My thoughts on private/independent schooling versus public schools

I wrote this as part of writing class so it sounds a little forced... Oh well. Here it is.
        Students can go to either the public schools paid for and sponsored by the government to provide a bare minimum education, or they can pay to go to a private school owned by local organizations and often affiliated with churches of the area. After seven long years of living through a collection of various public schools, I recently made the switch to a private school (or more specifically an independent school) of the area and my opinion of public schools will forever be changed because of it.

        While in public schools I was unaware of the many opportunities available to me. I was used to not asking questions, working at the speed of others, and going by the curriculum provided by “the man.” In other words, “the man”, was always holding the students back from achieving more. This was all so that they could work with the students that were having difficulties. Everything was dumbed down so that students of all brain capacity would be able to learn fast enough, and to complete every task listed in the curriculum. Learning was a chore and seemed unbearable for me. If I ever felt that I wasn't understanding something, I was ignored. As long as I was passing their class, they didn't care if I was understanding or not. I wasn't aware of the flaw until I had reached middle school age and by then it was too late. 

      When I made the switch this past year to a private school, I was shocked at the flexibility in classes (not to mention the small sizes), shocked by the patience and willingness to work by the teachers. It was the school I had dreamed of during those painful hours of waiting in public schools. We, as students, were treated less like slaves and more like a son/daughter. In the seventh grade there were only 5 students, and in some grades even less. We took all the same classes that public school students normally take but, we were doing work that was normally two years ahead of what they were doing. If we had a problem we were all treated equally and most likely, we all had the same question because we all all thought so similarly.

        With only 20 kids in the upper school (6^th -10^th grade) the classes were able to be held in different locations. We weren't restricted to just 4 walls, pencil, paper, and a prominent figure instructing students similarly to a dictator. There was no strict curriculum for the teachers, and they were able to teach things in ways that the students enjoyed and learned well in. It was my perfect learning environment (and still is) and it was for many others. The options and flexibility made learning enjoyable for students and for the most part teachers too. What all of the public schools lacked, it made this school enjoyable.

        I would recommend and encourage any student/family wanting to switch from public schools to go to a private or independent school. There aren't as many problems socially amongst students, teachers can adjust classes to fit needs of students, there are very few things limiting the school from doing things educationally fit, and the overall learning environment is better. These have been my opinions on private schools from the perspective of a long time member of public schools recently making the switch to private schools.

Robeo and Julietech: The Musical!

During the past few months, our school has been writing the script for our end of the year musical. The story: Romeo and Juliet with robots, set in the future. I've had the honor to help write the music for the production along some of the other students. The middle school and high-school (only 20 students) will be creating every aspect of the musical including performing it on May 27th. It should be pretty impressive to see but most likely not as impressive as this (put link to A Very Potter Musical).
The auditions are going to be March 2nd for all of you Springfielders. They will be held at the Vandivort Theatre from 7-9. You will need a prepared vocal solo if you plan on having the role of Robeo or Julietech. You will also need to know how to dance if you want any role. There are 5 speaking characters if you want to get to act. Email me at joe.flea2b@gmail.com for more info.

Recording...

I'm sure most of you know me as a member of The Scribbles, a band of three 7th graders with ukuleles and glockenspiels. Well after more than a year of playing shows and selling merchandise (right now it sounds like the band is breaking up but it's quite the opposite), we are going to be recording a full length album! Fellow Scribbler, Olivia Bacon, has a photographer father and owns a gallery where producer Justin Woods works. Justin owns Monarch Studios where the Scribbles originally recorded The Robot Song. He was generous to give us a screaming deal to record somewhere from 9-12 songs.

Hopefully we will start recording sometime in April and or May. Right now he is finishing up the New Monsters Collective record. The whole process will be rather exciting to be a part of. I've always been interested in the different aspects of recording. There are so many different things you can do now with all the technologies available.

I'll try to keep you posted on all the details and when we finish it. If possible, I will try to video tape the process and post on this web-log. Check my twitter too for more updates.

A Blog Dedicated to David Bazan...

Thanks to a $10 gift card from Mitchell Johnson, as repayment from all those days I paid for his mudhouse smoothies and muffins, I was able to buy the new Bazan solo album. The album is great but different musically and lyrically when compared to his earlier Pedro the Lion work. He was known as a christian artist and payed in many christian music festivals (though still an alcoholic) but this new album is all about changing and questioning his religious beliefs. The opening track starts with synthy experimentation and a bit of piano. Then it builds into his lyrics describing the story of Adam and Eve and how it's "hard to be a decent human being." The song goes on to question the logic in how this evolved into the culture we have now. Most of the other tracks take concepts of christianity and question his faith in them. He also hints at his alcoholic ways and how different his family has made him. If you have ever loved Pedro or any of Bazans other work, I would highly recommend this album to you.

Upcoming Shows

Feb. 5 7pm @Park Central Library w/ Say Yes! To Michigan! (the artists formerly known as Jubilee Jews) Free

Feb. 6 7pm @Randy Bacon Art Gallery w/ The Scribbles and SSLYBY $7

Feb. 9 6pm @Landers Theater as part of Youthfest (I will be playing bass with some kids who will be singing a song from Wicked). $?

