When I first introduced myself as a blogger I vowed to write about my top ten concerns for education.  This blog outlines my utmost and number one concern, and that is: passion, or lack of it in schools these days.  I believe that a deterioration of schooling is directly related to a lack of passion in learning. Between frameworks, worksheets, testing, and enormous structures forced upon teachers, there is little time in the day to learn to love learning, or to be excited by learning.

Yesterday, I witnessed just the opposite.  I joined Carol Channing and her husband Harry Kullijian as they visited a magnet arts school, Lisa J.  Mails Elementary School in Murrieta, California. David Long, former California State Secretary of Education, had arranged this visit, and accompanied us as well. He has been a proponent of the art’s place in successful education, and has worked to partner Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian with the state P.T.A. and School Board Associations. 

Lisa J. Mails Elementary School itself has an interesting story.  It was built along side a new development to accommodate over a thousand children.  However, due to the downturn in the economy, only 200 students were actually registered to attend the school.  The school board decided to make the school into a school of choice and make it an arts focus, and voila, an immediate jump to 750 students.  Now, between the elementary and middle schools  they have over a thousand students and nearly 500 on the waiting list.

Before entering the school's auditorium, Carol and Harry listened to a nearly 40-piece elementary school band, and then stood as 500 kindergarten through fourth graders paraded by.  The kids were clearly prepared and overtly excited.  "That's Carol Channing!"  an toothless second grader nearly screamed out.  "She looks just like her picture" a chubby little red-haired boy exclaimed.  The kids all wanted to hold Carol's hand or give her hug.  Carol and Harry simply beamed throughout the long line of kids.

When she entered the auditorium, the kids leapt to their feet and screamed.  As Craig Shultz of the Californian wrote, "By the screams and squeals of the students at Lisa J. Mails Elementary School, one would have thought the big star headed to the stage was Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers."

What caught my attention the most was the passion at the school.  The kids were excited and engaged, the teachers were animated, the parents and school board members were clearly proud of their school and their kids, and understood how special it was to have Channing visit them in person.  And Channing dazzled them.  First, she and Harry were privileged to watch the students perform, and I write "privileged," because Carol and Harry were clearly absolutely delighted to be in the presence of children engaged in the arts. They beamed, and the kids beamed back.

Both the arts and athletics open pathways to kids' passions.  In attending arts events on school campuses, or athletic events, we see how passionate children can be about learning, and how engaged they can become in subject matter, whether it be playing soccer or performing in a chorus, dancing, playing basketball, or acting in the theater.  Passion, no matter what the subject, clears a path that will lead to engagement, and thus open the world to children to want to learn.  Wanting to learn is potentially the most powerful lesson that can be taught in schools.

I'm afraid that the trend in schools toward scoring high on tests and conforming to standardized frameworks and curriculum has undermined this most powerful learning tool.  When kids are passionate about something, when they care about something, they learn something.  Getting kids engaged and willing to wonder, to think, to work toward something is a powerful key to learning, and something the arts and athletics naturally provide.  All subjects can be taught so that passions take hold - and with arts and athletics, it occurs routinely.  Not only that, the community becomes involved as well through attending performances and games.

Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian have dedicated their lives to ensuring that all children have access to an education that includes the arts.  I came into their circle several years ago after receiving a phone call via the California State University Chancellor's office that Carol and Harry were eager to set up endowments for arts at each of the 23 California State University Campuses.  I jumped on board immediately, and quickly became enamored with them both, and their passion for ensuring arts in children's futures, never mind their passion for each other which is an inspiration and picture of beauty in its own right.

When Harry let me know that they would be in Murrieta, I wondered how they would relate to elementary school kids and vice versa.  Carol, Harry, David, the school board members, the parents, and the kids - were all in their element.  The passion exuded in that auditorium by those ages 6 to 90 will last a lifetime. And above all, passion is what sets the stage for an atmosphere in which real learning can and will take place.  So - my top ten education concerns begins with passion.