Innovative schools of Franklin Co., including The Gereau Center for Applied Technology & Career Exploration, its Center for Energy Efficient Design (CEED) and other STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) initiatives are a priceless resource & capability which must not be diluted.
Franklin Co. is not a wealthy county but its people have a proud rural heritage, strong family values, and ties to land which has been passed down for generations. It is not uncommon for children to grow up on farms. Many government services taken for granted by other counties, such as house-to-house trash pickup, fire hydrants, or high-speed Internet simply can’t be accommodated by the county budget. One thing Franklin Co. does have in addition to its treasured cultural heritage, however, is an outstanding school system.
Despite a relative dearth of resources, in the 15 years since The Gereau Center’s opening Franklin Co. has transformed into an exceptional educational venue. Some of the best teachers in the nation have joined, with Superintendent Dr. Charles Lackey assuming the helm in 2006; and both parents & teachers working to make the Franklin Co. school experience a true preparation for life as informed American citizens. It’s a testament to their effort and success that despite challenges faced, students still score in the top fifth of educational testing.
Why, then, would anyone jeopardize or tamper with this delicately balanced formula for success? Isn’t striving against all odds and succeeding beyond expectation what this country is all about? The visionary Gereau Center for eighth graders is especially important to the unique blend of educational capabilities which dedicated Franklin Co. educators have achieved. Imagine these child-adults becoming excited about learning, and exploring genuine, true-to-life career paths in every-other-day Problem Based Learning. Could one ask for anything more priceless for our children, whom society soon will ask to assume the roles & responsibilities which we adults now fill?
All-too-often, however, when times get tough it’s precisely such innovative programs targeted for cuts. I’d argue it is institutions such as The Gereau Center which should be guarded with the same intensity we might bestow upon health care, pretty green parks, and personal bank accounts. What makes the greatest difference in one’s education is not standards-obsessed lecture classrooms, but individual adults who take the time, and are given the support & latitude, to do what drew them to the profession in the first place: Not only teach, but to inspire as living examples.
In Franklin Co. this intangible quality now is threatened. Once that special synergy of dedicated, highly trained professionals pulling together under the leadership of visionary, capable principals & administrators is lost, it is both difficult & expensive to recapture the educational magic. For the sake of the children & our future, this must not be allowed to happen.
But, what about government priorities and “tradeoffs”? Is it in fact the best balance to lavish so much scarce educational resource on so few, such as The Gereau Center? I assert, “Yes, considering the circumstances”. Franklin Co. exemplifies a unique confluence of socioeconomic factors:
First, it’s the residential expansion zone for Roanoke – in turn, the main commerce center serving Virginia’s largest institution of advanced learning: Virginia Tech. It would be decidedly uncomfortable for elected officials to have to explain why SW Virginia’s rural ‘jewel in the crown’ education center was gutted.
Second, toward maintaining SW Virginia’s economic stability: The Gereau Center is not “just another example of Problem Based Learning.” Borrowing from ecological principles, it is more like the keystone species in an ecosystem, whose removal triggers diverging oscillations followed by swift collapse. Such phenomena encompass “tipping points,” with unintended consequences.
Finally, Franklin Co.’s Gereau Center and other exceptional schools stand as a symbol of what human determination can & should aspire to. If Richmond or even Washington D.C. ever seek a model for how struggling areas can self-actualize when given half a chance, or a testbed for future educational innovation, then the educational community of Franklin Co. stands ready & united.
I urge that the greater wisdom of those in power prevails over possible short-term, and short-sighted, expediency; with full funding protected for The Gereau Center during this and upcoming years of budgetary downsizing.
–Hollister Hartman, Ph.D., Boones Mill
