Good morning.
Monday in Whitewater will be sunny with a high of 87. Sunrise is 5:26 AM and sunset 8:34 PM for 15h 7m 32s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 44.2% of its visible disk illuminated.
The Whitewater School Board’s Policy Review Committee meets at 9 AM, and the board meets again going into closed session shortly after 5 PM, to resume open session at 5:30 PM for a workshop, and streaming its regular open session at 7 PM.
On this day in 1832, Fort Koshkonong Construction Begins:
On this date General Henry Atkinson and his troops built Fort Koshkonong after being forced backwards from the bog area of the “trembling lands” in their pursuit of Black Hawk. The fort, later known as Fort Atkinson, was described by Atkinson as “a stockade work flanked by four block houses for the security of our supplies and the accommodation of the sick.” It was also on this date that Atkinson discharged a large number of Volunteers from his army in order to decrease stress on a dwindling food supply and to make his force less cumbersome. One of the dismissed volunteers was future president, Abraham Lincoln, whose horse was stolen in Cold Spring, Wisconsin, and was forced to return to New Salem, Illinois by foot and canoe. [Sources: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers edited by Sarah Davis McBride and Along the Black Hawk Trail by William F. Stark]
Yesterday’s post listed school-related posts at FREE WHITEWATER since March. Today offers a simple statement on the basics of a good education. There are in the Whitewater School District myriad and incessant discussions, but not every discussion matters as much as others. As it turns out, for many years, this district has used most of its public meeting time for second or third-order matters.
A person who can read and write, as most people can, should be able to list a few fundamentals that should be part of every meeting in a public district. Those fundamentals deserve the greatest amount of attention. The over-complication of educational policy and action, or the attention to small matters, betrays an inability or unwillingness to address fundamental concerns.
Far from advancing education, these errors discourage lifelong learning. There’s nothing impressive in those who cannot explain a topic succinctly and plainly, or those who cannot see the forest for the trees.
And so, and so, from one among many in Whitewater who has learned to read and write, a simple list follows.
The district should provide a substantive education in academics, art, and athletics, in conditions of individual liberty, fair treatment, and open and responsible government.
Every item in this list is significant; there is no item in this list that is not, in a public school district, a community matter.
How a Burmese Street Vendor Serves Over 500 People at the Queens Night Market: