Edumacation

The last time I flew to Chicago there was a woman sitting next to me who had a bag I desperately coveted.

It was a green canvas bag that had the "5 a Day for Better Health" logo on it!  It made me really happy to see, and I asked where she got it.  But she's an educator of some kind and got it as a freebie from some promotional campaign. 

Color me sad - I went to the Web site she gave me and they don't have it.  They have some tote bag with an updated, less attractive logo.  But they do have other neat things, such as fruit and vegetable stress balls, which are cute, but really only cute when you have all ten, and what are you going to do with ten stress balls?  The magnets are pretty too, but I try to keep a naked fridge.

They also have a collection of plush beanie toys which, again, are cute en masse, but sort of generic-looking up close.  I think if you're going to do a plush toy, no matter what the subject matter, you have to be willing to spend a premium on design.  Cuteness is the deciding factor, isn't it?  I'd rather hug the black death, say, than a celery.

They also have fun ways to chart your fruit and veggie intake, by color or by serving.  Getting my 5 (not five) a day is my dietary mainstay: I figure if I get my 5, I can eat anything else I want!

However.  I read an issue of Prevention magazine a few years back that said, yeah, 5 a day is a nice minimum, but you should really be shooting for 8 or 9 servings.  8 or 9 sounds terribly fibrous, and the multitude of color groups you need is overwhelming.  The people who design these plans are apparently not familiar with the concept of seasonal produce. 

Wait.  Did I say "Prevention magazine"?  Yes.  I am old.

Today I should be rolling in clover.  I made a special visit to my Sexy Color #1 favorite vegetable market on the weekend, so that I can now brag that my lunch today consists of

1 nectarine

1 organic* pluot

1 head of organic* broccoli

1 ear of sweet corn

2 roasted beets with dressing

1 artichoke with dip

1 banana

1 sweet potato

1 pint of cherry tomatoes

*I know the 'organic' doesn't really matter nutritionally, but I have to pat myself on the back somehow to justify the 300% markup.

So anyway, I was delighted to meet this 5 a Day woman, because I'm always glad to see educators focusing on quality of life issues as well as the three Rs.  I'm also particularly interested in efforts to nip the obesity epidemic in the bud specifically, but more generally to encourage young human beings to be thrilled by all the things they're capable of, physically and artistically as well as mentally.  (I was a kid who shied away from sports until getting guilted into joining cross country in 7th Grade.  Never was any good, but I learned a lot about the collateral benefits of athletics and my life to the present has been better for it - Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Tootell!!)

I tried to get involved with the Girls on the Run group, which seems like a great organization.  The core of the program is a run training program where volunteer coaches coach pre-teen girls (i.e. before they have access to school-organized athletics, presumably) to run a 5K.  I like their apparent goals of activity coupled with self-respect and broader life issues like goal setting and self-discipline and balance.  I really wanted to be a coach, but found out that to do so you have to make it for practices two or three times a week at 3 in the afternoon.  It makes sense and everything, since that's when school lets out, but I simply am not in a position to excuse myself from the office in the middle of the day.  I thought it was kind of a shame that the structure makes it less possible for professional woman (i.e. role models - not that non-working ladies can't also be role models) to participate.  Check it out if you're able to. 

I was also intrigued by an educator I met at a bar, several years back, when I was dating a bartender and just hanging out, talking to whoever bellied up.   His focus was Math.  But his job was sort of sociological - he was trying to make Math cool.

I hadn't really thought about it much till he spelled it out, but he made the point that, nerds and jocks aside, there's an odd disparity in our educational culture where being good at math is somewhat freakish (or at least subculturish - you have to be Asian or Eastern European and/or socially and sartorially inept), whereas being bad at math is just no big deal and sometimes even a point of pride.  This curious inversion does not seem to apply in the same way to the humanities. 

Remember the hoopla over the "Math is hard!" Barbie?  Well-deserved, I'd say.  Can you imagine if they came out with a Barbie that complained, "I can't reeead!"  It would never make it out of Mattel.

I remember in law school being fed a steady stream of disparaging wisecracks from professors about lawyers' inability to do basic math.  Where does that come from?

So I don't remember what techniques the guy was pursuing, but I remember thinking it was such a fascinating mission. 

What do you think are the pressing issues in education today?  The three Rs?  Citizenship?  World consciousness?  Peace studies?  Fruits and vegetables?  I'm curious to know what others think we should be focusing on as we mold our future nation.

Comments

[boots]

I might stay away from talk of "molding" our future generations. Mold is no way to convince kids to eat fruits and vegetables.

I had an apple stress ball to pump up my veins when they drew blood last week. As you surmised, it looks much cuter in the herd on the web page than out wandering in the real world on its own. Oh well.