelors degree any day.
It's ironic that ever since the inception of the U.S. Dept. of Education and the billions of dollars spent, things have steadily gotten worse. Even with the lowering of standards and "leveling of playing fields".
You'd think a Dept dedicated to promoting and advancing academics and intelligence as its primary function could figure out just where we've gone wrong and how to fix it.
The dumbing down of America in the name of inclusion and diversity has been the worst travesty in our history. We no longer take pride in excelling and leading as long as everyone of every kind are part of everything. We no longer take pride in being the best, we do not reward the brightest, most enthusiastic, most passionate, because that would leave some excluded.
It's all horsefeathers !
The best should be the best and be rewarded for being such. Thise who are not the best shoukd not be included, but should work harder to be the best. Open doors for all who earn it.
That kind of inclusion we can live with.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.