[Mpls] RE: Should the Mpls Schools be operating a radiostation atall

[Sheldon Mains]

> On 12/28/04 12:04 PM, "Michael Hohmann" wrote:
> 
> > Perhaps the high school students (from many city schools) 
> could attend 
> > radio broadcasting-oriented classes at Brown (for 
> instance), just as 
> > they can take college-level coursework at the U of M while still in 
> > high school. 

(Note:  My knowledge of the North High programs is about 5 years old but I
don't think things have changed much)

What is great about the KBEM program at North is that it integrates the
academic courses with the radio curriculum.  In some ways, it is a great way
to get the students who are not interested in academic subjects to pay more
attention to things like English, science and math.  Courses like "Writing
for Radio" (e.g. an English writing course) and "Reading and pronunciation
for radio" (e.g. public speaking) integrate the radio and academic sides of
North High.  These are not the type of course that Brown offers.

Another problem with using Brown Institute is transportation.  To use the
post secondary option, the student is responsible transportation to the
course.  This isn't a big problem for MCTC, Dunwoody, Metro State, or the U
of M, but is a problem for Brown Institute (in the south suburbs). This is a
significant obstacle for a large number of the low income North High
students. Also, I don't think the post secondary option is available for
for-profit schools.

The interesting thing about North, at least compared to South (the two
schools I know the best) is their ability to work with students who are not
"that interested" in school.  While South does a great job of providing a
great education to the kids who want to learn, it struggles with the
students who are not motivated.  North is more successful at getting those
kids motivated with a variety of non-traditional activities (e.g. building a
solar powered boat, KBEM, the video program, bringing Terry Lewis and Jimmy
Jam in for programs.....

.................................
Sheldon Mains
Seward Neighborhood, Minneapolis, Minnesota