Foolhardy? Yes. While my artistic counter-culture friends loved the article, for a time there I was a walking target for the entire athletic department, and even incurred the wrath of the teacher-coaches. I told myself I could take comfort that at least my “enemies” were where I could see them. Did I care at the time? No. My juvenile energies were completely channeled into one thing, and that was the arts. I couldn’t understand how the school board could completely forget about the art department, the one thing about school that was so important to me.
Of course, all of this happened many years ago, practically at a time when dinosaurs ruled the earth. The significant thing to remember about the blush of youthful exuberance is that it will most definitely fade with the passage of time. I thought I was mellow back then, but in actuality I was a hotheaded, narrow-minded, opinionated young woman, totally immersed in my own alternative world. Since then, I’ve become an older, wiser person, more open to considering all of the possibilities yet still an opinionated mature woman. It is only with the tempering of life experiences that a person truly mellows.
I know now that a well-rounded education includes more than facts and figures, more than knowledge of “core” curriculum and the ability to score well on tests. A good education also includes an understanding of the arts and humanities, an appreciation for music of all kinds, commitment to the community, and yes, even participation in sports. Even the most athletically challenged can benefit from involvement in sports. This is what we have tried to provide for our children. What they do with their exposure to the world at large, as limited as it may be, is up to them, but I have to believe that athletics is a key component to a balanced educational experience.
And so I apologize to the athletes and coaches of Widefield High School Class of 1974. If I knew then what I know now…
But, of course, with age comes wisdom.
Article comments
1 - Lisa Solod Warren
Yeh, but Joanne, if the art department was, as you say, "poorly housed," then why were you wrong? Why wasn't there a bond issue for that? When was the last time you saw a bond issue to raise money for a new high school arts building? I never have. I am all for high school athletics, in their proper place. But being from the South and now living in the South, they have never been given their proper place. They are the be all and end all. They get the lion's share of the support. Many more people turn out for a football game than for any play or art show combined. And the only people who go to band concerts are the parents of the players. Trust me, as the parents of band kids I knew that first hand. On the other hand, I think more kids would like gym classes (which should be mandatory) if they were more interesting. Both my kids went to school in Europe where the gym or phys ed classes were changed up every six weeks and they were "taught" new sports (or rather got to experience them) and they had a blast, rather than just do the same old, same old in a smelly gym, as I did (but then that was a long time ago). My daughter, in her school, gets gym credit for participating in school sports, which makes sense to me.
2 - Joanne Huspek
Thanks for commenting.
The entire public school budget thing is really a huge monster of a mess, especially nowadays. Special interests on school boards often sway the public thinking (and money) to their pet projects, not unlike what goes on in the larger political arena. I've known of districts that pay for expensive trips for the administrators, will redo their offices, while the students don't have enough text books to go around. (Yes, this really happened. I know because a friend of mine was a mom who was especially diligent.)
It's a little different in private schools, where they try to balance all aspects of a school experience. I think that's vital. Even a good athlete can benefit from exposure in the arts. Plus, private schools have to make do with the money they have, and not count on the taxpayer to shoulder the burden.
My school had really talented musicians (one was in the band Flash Cadillac, which appeared on "American Graffiti"), others were gifted artists. Heck, even I won a creative writing award. :-)
It is too bad that those things weren't nurtured. But, you live, you learn.