Carlton-Wrenshall pairing and sharing at stalemate once again

Tim B.
Saginaw, MN     03/24/2010 11:55 PM

A wise old man from Wrenshall once told me "If you have a weak mind you better have a strong back" some kids only excell in sports and are very poor with even standard curriculum. You can't put all the funding in schools for the few that want to go on to college. Yes education needs to improve but you can't take the physical aspect away either. Ask the girls from Barnum who have a state trophy to brag about..alot are going on to college for that reason..not to mention how high there esteem must be reaching that goal.I will agree with you on the drug and alcohol abuse..many people jocks or not find the party scene in college..a lifes lesson of choice that can ruin your future. staying away from bad vices is hard even for the ones who do make it big as we read about everyday..again,the bar is full of alot of diversity,jocks,cops,teachers and even judges! been there done that thank god its behind me.

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daniel c.
03/24/2010 7:09 PM

I support the positive aspect to being in sports but after 20 plus years of working with teens the number of kids miss is unexceptable. Sports can be done with in the school where more kids can be involved. Traveling teams will be only for regional teams in the future. I think you would be surprised if you did radom drug testing on your high school heros. I love the Al Bundy comment ,It put a smile on my face. I played basket ball and foot ball in high school but had more fun playing with in the school teams.

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a b.
03/24/2010 1:44 PM

Not everyone turns out like "Al Bundy" Daniel... It gives the kids options, other than running the streets or playing video games all the time. Sports teach them cooperation and leadership skills, just not how to play a game.

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daniel c.
03/24/2010 10:12 AM

AB I can because the "sports" program only reaches a few and the cost exceeds the benifit for the many. Healthy bodies or developing a physical balance for all should be the goal. How many old jocks end up in the local bars smoking, abusing themselves and dreaming of the old days when they were a school hero. If kids have to compete they can do it with students in their own school. Competive sports in the future will be regional teams. So the gifted ones in certain sports will go in that direction. None of these small schools will be doing the sport thing as we now know it in the future. It will be much better on all levels.

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a b.
03/24/2010 7:52 AM

Daniel~ Can you blame any school for trying to save a sports program? Or any after school program for that matter, keeps kids out of trouble. Plus expands their mind a little. But yes I would hate to see the schools combine, but it would only make sense right now.

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daniel c.
03/24/2010 5:32 AM

Sense of Commuity is used alot as a reason not to let this happen. When I think of Wrenshall I think of two churches, one restrant, one bar and a store. Most of the old folks are gone as well as the Wrenshall I knew as a child. New people moved in and changed the whole town. Carlton is certainly not the same. I think the towns had much more in the past for people than they do today. Living in the past is not healthy nor living in the future. We must plan for the future with education. Our children need to be trained to be productive citizens of the world. Jobs are thin and there are few or none with out a education that is high tec and competitive. At some point the whole sports stuff will be replaced with physical health programs so the locals will have to find somewhere else to go for their intertainment. Sometimes I think it is the sports programs they are really protecting.

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Tim B.
Saginaw, MN     03/23/2010 5:00 PM

Daniel, I think they should fire all the kids and bring in new ones! J/k or course. Consolidation is probably inevitable as it just happened here (st.louis co.) but once the school is gone so is the sense of community to alot of the longterm residents. As stated the funding is dwindling and its time to move on but it won't be a happy marriage with the two town's rivalry and certain people getting favored because of where they happen to reside. I just hope they can make it as fair as possible to both city's when it does happen. If we can have a school built out in the sticks here they can and should locate it centrally too. either way Wrenshall loses..not to forget Holyoke. Theres really no other alternative's unless people want to pay through the nose in taxes...which is a hard sell. You have to remember what happened here..numerous smaller referendums were shot down big time but when it came time for the all or nothing huge referendum..it somehow passed? I guess people would rather pay for a long term solution rather than a band-aid-makes sense to look forward. Old School is gone and so are most kids attitudes towards learning...Society made it that way by letting kids get lazy.

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Steve J.
03/23/2010 4:08 PM

We should be talking about more than Wrenshall and Carlton consolidating, although that is a good start. There is not enough of a tax base for both schools to survive separately. Don't expect it from the state either, and nor should you when consolidaing makes the most sense. Times have changed. Neighborhoods are gone. Kids need to be educated at the highest level. Kids will survive and thrive. Old school parents will get over it. Move on.

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a b.
03/23/2010 11:03 AM

And when I mean get things that the kids need.... For example updated textbooks, computers, smartboards, etc. The world is all about technology. More and more things are computer based and schools need to be high-tech now a days. Not teaching from a book from 1969, or using windows98. When my child was going to South Terrace, they were the only school in the state on MN that did not have a telephone in each classroom ( got info from a newscast). It should be a state law just for safety reasons. Their budgets are dwindling so fast from unsupportive people in the community for fear that their taxes will rise. Not voting on levies that should be passed.

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daniel c.
03/23/2010 7:49 AM

Tim what do you suggest they do with the students and teachers? I think the students are many times just a reflextion of their world. The teachers are put in a very difficult position. Their hands are tied and the support they get from the public seems to be fading. Bringing these two schools together is the subject. Do you think it is a good idea?

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