By Kayla Gahagan

I just read this story about how 130,000 students in Texas are missing class because of the Swine flu. One student tested positive and two others are probable.

The story points out that the cancellations and school closings come at a busy time in the school year, when tests are scheduled, field trips, major competitions and end-of-year activities are planned.

Can you imagine the seniors, who are nearing the end of their k-12 careers and trying do all the last-minute work required just before commencement?

We should count our blessings.

By Barbara Soderlin

This was an interesting interview with a corporate bigwig that touched on the importance of students learning communication skills.

In response to a question about what he’s looking for in new hires, Delta Airlines CEO Richard Anderson said:

“You’re looking for a really strong set of values. You’re looking for a really good work ethic. Really good communication skills. More and more, the ability to speak well and write is important. You know, writing is not something that is taught as strongly as it should be in the educational curriculum. So you’re looking for communication skills. … I think this communication point is getting more and more important. People really have to be able to handle the written and spoken word. And when I say written word, I don’t mean PowerPoints. I don’t think PowerPoints help people think as clearly as they should because you don’t have to put a complete thought in place. You can just put a phrase with a bullet in front of it. And it doesn’t have a subject, a verb and an object, so you aren’t expressing complete thoughts.

And a lot of what we do in communication, when you write e-mail, you need to express yourself very clearly so people understand whether we’re going to L.A. today or we’re going to Boston today.”

By Kayla Gahagan

We ran this story in our paper today about “sexting,” or students sending naked or sexually provocative photos to each other via cell phones.

I think the debate it brings to light about responsibility, and about what kind of consequences there should be for students who do this is fascinating.

Some courts have ruled that nude or semi-nude pictures constitutes child pornography, which carries heavy penalties for a conviction. Others argue that it’s harmless - kids just messing around.

Tell me what you think.

This month at the Journal, a Central High School senior has been job shadowing with us, to learn about the newspaper industry. In the last week, I asked her to write about her experiences in the program. Here’s her story:

I am Katie, and I have Asperger’s Syndrome, an Autistic Spectrum disorder. I look absolutely normal; you couldn’t even tell about my difference until I have had a conversation with you.
I see things in a totally different light, whether it’s how I solve math problems or how I judge emotion or reading faces.
I am a senior at Rapid City Central High School hoping to somehow make it through the final hurdle of the high school education system: GRADUATION.

(more…)

By Barbara Soderlin

A faithful reader who is also my mother pointed out this piece by Tom Brokaw, talking about the need “to change the irresponsible, inefficient practices and systems that created” the economic mess our country’s in. He goes on to discuss the ways American governments (not the federal government, but all the towns, counties, school districts, etc.) can become more efficient through consolidation.

He mentions New York State’s local governments, Iowa’s many counties, and South Dakota’s many universities. Timely, huh?

Here’s what Brokaw says about that:

“In my native Great Plains, North and South Dakota have a combined population of just under 1.5 million people, and in each state the rural areas are being depopulated at a rapid rate. Yet between them the two Dakotas support 17 colleges and universities. They are a carry-over from the early 20th century when travel was more difficult and farm families wanted their children close by during harvest season.

“I know this is heresy, but couldn’t the two states get a bigger bang for their higher education buck if they consolidated their smaller institutions into, say, the Dakota Territory College System, with satellite campuses but a common administration and shared standards?”

Obviously, Tom did not read the Sunday Rapid City Journal, in which many of our state’s higher education officials explained why it is we still need six universities plus two urban higher ed campuses. He’s advocating not just consolidating South Dakota universities, but merging with North Dakota! Crazy. Doesn’t he know it’s cold up there?

By Barbara Soderlin

Here’s an interesting column today from Thomas Friedman on what he sees as an urgent need to invest money and energy in America’s public schools.

Columns like this bug me a little because I can never tell exactly what we’re supposed to be doing differently.

Maybe this is why I hesitate to consider a career as a teacher — I wonder if the problem is teachers not challenging students enough in the skills they’ll need, or if it’s students coming to school chronically unprepared without the support from their families. Or is it a downward-spiral combination of both?

Does a student who shows up every day and does the work and takes the most challenging classes really end up with a mediocre education? In some schools, probably.

By Kayla Gahagan

I suppose that Columbine will be a part of my generation’s collective memory - the way other generations remember where they were when Kennedy was shot, when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

I was a sophomore in high school at the time, and for like many of my classmates, it was the moment when I realized the bubble of safety around our school was more or less something in our minds.

Here’s the story we ran today about the 10-year anniversary of Columbine.

By Barbara Soderlin

If you’re interested in the discussion about whether South Dakota has too many universities (or not enough, or just right) I’ll have stories on the issue in this Sunday’s and Monday’s newspapers.

Sunday we’re talking about Rep. Mark Kirkeby’s proposal this winter to close one of the state’s six universities. Which one? Who knows — his bill didn’t specify. But the Board of Regents says it’s an ill-conceived idea, because the university system is as full as ever and every campus is needed as traditional and non-traditional students look for new opportunities in this changing economy.

Also Sunday I’ll have a fun story about how former Gov. Bill Janklow managed the unpopular move of closing a state university in 1984, the University of South Dakota-Springfield. He denies that, as is rumored, he wore a bullet-proof vest to a meeting on the issue.

On Monday we’ll look at the way our state’s four technical institutes are governed. An expert on the subject says we’re behind the times, but Gov. Rounds says we can make the current system work as long as we have good communication.

By Barbara Soderlin

Today I was trying to put together a little story about the search committee that’s going to be helping to hire the next Board of Regents executive director (I posted about this yesterday).  I called a Mines student who’s on the committee to ask him some basic questions like what he would be looking for in a Regents director and whether it’s exciting to be part of the process.

I was surprised by what he told me — that the new Regents president Terry Baloun had told the search committee members they weren’t allowed to talk to the media without permission from him. That seemed really weird — my story is pretty innocuous and anyway I can’t imagine what any of the committee members could possibly say about the search that would compromise the process.

I mentioned this to a colleague, who pointed out a story the SDSU student paper, the Collegian, had done recently about confusion surrounding the retirement of current director Tad Perry. Seems there are conflicting stories about when the Regents hired the search firm that’s going to be helping find Perry’s replacement.

Maybe they thought I’d be calling about that.

By Kayla Gahagan

The Rapid City School district elementary school students are having dress up days this week as part of a career program to get them excited about what they might do in the future.

My little sister in the Big Brother Big Sister program wants to be a journalist, writer or teacher and I was at a loss for what she could wear.

A nurse, doctor, firefighter, banker, or something along those lines might have been a little easier to brainstorm for, but I told her to tuck a couple notebooks under her arm, slip a pencil behind her ear (not that we do that) and practice her best skeptical expression.

Or, as my collegue is doing for her daughter who also wants to go as a journalist, get your Mom to make you a copy of her keycard pass with your picture on it instead of hers.

They might not know what she’s supposed to be at first glance, but that’s perfect. A good reporter just wants to blend in.