Schools in a Century

I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I agreed to collect essays and find judges for an essay contest that Peace Corps organized. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Yet how quickly it descended into me having a spirited exchange with one of my judges who threatened to sabotage the competition because she didn't approve of one of my other judge selections. History from previous contests factored into where this irritated judge was coming from but regardless I was frustrated by the fact that what was in the best interest of the kids was not the first priority. Fortunately, the judging was eventually completed and Bitola's winning essays will go on to the national competition.

The contest topic is "My School in 100 Years," so the 7th - 12th graders described (in English) how education in Macedonia will be different in a century. The students did a terrific job of being inventive, and yet I was also struck by how some of what they envisioned is already a part of many American schools. For instance, many students wanted a cafeteria where they could eat while socializing with friends. Students here attend either a morning or afternoon shift, so meals are eaten at home or snacks are purchased from shops near school. Swimming pools were another frequently mentioned but relatively commonplace feature of American high schools. Items like these were a reminder to me of how fortunate students in the U.S. are.

Some of the ideas were pretty fantastical--flying schools, robots as teachers, classrooms that reconstruct themselves depending on the class, German classes held in Berlin, and microchips in students for learning lessons, just to name a few. Other students pragmatically honed in on correcting some of the flaws they see in the current system, such as, "A big improvement will be if the teachers pass through a thorough teaching test...if a test is conducted, the professors will be chosen by how good they are at teaching, not by who has the friend with the highest position in the school." One essay went so far as to predict that schools would vanish all together due to neglect by greedy politicians, but the student encouraged taking action to prevent schools from disappearing. Which predictions will prevail is impossible to say but since most of the essays focused on improvements, I think their generation has the will to turn some of their dreams into reality.