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Skills We Value

May 19, 2013

Evelyn Evans was a National Endowment of Humanities participant at The Henry Ford in 2009 and an early adopter of The Henry Ford Innovation Education Incubator pilot project in 2012 (click here). 

Here’s some of what she has to say in that organization’s very fine January-May 2013 publication:

“As educators, we face decisions daily.  Our job is a simple one:  teach our students the content curriculum, 21st-century skills, social skills, critical thinking, research skills, test-taking skills, responsible citizenship, stewardship, morals, ethics and everything else . . .

“What skills do I value?  Risk-taking, problem-solving, critical thinking and perseverance.  What do I want my curriculum to do for students?  Motivate.  Excite.  Stretch.  Encourage.  To let them know that it’s OK to take a risk.  It’ is also OK to fail, because failure is a learning experience and can be a stepping-stone to a greater idea.”

It is difficult for me to think of any part of our schools that provide these lessons and nurture these skills any more efficiently than extracurricular sports and activities.

The Antidote

October 17, 2014

On average, according to the New York Times, the 32 National Football League teams have had 22 player arrests per team since 2000. And mounting.
This horrifying statistic doesn’t even include one team’s bounty-payment scheme to injure opposing players. It doesn’t include league-imposed suspensions for use of drugs.
So it doesn’t surprise me that the NFL’s corporate sponsors have begun to express concerns for their brand reputation. It’s only surprising that their concerns have been so slow in coming.
And it’s especially surprising that those who work at lower levels of sports don’t give up.
To the contrary, those who have devoted their lives to educational athletics demonstrate by their devotion to school-sponsored sports that they still believe – in spite of mounting evidence at major college and professional sports levels – that athletes can break records without having criminal records and that they can achieve championships without chemicals.
Coaches and administrators of school sports – my heroes – demonstrate daily by their continuing commitment of service to school sports that they still believe athletics can coexist with integrity and can nurture better character, not just crazy characters.
Under the radar, in communities across Michigan and the nation, school-based competitive athletic programs are doing good things for students, schools and society. This is the antidote for the cynicism creeping across the landscape of high-profile intercollegiate and professional sports.