Patience on the road: District politicians call for careful driving at the start of school
Take a short ride and experience again what it is like to ride a school bus.
“School days, school days, the good old days of the Golden Rule. Reading, writing, arithmetic, taught to the tune of a hickory stick.” The song was written in 1907 by William Cobb and Gus Edwards about an elderly couple sentimentally looking back on their time in elementary school (now called the grade school).
Before we know it, we’ll be seeing yellow school buses and eager students heading back to school. (OK, maybe it’s the parents who are more eager.) School starts in these areas on August 26, so be prepared to watch for red lights, stop signs, and kids crossing the street.
More: Find out when the school year starts and ends in Monroe districts and when the holidays are
Recently my high school class held their… well, let’s just say Richard Nixon started this year and Gerald Ford ended it. The average income was $13,869, a new car cost $3,756, bread was 35 cents a loaf, and gasoline was 55 cents a gallon.
So if you knew you were going back to a classroom with chalkboards, chalk and erasers, maybe overhead projectors, tapes, typewriters, lessons in typing, shorthand, math and English, you were on the right track. You went to the library to research encyclopedias, wrote things by hand, brought your homework to class and knew cursive. Well, then you were in school with me.
I attended East Stroudsburg High School when there was only one high school, the Cavaliers and the purple and white. It was an interesting opportunity to give everyone who was there a little perspective on what students and families find in the East Stroudsburg district today compared to the “old days.” One high school has now become two, and five schools have now become ten total.
Let’s talk about technology: Smartboards, tablets and laptops are available 1:1 so every student and staff member has access to technology. Add to that the integration of online resources, virtual learning environments and artificial intelligence (AI) tools, as well as YouTube for videos, virtual learning opportunities, Google Meets, Google Drive for collaboration and now submission of those assignments in Google Classroom.
Wondering how the curriculum has evolved? From the days when the emphasis was on traditional subjects like math, science, English, history, world cultures, and crafts and home economics, the fundamentals remain, but the expansion is significant. Today, the district’s focus is on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) or STEAM district. East Stroudsburg is considered a STEAM district because the arts are also part of its curriculum.
The course offerings are very diverse and prepare students for the world outside the classroom. Courses include coding, digital literacy, environmental science, sports and entertainment, everyday law, broadcasting, TV video, lifesaving, and multicultural perspectives, among others. Of course, Monroe Career and Technical Institute (formerly Vo-Tech) now also offers a large number of courses that prepare students for work and careers.
Remember your teacher standing in front of the class and helping you memorize all the information? Today, there is a push to encourage collaborative learning opportunities, with critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving skills at the core. There is small group instruction using Google Classroom, and a push to provide different teaching methods that adapt to a student’s best learning abilities.
You probably remember either bringing your lunch to school or standing in line for the daily special. Today, all students in East Stroudsburg are eligible for free breakfast and lunch. The district also offers a “food pantry” in the north and south areas that help students with their economic needs. The district also prides itself on placing a strong emphasis on inclusion, equity, and support for students with special needs.
Maybe you were in a band, choir, service club, or played one of the sports offered back then. Today, there is a wide range of sports on offer, including the standard offerings, but also e-sports, robotics clubs, wilderness clubs, the Science Olympiad, philosophy clubs, international offerings, and global and virtual clubs, to just scratch the tip of the iceberg.
Remember when the office called you at home or sent you a message or letter? Maybe you had to use the pay phone after school to get to school. Today, there are online programs that allow both parents and students to access their school information. Of course, the use of cell phones, Apple Watches, email, text messaging and social media expand communication options.
For those of us with one foot in both worlds, it really is a dramatic difference. All districts have the same goal: to prepare today’s students for the world of tomorrow. Who knows what they will find when they are “seasoned” and look back!
Debbie Kulick is an emergency medical technician who writes a weekly column for the Pocono Record.
