Travel Can Be Broadening

Travel, everyone says, is broadening. A couple of weeks ago, the Conval teachers went on a field trip. It was a workshop day, no students, so we fanned out in teams to visit other high schools.

My team visited Concord High School -- a nostalgic trip. I did my first teaching there, as a substitute, 25 years ago. Knowing how substitutes are generally received, I didn't even try to teach a lesson. Mostly I just talked with the students. They called me "Abe" (I had a beard at the time). The junior high students were more respectful. They called me "Mr. Lincoln."

Concord High has changed a lot since then. There's a whole new wing, and the old school was recently renovated, so we were dazzled by the physical plant. The halls seemed absurdly wide, uncrowded, quiet, and clean. It's not because they have fewer students -- the enrollment is 1,700, much larger than Conval's. Part of the explanation is architectural. Concord High's lockers are tucked away in four special corner rooms -- they don't line the halls, as they do at Conval.

The other part of the explanation seems to be that Concord High has tougher standards of student behavior. There were no candy wrappers or coffee cups in the halls because food is not permitted outside the big, airy cafeteria, which also includes the school store. We saw very few students in the halls during classes.

Concord High also has a dress code forbidding exposed midriffs and visible underwear, for example. The principal, Timothy Mayes, was bemused by our interest in it. He thought it was very loose, and added that there hadn't been any resistance to speak of. Perhaps that was because the dress code, and other standards of student behavior, were written by a Faculty/Student Senate, rather than handed down by the administration. Maybe if Conval had such a legislative body, students would be more inclined to accept stricter standards.

There was lots more to mull over on our way home. Every teacher has his or her own classroom at Concord High -- they don't wander from room to room as many of us do. We envied the fact that each teacher has a telephone and voice mail -- how that must improve communication with parents and each other!

But what really shocked us was their salary schedule. Concord doesn't have the reputation of being a wealthy district, but if I were teaching there, I'd be making about $6,000 more a year. The disparity was roughly the same for everyone else on our team. Yes, travel truly can be broadening.

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