May 7, 2024 was a big day for my community with a $15M bond proposal at stake for the local school district, Inland Lakes Schools. In 2022 a similar bond was proposed and failed so the outcome was critical.
In the weeks and days leading up to the vote I read strong opinions on both sides of this proposal; why a leaking roof, inefficient heating or the puddle-pond in the school’s parking lot that attracted the local ducks was a critical issue or not.
Among other concerns, the basis for ‘not’, centered around continued tax payments on an expiring debt as well as standardized test scores that fell below the average for our area.
I am a proud 1982 graduate of HSHS – Harbor Springs High School in Harbor Springs, MI. I started in this school system my freshman year. By then, HSHS was the 7th school I attended in my short 14 years of life.
I was an average student but excelled in geography and math. I started kindergarten as a 4 year old and by 3rd grade was held back so I could emotionally and intellectually catch up with my peers.
It was pure misery returning to the same school as a 2-time 3rd grader while I watched my classmates move on to 4th grade.
Despite that, I thrived in high school. I spent my young life active and athletic, shooting hoops in the driveway and playing catch in the yard but had never played an organized team sport. My mother encouraged me to try out for everything and I did.
I made the basketball team, ski team and started as a freshman on the varsity softball team playing left field and catcher.
I had a wicked arm.
By my junior year, my coaches and mentors, Nancy Paige, Gary Bob Morse, Bill Shepler Sr., Bill Grant, and Mike Davies voted me the Female All School Athlete. An award I received again my senior year. Their collective impact far exceeds our brief time together.
I was on top of the world and never prouder.
The safe, disciplined and regimented environment rolled into my academic life, and I THRIVED. I loved school and my grades reflected that.
There was one small yet enormous problem. The No. 2 pencil.
The No. 2 pencil meant a standardized test and I was a horrible test taker.
The distractions that put me through 3rd grade twice found their way to the tip of the pencil. When I heard the words ‘be sure to bring a No. 2 pencil to class tomorrow’ I panicked.
The dots melded together on the page, and I always floundered.
When it was time for the ACT college entrance exam, my pathway to higher education, the No.2 pencil single handedly knocked my feet out from under me.
Not only did we need to bring a No. 2 pencil, we needed TWO because they didn’t want us to get up from our seats to sharpen one if the led broke. The smarty pants in my class brought a pencil folder full of them.
UGH!
When the proctor announced there was only 30 minutes left of test time, I still had over a third of my test to finish. In a move of desperation, I began randomly filling in dots. Dot after dot so I could submit a completed test hoping a guessed answer was better than none.
As you might suspect, my score was pitiful and ultimately an encumberment that got in the way of my college selection. The score alone cost me admission to the state universities who denied my applications, even with a letter of recommendation from my coaches.
Fortunately, with a creative and supportive guidance counselor, Mr. Charles Dickinson in my corner, my 7th semester grades and my high school GPA got me over the hurdle. We found a small college where I successfully enrolled.
I fully understand the broader purpose of standardized tests, but they overlook people like me. If bond proposals are to be considered for schools, they are detrimental beyond the scope of such tests.
If schools can’t grow and innovate with the times, we risk stifling the potential and the future of our youth by attracting more ducks to the pond in the parking lot. I am where I am today with and through the struggles and successes of all my school years, including 2 as a 3rd grader.
High school was the last time I said, “I can’t.”
It was the place where I learned discipline and commitment.
Despite the No. 2 pencil, it enabled me to begin to believe I could do anything I set my mind to.
If not for those formidable foundational roots and the teachers, coaches and mentors that guided me, my life and its successes would not be what they are today or have been in my past.
Next time you are confronted with a bond proposal for your local schools, don’t let the No. 2 pencil get in your way of supporting it. Think of all the students like me that will benefit and thrive.
The ILS 2024 Bond Proposal passed.
