Academic Value of Non-Academics: The Case for Keeping Extracurriculars.
2012; Routledge; Volume: 12; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1539-9664
Autores Tópico(s)Diverse Education Studies and Reforms
ResumoFaced with a $30 million shortfall in its $295 million budget for the 2011-12 school year, the Adams 12 school district in north Denver laid off custodians, furloughed teachers, trimmed programs, reduced benefits -- and then took its budget scalpel to student activities. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The district dropped middle-school sports, cut back on travel for its high-school teams, and pared $500,000 from the $2 million budget that supports afterschool activities like the Math Olympiad and spelling bee at Centennial Elementary, the technology and drama clubs at Rocky Top Middle School, and the anime (Japanese animation) and Knowledge Bowl clubs at Mountain Range High. Christopher Gdowski, superintendent of the 42,000-student district, talks hopefully of volunteers stepping in to fill some of the gaps. The YMCA has approached him about taking over some of the sports teams, even offering to buy the used school uniforms and the licensing rights to the school mascots. But some activities may have trouble finding sponsors, he concedes, and teachers union contracts may preclude others from turning to the community for advisors. We're hoping for the best, but we're fearing the worst, Gdowski told me. With school districts struggling to keep their noses above choppy budget waters and voters howling about taxes, should schools really be funding ping-pong and trading-card clubs? Swim teams, swing dancing, moot court, powder-puff football? Latino unions, gay-straight alliances, the Future Business Leaders of America, the French Honors Society, the jazz band, the knitting club? The barbell club at Adams 12's Niver Creek Middle School? As it turns out, maybe they should. There's not a straight line between the crochet club and the Ivy League. But a growing body of research says there is a link between afterschool activities and graduating from high school, going to college, and becoming a responsible citizen. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Honestly, the place that best prepared me for college was the hardwood court of men's varsity basketball in high school, Andrew Snow, a University of Michigan senior and pre-law major, e-mailed me recently. court taught me hard work, sacrifice, teamwork, humility ... and leadership, he added, plus, how to deal with people in social situations and responsibility off the court [because] if you made a bad decision, someone would see it. Cause or Effect? The U.S. Department of Education last compiled data on extracurricular activities a decade ago, when it reported that more than half the country's high-school sophomores participated in sports, that one-fifth were in a school-sponsored music group, and that cheerleading and drill teams, hobby, academic, and vocational clubs each involved about 10 percent ofkids. At affluent suburban schools, the choice of activities can be dizzying. Walt Whitman High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, a Washington, D.C., suburb, offered 89 clubs (equestrian, Persian, unicycle ...), 26 sports, seven choral ensembles, seven bands or orchestras, a newspaper, a literary magazine, and a yearbook last year. Whitman s feeder school, Thomas W. Pyle Middle School, offered even more: 100 activities, including a stock market club, cooking, a math team, and a magic club. Whitman says that 96 percent of its students go to college; its SAT scores in math and critical reading are 250 points above the national average. That isn't because it has an equestrian team and a Shakespeare club, of course. The education department data show that kids from families in the top third by income and education are half again as likely to take part in sports and almost twice as likely to participate in music as kids from the bottom third. Almost 80 percent of the adults in Whitman's zip code are college graduates, and the median household income is three times the U. …
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