There is a clock in the pediment of the historic Montgomery C. Smith school that hasn't worked in decades.
At the last night's Hudson City School District Board of Education meeting, a plan was presented and approved to make the clock work once again. Lance Wheeler reports the story in a video that can be viewed here.
Oh, the irony. Perhaps they can teach a class on reading Roman numerals and analog clock faces at their outdoor classroom. Meanwhile, as test scores and graduation rates tank . . . At least the members of the BoE will have the satisfaction of having accomplished something (anything).
ReplyDeleteNot to waste time (get it?) on a seemingly petty controversy but I respectfully disagree with the inimitable Mr. Friedman. To turn a school around ALL the details need to be addressed. I’m not a proponent of the Broken Windows theory of crime (& certainly not of its excesses) but how something looks is important. The clock, just like the one in Public Square, is a symbol of the decay and incompetence of governance. I taught at a high needs/high poverty school in Harlem and for 6 years our designation on the front of the building read “PUB IC SCHOOL 30”. The “L” had fallen off. No one bothered to find out how to get it replaced. Then 2 things happened; we got a new principal who was willing to do the work and fight for her school and newly elected Mayor Bloomberg completely revamped the BOE (which became the DOE). We got our “L” &, along with it, a sense of pride and the understanding that someone valued our kids enough to find an “L”.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, actually if I was teaching at HCSD i would take my kids outdoors and teach them 1) how to tell analog time; 2) Roman Numerals; & 3) how to be a change agent and why it matters.
The new superintendent of HCSD needs to recognize ALL the things that need to change and that includes better morale, the sense of community and pride in one’s school as well as the attainment of academic excellence.
All respect to librarians, especially in the age of too much data and not enough information.
DeleteThat said, I don't mean to belittle either the teaching or use of Roman numerals or analog timepieces. But that clock can't possibly be a priority when we're failing the students in the fundamentals.
(And, nothing for nothing, but having been an active volunteer at the elementary school for about 15 years, I don't recall ever once noticing that clock.)
Repairing a clock is probably something that can be done at the same time as other things. If every institution in Hudson only addresses one issue at a time, we’d be in (even more) real trouble.
DeleteWe’re out front with our DeLorean full of plutonium and a metal cable, waiting for the next lightning storm. If we time it just right, we can use the car’s time machine to bring back Cascades, which is currently trapped in the Hudson world of 2023.
ReplyDeleteOr return to 2016 when the 4-faced clock at 7th & Warren actually kept time and was worthwhile, maybe even helpful. And not an embarrassment and clear indication of City Hall's dysfunctional tendencies.
DeleteMark, if the DeLorean is full of plutonium, then there is no need for the lightning as the fission reactor has sufficient fuel to generate the 1.21 jigawatts needed to power the flux capacitor.
DeleteI highly recommend the Mr. Fusion upgrade so you can power the time machine with mere food scraps, often found around Hudson, as you are aware.
Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
ReplyDelete