Re: OT Tech Nations

Posted by Old Time Farmer on March 10, 2005 at 09:41:08 from (207.96.47.130):

In Reply to: Re: OT Tech Nations posted by chvet73 on March 10, 2005 at 08:14:19:

It"s real easy to find a couple examples of some kid who is an idiot and then blame the public schools.

Do a little math and figure out the amount of time a kid spends in school each year vs. the amount of time he spends at home. I"m not saying every school is perfect and every teacher great, but if you want to blame someone, look in a mirror. When you listen to how some parents run down the school, teachers, and anyone with a college degree, it"s no wonder the kid doesn"t think school is important. I bet there"s a quite a few parents who don"t even know what subjects their kids are taking, never go in to conferences, etc.

I did well in school, but some of these kids coming out of the high schools and colleges today are pretty sharp, and it"s not just in college-prep stuff.

The school my kids went to has the largest FFA program in the state and three ag teachers. The wood and metal shops are unbelievable, and the kids can take 3 years of electricity\electronics. Each spring, they put on a show of the projects the kids have been working on, and you wouldn"t believe the quality and sophistication of some of this stuff. My wife and I go every year even though our youngest graduated 25 years ago. China hutches that would probably cost you $3500 at furniture store, one kid restored a Super H to mint condition, another fabricated front wheel fenders for a 4640 that were a lot better than those plastic ones JD sells. Those boys (and girls) are so damn proud of what they have built they"re just about bursting, and the school had 2500 people come through the show over 3 days last year. (This in a town of 3600 people, mostly farming community). It"s not just the skilled trades stuff, the chemistry and physics teachers and the advance math teacher are top-notch. This school has sent a couple farm boys to MIT. I"m glad all my kids went on to college and have good careers. I doubt if they"ll be milking cows, mowing hay and pitching out calf pens at 74 like they"re old man.

As for the "Dr." who said that these boys growing up without the Dad around are going to be all messed up, that"s not always true. I got a daughter who is a school teacher and single Mom raising two boys. She takes them fishing and is teaching them about how an engine works, how to use tools. She can weld better than just about every guy I know, a heck of a lot better than me. When the boys come to stay with me, I get up early to finish chores so I can spend time with them in the shop. They"ll be in there for 8-10 hours just totally wrapped up in building a log cabin out of scrap wood or whatnot.

I"d like to thank you and all the other teachers who work hard for what is probably modest pay. Probably the biggest reward is hearing from a kid 15-20 years later who is real successful and appreciates what you did for them. We had a physics teacher retire here after 30+ years at the school. I think it was 800-900 people showed up for his retirement party and he received over 1200 letters from former students.

If you still want to bash the schools, maybe ask yourself if you could help out in any way. Maybe donate a piece of old equipment for the kids to work on, give some materials, go in and give a talk if you"re a pro at buildin engines. The FFA dairy judging team comes out to my farm every year. I put together about 6 different age classes of heifers and cows, fit them. I put on a couple clinics for the 4Hers and FFAers on clipping their show cattle and fitting them. It takes some of my time, but I get some enjoyment out of it.

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup Name: E-Mail: Subject: Comments: Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: Email Notification: If you check this box, email will be sent to you whenever someone replies to this message. Your email address must be entered above to receive notification. This notification will be cancelled automatically after 2 weeks.

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]