Educational Revaluation (Reprinted from the Newark Star Ledger, September 3, 1986): Back to School Sans Change

 

amenities - noun - a desirable or useful feature

FORUM                                                                                                        September 3, 1986

Educational revaluation

DEAR EDITOR:

As an educator, I feel compelled to comment on your recent editorial reflective of the deterioration of American education. "First Step on a Long Road." Realistically, it would not have been inappropriate to have headed your piece, "First Step on an Interminable Interstate Highway." The current problems of the American system of education are deeply rooted within our society. The ubiquitous unsatisfactory test scores are but superficial indicators of societal maladies, which may take decades to correct. However, the road to knowledge may not be so overwhelming if we contemplate two essential points.

Initially, perhaps we as Americans need to reevaluate our distorted values and focus on the importance of education although this task may be neighboring on inane considering our contemporary priorities. For starters, why is it that we overly compensate our professional athletes and starve our teachers? Under the prevailing circumstances, some teachers are worthy of receiving five million dollars over five years. Just think of the number of minds they reach and shape over that period.

After revamping our priorities, we must then proceed to reinforce the absolute necessity of education in our children. Abstain from spoiling youngsters with an overabundance of material amenities! Invent a stimulating, creative, educational environment utilizing primitive tools...As they grow older, provide youths with books to read, rather than isolating them in front of the television set. After all, teachers cannot teach if students are not receptive to learning. Educators cannot perform the impossible by unlocking a door when students alone hold the key to it. The brightest of children have always been those who are motivated to learn.

It is conceivable that the "long road" may be abbreviated immensely if we as a nation take time to ponder our values and reorder our priorities. 

-Gwyn English Nielsen, age 27, a teacher at Mother Seton Regional High School, Clark, N.J. 

Enough said. 

Sadly, even after 38 years, the aforementioned is still relevant today. 

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Indefatigable Show People and the Importance of Unions

 

indefatigable - adjective - persisting tirelessly (Google)

For four out of the seven evenings that made up the p.m. hours of last week, I had the distinct pleasure of being in the audience of four separate venues in three states. Perhaps the only thing they had in common was that all of the indefatigable performers in each worked very hard to get onto their respective stage and will continue to work very hard to stay on it. I know because I have been where they are: numerous stages. What I can tell you is this: "There are no people like show people; they smile when they are low." The ones who smile because they are genuinely happy are usually the ones a union is backing. Just in case you had no idea, there are unions that represent musicians and actors. Those who aren't members of a union can usually find more work, but they won't be protected. 

The first performance I experienced last week was that of an Elvis impersonator in a small, old-fashioned theater in a marvelously outdated, 1970s-style motel off of the strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. He and his fellow musicians probably belong to a union, but sometimes it was hard to tell. The average Vegas performer makes just below $28 an hour, which isn't bad, but if the show is only an hour, it is not a healthy wage, but I am guessing the musicians who only work an hour at a time could be paid more. I was even as a non-union entertainer. I would hope that Las Vegas isn't always about lost wages. 

Although I can't be positive, AEA (Actors Equity Association) seems to care the most about its members. The second performance I saw was at the Tuacahn Center for the Arts, an outdoor amphitheater nestled in the remote red rocks surrounding St. George, Utah. Even at 9 p.m. at night, the temperature was 95 degrees. The actors and dancers of the featured show Anastasia were covered in winter clothing including furs indicative of Leningrad/St. Petersburg at the time of the Russian Revolution. Yet not one excreted a drop of sweat. I couldn't figure it out as I felt as though I were perspiring for the entire cast. Afterwards, I met with two of my friends who had leads in the musical. The first question I asked them was, "How did you two survive the heat?" Apparently Actors Equity insisted that all of its members be blanketed with ice vests beneath their clothes and provided with generous helpings of Gatorade and water in the green room. If the Union had not stepped in, there would have been casualties for sure. 

The third performance was a rock concert at the Greek Theater in Los Feliz, near Hollywood. The band was O.A.R., a little known act that had a few hits in the early 2000s. (My daughter insisted that I tag along.) Most of the musicians, I'm guessing, are in the musicians' union. Arenas like the Greek generally require that they belong. On Thursday night, all seemed well although I couldn't make out the lyrics of each song, which was more about me than the lead vocalist whose fans appeared to have no problems singing along with him. 

Finally, the last show I saw was at a comedy club. There are no unions for comics, but many join SAG/AFTRA or Equity if they are also actors. If you ask me, the audience should be offered union protection from the comedians, meaning that if you dare to sit in the front row, you will be demeaned and debased so that others may laugh not at the comics, but at you. Of course, no one offers you compensation to be bullied because it is all in good fun. (Is it?) If you don't have a strong sense of self and the ability to laugh at just about anything, don't go to a comedy club. Or do and hide in the back of the club, so you can always slink out sans notice. 

Perhaps my purpose for penning this is twofold: 1. Any and all performers deserve respect (I am not sure about all of the comedians, though) and 2. Unions, no matter what you might think, are necessary entities. 

#word-to-words, #slice-of-life,  #blog, #blogging, #editorial, #reading, #vocabulary, #ReadersMagnet, #spilled thoughts, #personal-essay, #writing community, #writing, #truth, #society, #good advice, #critique #gwynenglishnielsen