That's my February show list.

I'll post more leading up to the event or if any of the information changes. Hopefully you'll be able to make it out to some of those.

My Short Story! About an ukulele (pronounced oo-koo-le-le)

No one had ever seen such a gloomy Hawaii before. The streets were silent because everyone stayed inside with the exception of those who tried to surf. But even surfing wasn't the same. All the waves had died down but they grew much more violent as a storm came closer. It seemed to have been getting worse and these past couple of weeks had been the worst. There seemed to be no hope for the island until this spectacular day.

People stood hunched over with long faces but as this man walked by, the people stood up, smiled, and greeted those around. This man had a small stringed instrument in his hand and it made the locals laugh. The man was so large and monstrous but the ukulele seemed fragile and small. He didn't seem to notice what they were laughing at. He walked down to a small patch of grass and began to strum a song. This small device that he played created such beautiful sounds and seemed to shoot out colors bright and vibrant and after a while they made what seemed to be a rainbow. And the man sang a song of this event.

The people were amazed at this mans instrument and asked the man about the strange thing. He replied stating “It's my jumping flea. It's my ukulele.” The surfers went off to try to recreate the “ukulele” the man was playing but came back with faces showing failure. All of the others stayed to watch and hear this man. Eventually all of those who had tried to recreate his sound gathered and approached the man eager to learn.

“Excuse me sir, but where you do you get an instrument like yours? They make such beautiful sounds and are so pleasing to all the men and women of the village. Look around you and see what happy people are looking at you. This town is full of ecstasy and delectation, before you arrived it was mirthless and pensive. Please sir tell of this wonderful instrument,” one of the surfers pleaded.

“I made this instrument I like to call a ukulele. I made the strings out of twine and used the harmonics of the wind to tune it. I used the trees around me for the body and glued it together with the sap in the same tree. I carved a hole in the middle and took a strum at it. The sound was magniloquent and calming. I will help you build the town more of these and spread the joy around the entire world.”

All of the town cried out in celebration as they walked down to a nice open area with trees all around. The ukulele man taught a few of the men first so they could teach the others. It was a magnificent sight to see as the town grew closer through each creation. After almost all of the villagers had their own ukuleles the waves in the ocean came back and were the best the surfers had seen in years. The town played their ukuleles for the rest of their lives and always celebrated this day. The man slipped out of the scene without saying goodbye but the town knew that he was spreading joy after every rainbow they saw.

After a while they began to see fewer and fewer rainbows, and eventually none at all. Most of the town didn't think twice of it, but the small group who had showed such joy originally decided to go search after him. They pondered as to how they could find this man and out of frustration one man decided to surf to another island in hopes of furthering the search. As the man went out into the ocean they were still arguing and completely forgot what the ukulele man had taught them about joy and happiness. The waves seemed to crash harder and harder as they fought on. The man went out regardless and was eaten alive after passing through one wave. Sharks seemed to appear in groups as the body was taken down under the sea.

Silence had taken over long enough for them to look into the ocean for inspiration. There they saw the body and swam out as a large group. The sharks seemed to ignore them when they went out as a group.

Fearless and angry, they surfed on through all of the storms and waves. While passing islands they watched others feel the affect of the ukulele man's absence and saw people stop in the midst of their pleasant stroll and sulk there way back home. And after countless hours of searching they reached an island secluded from the rest with only one hut and a slowly decaying rainbow. They knew that this had to be the home of him.

They worked even harder to get to the hut and decided to swim when only 20 feet away. As they jumped off of their surfboards and swam. The waves gradually got smaller and smaller and the rainbow began to rebuild itself. Hope filled the eyes of these men and they seemed more hopeful the closer they got. When they had reached the hut and opened the door the man was laying on the floor panting for breath. His large belly had a gash as wide as a manhole and blood dripped from his lip. Shocked at this horrific sight, the surfers split up while some went to tell the others and some stayed to help the man. He told them that he wouldn't be able to spread the joy of the ukulele much longer and the tradition may die. By now all of the surfers were on their knees cleaning up blood from the ground and trying many different religious techniques to heal him. The ukulele man told them not to worry about it. And he sang a song, the words in his song were his dying words. He said, “Don't worry, about a thing because every little thing is going to be all right.” The surfers took his words and his magnificent ukulele and swam to the town.

The people had already known of his death but not of all the details that the men who stayed with him knew. They took his ukulele and buried it by the spot he had taught them of his instrument. The people both cheered and cried. They sang all of the songs he had taught them in memorial of his life. Waves crashed showing the same emotions the people had expressed when the man first entered the town.

The Imagine Concert!

Last night The Scribbles had the honor of preforming at a John Lennon tribute (I'm writing this as War is Over is playing in the background) at the Gillioz. Pretty exciting... Not really. So we got to play Julia, All You Need is Love, and And Your Bird Can Sing. I was satisfied with the audience numbers. I think more than 600 people came. That was my Tuesday night.