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Wimberly shows students can get the right tools
Published Friday, September 12, 2008
The question in my mind about the Natchez-Adams School District has always been, “Do our public schools provide the right tools for students to succeed?”
There are many ways to drive a nail.
You can use a rock picked up from the ground. You can use the heel of your shoe. You can even take a whack at it with a stick.
But the best way by far to drive a nail is with a hammer.
Having the right tool can mean the difference between doing a job carelessly and doing a job quickly and efficiently.
Screwdrivers, wrenches, hacksaws, pliers — each has its own purpose.
Fill up your toolbox with the right tools and you are assured of getting most tasks done successfully — that is as long as you know how to use the tools.
In my mind, the same can be said of education. Schools are meant to equip students with a toolbox filled with a variety of tools.
By the end of their high school days, students should be able to take this toolbox filled with math, English and science skills and begin to apply them to the challenge of building new lives.
As for the Natchez-Adams School District, many residents question whether the district is providing its students with the right tools.
For the past decade, area students have consistently underperformed on state tests.
Listen to economic development officials and area leaders. All lament the state of public education. “The schools are not doing their job,” they say.
Then listen to Guy Wimberly.
A Natchez High School senior, Wimberly has done what no other student in Natchez has done in many years — in both public and private schools. Thursday morning, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation named Wimberly to its annual list of the best and brightest students in the country.
Using the Preliminary SAT test, the organization determines the top one percent of the 1.4 million students who take the test.
Instead of testing students on specific facts learned in class, the test measures how students apply the skills they learned in school — in other words, how well the students know how to use the tools in their toolbox.
In my eight years in Natchez, no other student has been named to this list.
It is a huge honor, one that comes with big benefits. Being named to the list makes students eligible for thousands of scholarships to the country’s best universities.
I have said before there are many factors that go into making a successful student. Strong parental guidance and the will to learn are certainly at the top of the list.
But without the right tools, learning is impossible. Without the equations, the language skills, the history lessons, there are no skills to apply.
If there is anything that the Natchez-Adams Public Schools can take away from this week’s announcement, it is this: Natchez-Adams public schools provide their students with the necessary tools to succeed.
Wimberly’s success shatters the perception that the public schools are not teaching the right critical thinking skills or the right subjects.
His success flies in the face of parents who blame the teachers for not teaching.
Instead of making excuses, let’s focus on those things that are preventing our public school students from succeeding, like the lack of strict discipline, poor facilities, parents not participating in their children’s education and the increase in classroom disruption.Thursday’s fight that resulted in 11 arrests is but one example.
The tools are there. It is time for students and their parents to use them.
Ben Hillyer is the web editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or by e-mail at ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.
Comments
Posted by lowrider (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 12:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
most of these kid already have the tools they think they need, mac, ak, glock, etc.
Posted by freedom42 (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 7:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Is this Margaret Wimberly's son? She was school attendance officer for awhile. Parental involment.
Posted by cdallas (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 8:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think its Pete Wimberly's boy. Hurray for Guy Wimberly!
Posted by dog8 (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 8:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well said Ben.
It is time the entire community is held accountable for the education of the children. The schools are only one component. WE NEED MORE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND WE NEED TO WEED OUT THE KIDS THAT DON'T WANT TO LEARN (TROUBLE MAKERS MUST GO, AND PARENTS YOU CAN HELP). The kids need more organized activities in the community to allow them a chance to develop more skills,
Lowrider, we are talking about the school kids not the Republican Party.
It it time for solutions not negativity.
Posted by nhs08 (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 8:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No...Guy is Doug and Nellie Wimberly's son. Aside from this great honor he has worked so hard for, he is also a fantastic musician! Congratulations Guy!
Posted by npc (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 8:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
No, this is not Margaret Wimberly's son.
Posted by sobeit (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 9:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Every student at NHS has the same resources and opportunities that Guy Wimberly has. Every student has the same size brain that Guy Wimberly has. If all the students would takes advantage of the resources and opportunities available like Guy Wimberly did then we would have the greatest school in the nation.
Posted by gemccull (Gary McCullars) on September 12, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The analogy of getting the right tool is not necessarily the right analogy.
One can have obtain the "right tools" from education but still not know how to use/apply them in a practice. I have the right wood working tools, but I am not a master wood worker.
It is one thing to have book learning and it is another to apply that knowledge from books to real life.
However, Ben, your article is a good one. It makes a good point.
Posted by silly_willy_24_7 (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 12:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i agree with you mr. mccullars. just because someone learns how to use a hammer does not mean that they will use it to build a house. an example is the man that was just executed for murdering someone with a hammer. if this man had been using that hammer to build things and earn a living, he would not have wound up on death row for so many years at taxpayers expense.
this young man has an excellent opportunity to excel and be a shining example to others. i pray that he influences at least one to become a better student, instead of turning into a street thug bound for prison.
Posted by lookingout (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
congrats to guy.....but this is one out of how many in the past years....maybe he had help other than the school....i think NASD is horrible
Posted by iconoclast (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 5:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good article Ben. You're absolutely right. The curriculum in our public schools is as rigorous as any, especially when you consider that private schools are not rated under No Child Left Behind (A huge un-funded federal mandate.). That's one reason why you cannot compare public and private schools. How do you rate the academic achievement, or lack of, of private schools?
Anyway, my point is that it is up to the students to learn. The state curriculum standards are in place and taught in the Natchez-Adams School District. The failure of students is the sole fault of the students, not teachers or administrators. The same is true for the success of students like young Mr. Wimberly. Congratulations young man. Well done.
Posted by traceb (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 6:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Amen iconoclast!
Posted by Theo (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 7:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think the decision the Wimberly's made to enroll Guy in the NASD, 18 years ago, was much more than a blind leap of faith in Mississippi Public Schools. Their parents made the same decision for them during much more turbulent times in the history of our state. Those choices these parents made for their children was based on the simple fact that public schools are better staffed and better funded than both parochial and private schools, in Mississippi.
Guy is but one dividend of taxpayers' investment. He would be the first to tell you he is surrounded by kids who are equally as bright every morning when he hears the bell ring, many of them he has known since grade school. Without a supportive, competitive peer group and a cadre' of teachers to guide them through their studies, Guy would not have achieved the accolades now bestowed upon him.
Guy is an example of how well the public education system in Mississippi works. I'm sure there are many more anectdotes to the sytem's inadequacies, but it consistently graduates the best and brightest of our state, county by county. Guy was not the first National Merit semi-finalist to come from the NASD, nor will he be y'alls last. The greater challenge to Mississippi has always been to retain these students after they are through with their education so they can reap maximum fruits from their labor, and benefits we can all enjoy.
Posted by Peace007 (anonymous) on September 12, 2008 at 10:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What grade is Guy in, and what was his score on the test? That's really cool that he was named to the list of best and brightest in this country. What does he want to major in when he goes off to college?
Posted by Calm_Cool_Collected (anonymous) on September 13, 2008 at 1:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Congrats Guy, my saxophone buddy and physics buddy! This is such a wonderful thing! I guess its really on for Val now? lol! Again, Congratulations!
Posted by gwoman (anonymous) on September 13, 2008 at 3:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So proud of you! If "Boompaw" were around, he'd be proud, too. Way to go, "renaissance man!"
Posted by niderbip (anonymous) on September 13, 2008 at 5:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
show me lousy parents and i'll show you lousy schools. it ain't rocket science.
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