Public schools — especially diverse urban districts — often get a bad rap by those who choose to look through the narrow telescope of standardized test scores. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Standardized tests are a wonderful tool for educators, but not the end-all, be-all of gauging achievement and effectiveness.
We feel we are blessed in our area to have so many wonderful teachers and administrators — both public and private — who go above and beyond what is required to help the students they serve each and every day. That’s been evident the past couple days in the pages of this newspaper.
We’ll start with appointments of Barry Younghans and Ann Eaton on Monday night to lead Goshen High School next school year and beyond. Younghans, who has most recently served as an assistant superintendent for Goshen Community Schools, will replace the retiring Jim Kirkton as principal. Eaton, currently the principal at Goshen Middle School, will become GHS’s assistant principal. Both are longtime educators in the area with a proven track record of results and serving children. We would like to congratulate both Younghans and Eaton on their appointments. Excellent choices, school trustees.
That’s not all the good news for Goshen High School. On Thursday we reported that the GHS International Baccalaureate program has been ranked 15th in the state for the percent of graduates who passed an IB or Advanced Placement exam last year. It’s the highest ranking of a public, non-charter school in the state.
The coordinator of Goshen’s IB program, Shelly Wilfong, also created Android and iPhone applications for each of the corporation’s schools. The apps allow parents to view information regarding their child’s school, such as daily announcements, lunch menus, sports results and upcoming events. It may seem like a small step, but how many times have page printouts been forever lost at the bottom of a book bag? Any tool that helps parents become more engaged in their child’s education is welcomed.
And that’s not all. The Fairfield High School Super Mileage team performed extremely well in the Indiana Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Alliance Super Mileage Challenge Monday in Indianapolis. Led by instructor Jim Jones, the students even placed first for best design proposal. Super work, Fairfield!
Not to be outdone, the Fairfield and Goshen High School music programs are thriving as usual. Goshen High School’s choir, orchestra and concert band all will compete for state titles this coming Saturday, as will Fairfield’s advanced choir. We cannot adequately express how great an impact directors Marcia Yost, Susan Ellington and Tom Cox have had on the Goshen High School music department.
Oh yeah, the Concord band will be marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.
Sure, we could focus simply on test scores, but we’d miss too much. Thankfully, many of our headlines remind us of that so often.
Opinion
Good news in local education
- Opinion
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Council makes a smart move on tax breaks
The Goshen City Council’s adoption of a tax phase-in policy for local governments will help bring uniformity to a competitive process that has pitted local governments against each other.
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Like it or not, Sheriff is going to speak freely
Elkhart County Sheriff Brad Rogers has taken heat the past couple weeks after he commented during a political rally in downtown South Bend that he would not enforce proposed future gun-control legislation within his jurisdiction.
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Goshen neighborhood stands together on north side
Sometimes a news photographer is at the optimum location at exactly the right time. Goshen News staffer Sam Householder was in such a spot Wednesday.
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We just can’t thank our moms enough
The purpose of this editorial is quite simple. We just want to say, “Thanks, mom.” And by “mom” we mean all of the great mothers in our community who have gone above and beyond to lead the way in the development of their children.
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Letter carriers help to Stamp Out Hunger
There’s still time to help someone you probably don’t know.
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Farmers are positive this will be the year
Farmers and Cub fans have something in common. They are eternally positive and expect a better season next year.
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It's time to spruce up the Maple City
This is the season and today is the day, finally.
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Smooth sailing for this year’s regular session
The final gavel has fallen on the 2013 regular session of Indiana’s General Assembly. During the 14-week session, our lawmakers passed nearly 300 pieces of legislation, including the state’s $30 billion biennial budget that contains the largest tax cut in state history.
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Palm Sunday tornadoes a reminder of sudden danger
It was a beautiful day, most people around these parts who can remember will tell you. It was one of those near-perfect, early spring days, they would likely say, a stark contrast to what early evening would bring on April 11, 1965.
Yes, the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965, is still very vivid in our local history five decades later. Those were days before Doppler Radar, 24-7 cable television, countywide siren warning systems and even seatbelts in most cars. So, when afternoon turned to early evening, many local residents had little or no warning that killer tornadoes were nearly on top of them. -
Graduation is always a great achievement
While many of us have been waiting patiently – some not so patiently – for spring to finally show up in Northern Indiana, students throughout the area have been busy working on term papers, taking tests and ordering caps and gowns.
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