Channeling Aldo Leopold

Since the beginning of the Pandemic of 2020, my husband and I have filled our free time with “getting back to nature.” We have always loved everything outdoors: hiking, boating, fishing, bird-watching, etc. so this period in our empty-nesting is delightful. Our most recent trip took us into the Aldo Leopold Wilderness. It’s part of the Gila National Forest, and it’s wonderful. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to find a spot off the grid, yet inside the boundary of the Land of Enchantment. (And forget about cell service! Another bonus!).

So, as I do when without the distraction of the internet, I began to think about our educational efforts (generally speaking) during this strange and challenging time. Aldo said, “Education I fear is learning to see one thing by going blind to another.” He’s right, especially in our most recent 20+ years in public education in the US. How does high-stakes accountability testing evolve our most precious resource, our children, into enlightenment and knowledge about the most important things in life? It doesn’t. Yet, up until this major interruption called Covid 19, that’s exactly where we put our educational efforts: making great test-takers. We have a chance now to re envision our nation’s educational efforts. Let’s make it a place where a child doesn’t have to go blind to the most important learning our world can offer so they may be adequately prepared to take an exam. Let’s help our children see the real beauty of this amazing world so they can make it a better place for justice and love.