It Takes All Types...
Ethan made a really wise observation yesterday, as we were talking about the different schools that we are working with on Our Education's national student petition campaign. I had just written two emails back-to-back, to two different students who are going to be leading petition drives in their schools this fall.
One of the students I wrote to attends Hodgdon High School, a small public school (only 240 students in the whole school) in a tiny town in rural Maine. The school is so small that there aren't really any extra-curricular clubs to speak of that might be natural candidates for leading the drive, but the student we're working with is going to work with her friends to lead the drive anyway. The other student that I wrote to attends Phillips Exeter Acadmey in New Hampshire, one of the nation's most renowned boarding schools. The distinctions between Hodgdon and Exeter could not be any greater--the schools are basically a whole world apart--but Ethan's remark put into perspective just how important it is that we're working in both these kinds of schools:
It takes all types. Hodgdon can't do it alone, and neither can Exeter. (Where "it" means bringing about the day when all American children receive high quality education). But together... with students at hundreds and even thousands of other schools in the country... that's how students can make a difference. Will you join us?