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Columbia - Room 206 at Paxton Keeley Elementary is a special place in the ninth district. Here, a class of fifth graders work to improve their future.
Their teacher, Emily Powell, knows she plays a big role in her kids' lives. "If we don't have educated citizens or if we're not doing our job preparing them to be the leaders of the country in the future, then we're going to have major problems down the road," Powell said. Powell, like many teachers, views her profession not simply as a job, but as a lifestyle. She embraces every student and focuses on each of their success. But as classes in the 9th district gain more and more kids, one-on-one attention from the teacher can almost disappear. "I'm trying to be the best writing teacher I can be, the best reading teacher I can be, the best math teacher I can be, the best social studies teacher I can be, while building those relationships with those kids. I think that with the more kids you have that balance becomes tilted in an unhealthy way. It makes it harder for students to learn and for teachers to teach." Powell is comfortable with the number of kids in her classroom. But she is not comfortable with the pressure she feels to have her kids meet certain test scores. "If you're going through your day, and all you're thinking about is the test, that's going to roll off on to the students. I want to show my students that learning is a process. Its not always about the answer or getting a certain grade or a score on a test." She knows the importance of education, and wants her representatives in Washington to recognize its importance as well. KOMU 8 sat down with both candidates Judy Baker and Blaine Luetkemeyer, and asked them how important education was to them. "I do believe that we to make sure that there is opportunity all along the specturum for our kids.For our children to compete in a global market, they are going to have to have acess to all kinds of high education opportunities; not necessarily just four-year but for all of the options out there for high-tch, high paying jobs and the skills that come with that," Democratic candidate Baker said. "A big part of economic development is education. Employers want to go where there are educated workers, whether they are technically educated, whether they have college degrees to give them the backgrounds they need for the various fileds of study. It's important that we have an educated group of folks that can on the next generation of whatever we need," Republican candidate Luetkemeyer said.
Reported by: Syed Shabbir
Edited by: Spencer Chmiel
Published: Monday, October 27, 2008 at 6:56 AM
Last Updated: Monday, October 27, 2008 at 6:56 AM |
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