Gladys Reeves is in her office waiting for Mrs. Stevens to arrive. What she hears surprises her – and puts the entire Showcase in question.

As told by Gladys Reeves.

“Vicky?” I called out to my assistant.  “What time is my meeting with Mrs. Stevens?”

“In about 2 minutes!” Vicky responded from around the corner.

“Thanks!” I shouted, in return.

Mrs. Stevens is a parent of two children in the school. I was surprised to see her on my calendar for today.  I’m not quite sure why Mrs. Stevens has asked for this meeting. Both of her children are doing fine in their classes and there have been no issues regarding discipline problems. Vicky said that Mrs. Stevens briefly mentioned the Showcase Showdown and the computer lab.  Mrs. Stevens has never been actively involved with school programs, and I wouldn’t peg her for someone particularly interested in technology programs.  Nonetheless, it certainly would be a plus to have Mrs. Stevens’ support.  She is very outspoken and respected in the community. She also has some very “deep pockets” and carries a lot of weight among her peers.

I walked around the corner and stuck my head outside my office door.

“Vicky?”

Vicky looked up from her computer.  “Yes?” she answered.

“You are sure Mrs. Stevens didn’t say anything else about this meeting?”

Vicky looked back at her monitor and returned to typing.  She sighed.  “I’m sure.”

“Did she show any emotion?” I asked.  I was fishing.

“Does she ever?” Vicky replied. 

This was obviously a dead-end conversation.  I thanked Vicky and returned to my desk.  Obviously, there was nothing wrong – other than my paranoia.  With all the media coverage coming our way, I’m sure Mrs. Stevens just wants to go on record as showing her support of the Showcase Showdown and offer her assistance in any way necessary. ‘This should be my most productive and rewarding meeting so far,’ I thought to myself.

Mrs Reeves.  Please report to the playground.  Stat.

The intercom.  Did she say ‘stat?!’ 

Vicky poked her head in.

“Someone has called from the playground.  Apparently, there has been an accident,” she said.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Jimmy Perna”

“How’s that?” I replied.  “He’s a bus-rider in the afternoon, and I watched the last bus leave 30 minutes ago.”

Vicky just shrugged her shoulder as I reached for my cell phone.

“Vicky, please ask Mrs. Stevens to make herself comfortable in my office and that I’ll be right back.  I really don’t want to miss the opportunity to talk to her today, ok?”

“You got it,” she replied, as I hurried out to the playground.

…

As I rushed back into the office, I nearly ran into Vicky preparing to leave.

“Boy!” I said, trying to catch my breath, “Jimmy sure did a number on his arm. The paramedics said he will probably need surgery to repair it. That took a lot longer than I had expected. Did you have Mrs. Stevens wait in my office?”

Vicky replied, “She waited for as long as she could and then she left. She said to give you this.”

Vicky handed me a sealed envelope.

“She said to tell you to read all that she had written and call her as soon as possible to schedule a meeting,” Vicky continued.  “She seemed quite agitated. She said it was urgent that she meet with you face-to-face.”

Puzzled, I glanced at the envelope.  I hope I didn’t anger her by making her wait?  Surely, she would understand the health of a child comes first …

“Thanks, Vicky.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

I turned and sauntered into my office.  A few steps into the doorway, I opened the envelope:

Dear Mrs. Reeves,

I am sorry we didn’t get to meet today. I understand that emergencies occur. However, I didn’t want my time to be wasted, so I have captured on paper the things I wanted to discuss with you. I will get right to the point. I have several issues that demand your immediate attention. I would appreciate a response from you very soon.

The following are my issues:

I have been very quiet over the past couple of years regarding your technology program, but your latest endeavor has forced me to speak out. This so-called Showcase Showdown is the last straw.  Just what exactly is this all about?  This school has made our children over-reliant upon computers, and now you’re advertising it to the entire community and trying to involve them also.  What is this going to accomplish, other than spending a lot of money?  You’re just looking for an opportunity to show off the new computer lab and that new program you’ve got going on. By the way, didn’t the computer lab replace the music and art center? What a shame!

What has happened to our classrooms? You are trying to replace traditional books, libraries, librarians, and even teachers with computers.  The teachers that remain are becoming lazy. They just let the kids go on the computer and surf the “net”.  Heaven only knows what they are looking at.  Do the teachers actually know what they are looking at?  All the time spent on computers is takes away from the children’s socialization.  They are all plunking away at keyboards instead of having healthy and meaningful discussions.  Instead of actually planting a seed and watching it grow, the children are seeing simulations on a screen.  Please tell me how this can be good.  Help me to understand how computers in the classroom help teachers enhance their lesson plans.

I strongly disagree with introducing computers at such an early age.  They have the rest of their lives to become computer literate.  How long does it actually take?  From what I hear outside of school, needed computer skills such as word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, and browsing the Internet can be learned in a few days – perhaps even self-taught.  

Teachers complain to parents that students spend too much time in front of the television at home.  So, we send them to school and they spend all day in front of a computer.  Can you tell me what the difference is?

Also, help me to understand what happens to the children who don’t have computers in their homes. Are they being left behind? What about the “No child left behind” program? What are the schools doing to support these children?

And last but not least is the financial question. I read that in the year 2000 we spent some $3 billion to wire our classrooms.  Where does this money come from and what gets left out so we can brag about our wonderful computer labs?  Then these computers soon become outdated and have to be upgraded.  Do we continuously spend money to upgrade our wonderful labs?  Please, Mrs. Reeves, tell me where all this money comes from. I would like to become an informed parent, something that seems to be lacking in this school system.

Well, obviously I have given you plenty to think about. I would appreciate your time to discuss these matters in detail. Oh, and by the way, I am getting up a petition to stop the Showcase Showdown unless you can convince me otherwise.

Regards,

 

Janice M. Stevens

I couldn’t believe what I was reading.  I slowly lowered myself into my chair -- in total disbelief and numbed by shock.

“This woman must be insane,” I said out loud.  “How am I ever going to deal with this? I better do something and do it fast or Jan Stevens is going to be my worst nightmare. She could ruin this entire project!”

I picked up the phone and dialed central office.

“Hi, Becky.  This is Gladys. …. Fine, and you? ….. Great.  Listen – Is Kelly still around? …. Ok, well, can you put me through to voicemail, then? …. Thanks….. Ok, you too…..”

I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself.  After the beep, I left my message:

“Hi, Kelly, this is Gladys.  Listen, I have a thought about the Showcase.  Can you meet in the morning?  I’m wondering if perhaps we could move the TSY Showcase to the high school.  It would be a good way to show off all of the excellent work you’ve put into the lab there.  Just a thought.  Anyhow, call me when you get in and we’ll talk.  I have other questions.  Talk to you then.”

As I hung up the phone, I could feel a knot swelling in my stomach.

“Not on my watch,” I whispered.

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