GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL -- Educationally Speaking

One of the buzzwords in education over the past 10 years has been cooperative learning. Group projects are assigned so that kids can learn

how to divide the work up among themselves, share ideas, come to

consensus, and then get the job done. Given the almost even split of both

houses of Congress, I hope our national leaders will practice cooperative

learning.

National politicians who plan to remedy education made a lot of

promises. Those promises differed in their approach, depending upon the

political party. Congress won’t be able to accomplish anything unless

they have a spirit of compromise and cooperative learning. If it doesn’t

work out with Congress, perhaps running the country could be the next

group project assigned to students of the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District.

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For the first time in years, all four district high schools are

fielding academic decathlon teams. The purpose of the competition is to

get kids excited about learning. This contest requires the team to be

made up of equal numbers of A, B, and C students. Since many B and C

students are in that category because they don’t study, this can prove to

be a real turning point in their outlook on education. They find out that

they can be just like those A students, who get there by studying,

instead of sleeping on a magic pillow, or having the answers transmitted

to their brain by osmosis.

The best thing about the decathlon is that it gives team members a

taste of 10 different subjects. In this era of state testing and subject

requirements for college entrance, high schools are providing fewer

choices to peek student interests. This year’s decathlon subjects

include economics, music, art, math, literature, religion, philosophy,

psychology, public presentation and microbiology.

In the area of music, for instance, the students are listening to

sacred music from throughout the world. They are learning about rhythms,

syncopation, scales, keys, melodies, theory and instruments. At least one

of the high schools is using a novel approach to teach the students. The

class is held zero period, the time before most kids are in school.

Teachers with expertise in a particular subject have been providing their

expertise in their specialty. So, a math teacher with a background in

music from Julliard, who is writing the music for a Broadway musical in

her spare time, is teaching music.

My dream would be to offer a survey class of these 10 subjects to

every student at every high school, taught by the teacher with the most

expertise and enthusiasm. Wouldn’t that spark some excitement?

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On the cultural front, Youth Night is back at the Opera Pacific. At

Opera Pacific, they believe exposing students to the arts is a vital part

of their education. History, art and music come alive as a whole new

world of great performances unfolds for teens. To achieve this purpose,

they offer study guides, guest speakers, free preview talks and reduced

prices for students to attend the final dress rehearsal. For not much

more than the price of a movie, you can see a big cast, great sets,

glittering costumes, a live orchestra, virtuoso singers and a bunch of

teens dressed up nice. The Magic Flute just ended, but you still have a

chance to see Macbeth, Carmen and Der Rosenkavalier.

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It’s a small world after all. Robert Boies, recently retired principal

at Newport Harbor High, showed up at the Concert for Peace at Costa Mesa

High School to see his former eighth-grade student, choir teacher Jon

Lindfors, lead the choirs. The concert raised money for the Pavarotti

Music Centre in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

* GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs

Tuesdays. She can be reached by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .