How to spend 5 Million Dollars in improving Education

When a country’s education system deteriorates, educational organizations and the government will believe it is appropriate to merge the school with others in order to save the dying situation. Owing to the poor standard of education in the St. Louis area, middle school students have been moving to more profitable colleges. Parallel to this, more students are dropping out of school due to jobs and school-related problems. The high rates of absenteeism induced by children who show depression and anxiety tendencies during their school study hours are critical. With reports of children attaining substandard grades in the school, many parents are weeding out their children from the school they once considered their school of choice. Because of these endless threads of problem, consolidation of the school which involves shifting students to another school has been suggested by the relevant authorities. However, bordering on the bright side, Gates Foundation is offering a $ 5 million grant to the school with the best proposal on how to spend the money on educational projects that will steer the education system to an exemplary and achieving one. This proposal essay therefore seeks to outline and explore how I could use the $5 million grant in providing the much needed facelift in St.Loius.

Numerous factors interfere with the learning abilities of children. Children today come off as victims of a plethora of social forces. These problems could stem from family issues, school and other environmental predisposes. Here in St. Loius, a disproportionately large number of students quietly suffer from the claws of social abuse. This emotional abuse has sent many into depression and anxiety leading to dropouts and social isolation. Based on the school’s findings and statistical records, 20% of the students report to having to deal with problems relating to past abuses. As a result I intend to modify the existing guidance and counseling department to an ultra-modern guidance and counseling department with professional mental health personnel to help children counter these emotional and social issues. This team will help with mental health concerns such as individual counseling, group counseling and therapy, behavioral, academic and classroom support. The allocated budged for this project would cost approximately $ 2 million. For the renovation of the department, the building materials together with workers’ pay will cost $ 700,000 million. In this revamp, I intend to build six separate rooms, each hosting a professional mental clinician. Each assistant will take turns in guiding and counseling 6th, 7th and 8th graders. This social service project is important since social skills workers often help in instilling the relevant knowledge and skills to the students and the school at large. While many would argue that, ‘why not hire a team of specialized tutors in mathematics and science courses since that is one section students in St. Louis drastically fail in’, many do not understand the impact of a troubled mind in the learning process. When the physical and emotional needs of children remain unmet, their ability to adjust and learn is obscured leading to a rise drop out as witnesses in the last few months at St. Louis. In response to that, I intend to allocate 1 million dollars of the grant to revitalizing and rejuvenating St. Louis School for the Special and Disabled. Amidst renovating the school for the gifted, I will have to recruit new special needs teachers as the remaining ones are only two who teach over 2003 special and disabled children. To make it even easier, I intend to allocate $ 500,000 to carter for classrooms inclusions with neighboring schools. Classrooms inclusions have proved to be beneficial for both regular and disabled learners. These amount also carters for disabled children living in abject and extreme poverty by providing them with life changing benefits such as educational support and medical care.

The world is undergoing a drastic change in terms of globalization and digital advancement. Schools are no exception and St. Lois School is no exception either. According to research, introducing laptops as learning tools in the classroom helps in improving learning in disciplines such as English, math and science. On those grounds, St. Loius intends to allocate $ 700,000 for the purchase and maintenance of MacBook pro laptops which will assist learners in receiving feedback on edited and revised papers, their writing and sharing school work with others. This versatile tool will help facilitate a complex classroom model which will see learners being able to watch lessons or lectures from their homes using their computers and discussing what was previously learnt during class time. A random interview carried out in the school grounds shows that majority of students loathe the idea of learning in St. Louis because the level of technology is elusive not to mention sloppy. Allocating $ 500, 000 on mentorship and training programs for teachers and students will also help propel the school towards digital advancement. Providing teachers with laptops will help tutors evaluate students work online via emails rather than the need to print them. This could cost approximately $ 1 million owing to the large number of teacher at St. Lois School. In addition, these versatile tools will be incorporated into the classrooms of disabled and needy children to ensure no student in St. Louis misses out on the opportunity. