Attitude Reflects Leadership

Submitted by e-mail

RE: Winchester/Keene school,

What’s up now, the blame game? We should take from Coach Knute
Rockne's example when he said; “When the going gets tough, the
tough get going” At some point you have to look at yourself and
say, am I part of the problem.”
You just can’t blame the Winchester Kids for low-test scores.
Nobody wants to be a failure, especially the kids. Does
Winchester need to spend more money on education? I don’t think
the issue is more than money being spent, just the sensible use
of money used to make the best impact. I do believe that some
students may not be fully ready to go to Keene High School(KHS),
but not just from one town. Could it be the lack of common course
of studies the issue? Or is it low expectations from parents,
educators and the community.

If a kid is told “you’re a Winchester kid your stupid”, how are
they going to start to feel? Stupid right. If you tell most of
the 8th grade class trying to set the fall schedule that they
can’t take algebra 1, that they have to take pre-algebra, which
would tell me the kids aren’t getting the proper foundation. This
is a problem in many communities, and the same holds true for other
required classes as well. When teachers at KHS say, ”Oh he/she is
a Winchester kid.” How will they feel? I actually heard one KHS
teacher/coach say he wishes the Winchester kids would leave KHS.
I then told that teacher I’m from Winchester and I am offended by
his/her comments. If (s)he was so out spoken as to tell me his pre-
judices, what is his/her attitude toward Winchester students that
step into his/her class? How are they going to excel in the 11th
grade NECAP tests (New England Common Assessment Program)? They
can’t; because they’re a year behind, not because they are stupid.
Why,doesn’t Winchester teach the same program as the Keene Middle
School and why wasn’t this issue addressed five years ago? Shoving
these kids out, or into “alternative programs” is not the answer
either.

We need to take a hard look at how we educate our children, and
keep to the basics that help our kids to excel. These kids have a
whole future ahead of them, are we creating a whole new generation
of needy citizens?

I don’t know why there hasn’t been more communications between
Keene and Winchester School Boards and SAU29 and 38 teams. If you
want kids to fail keep doing what you are doing. If you want the
kids tosucceed then you have to look at yourself.

Start by demanding more from the students from the beginning, from
kindergarten to graduation. Lessen the importance of social edu-
cation and put more emphasis on the basics. Spelling, English,
writing, math, social studies and yes gym. Expect that the 8th
grade curriculum to end with Algebra-1 and pre-algebra at least,
and seniors calculus. This goes the same for all other subjects.
If you believe in the kids they will perform to exceed everyone’s
expectations IEP (Individual Educational Program) or not. I saw a
mirror on the back of a front door with the caption “You are
looking at the next Eagle Scout.” Did they all get Eagle no, but
24% of that Troop got Eagle, the national average is less than 2%!
Why do these kids succeed where others fail? The scoutmaster
believed in them and no that troop was not an Eagle Mill! The same
holds true with team sports. Look at the ’67 Red Sox, 9th place in
’66, and pennant winners in ’67, why? They believed!! The 1980 USA
Olympic Hockey team, you figure that one out for yourself. There
are many stories of people succeeding where others haven’t, many
times because someone believed in them.

How did a math teacher from Garfield High School in East Los
Angeles get 18 of 18 high school seniors to pass the AP Calculus
exam? The testing service thought they all cheated. Inner city
Hispanics; must have cheated right? The logic and mistakes were
the same. How about the same teacher teaching the same method to
18 students! The students retook the exam under even higher
scrutiny. All passed again. Why? The teacher believed in them
event hough the rest of the faculty thought he was setting the
kids up for failure. In years since then that high school has had
over 150 students pass the AP Calculus exam in the SAME YEAR.

The same holds true in school and in sports. You reap what you
sow. Everyone has to work harder and stop the blame game. Then use
best methods for the rest of the school. Then you will have
“Reached for Excellence”. Try it; it just might work not only in
school but in the workplace too. For further reading, (don’t know
if they are still in print but here goes) “In search of Excellence”
by Peters and Waterman, and “Quality is Free” by Phillip Crosby.
The bottom line is leadership from the top down, and back up to the
top.Everyone has an impact on success. Remember attitude reflects
leadership. I didn’t see any leadership from the Keene School Board
in the 18th February ’09 article in the Sentinel.


Denis Murphy
292 A Richmond Road
Winchester, NH
762-6115

dvm2nd@myfairpoint.net
dvm2nd@vermontel.net

I am running for the Winchester School Board