I am entering the world of blogging. Life goes by a such a lightening speed at times, maybe I can have some sort of record of my world. With one child out of High School, and the other already a Junior, I don't know where the days have gone. In the middle of every day challenges time seems to come to a stand still, but when the day is done, I feel as if I have blinked my eyes and I am the mother of children who are not only taller than me, are ready to take on their own worlds.
It seems like yesterday when my daughter entered the world of kindergarten, and Booker T. Washington School in Champaign. Those days it was a Magnet School. Language and Performing Arts was the over all theme. We had to apply for her to attend, they only chose a certain number of children from each home district. We were so excited to receive her acceptance letter. I knew from the moment that I visited that school, this was the place that I wanted my children to attend. It certainly wasn't due to the physical conditions of the building, but it was due to the teachers, and what they had to say at the orientation meeting. The next year my son joined the school for his kindergarten year. That was the last year before schools of choice. We, the parents of BTW, fought so hard to maintain the Magnet School, but to no avail. Now, as I read the paper, follow the school board meetings, etc., what I see happening is exactly as I anticipated. My final words, as my children left BTW for Garden Hills, were the following, "I bet within the next ten years someone will get the great idea to make this school a Magnet School, to increase the amount of families that choose to come here..." Here we are, we have come full circle, spent how much of our tax payers money, to get where....right back to where we were already.
All of this, no matter how disappointing, shaped who my children have become, and who we have become as a family. We chose different paths, which turned out to be great opportunities.
It shaped our feelings and our attitudes to the Champaign School District, and what we feel comfortable doing with our tax money. I think it is important history for our community to know that the ideas that our school board are presenting are not new, and that at times they are a return to what was...before. While there were certain problems with what might have been occuring in the district, there were also attempts to fix what was not broken, and this was a sad mistake.
I say all this because, this past election was so exciting. People seemed to actually feel that their vote and opionions mattered. That we could each make a difference. It was electrifying. When did I stop feeling like my opinions and my votes actually counted? I believe it was the day when the Champaign School Board, stripped the Magnet School title from BTW, and continued in a path that was not favored by the majority of the members of their community. A direction that was not in the best interest of the children in their care.
All of this history seems like it was just yesterday, but it was not. It has been a life time for my children, one of who will be considered an adult in just a few weeks. It has been a life time of events that should not be forgotten. I hope that our country doesn't lose the feeling that each of us can make a difference, because if that happens, we will once again return to dull apathy of our country's voters that my children have wittness most of their lives. It seems exciting for them to begin their adult lives in this exciting time for our country.
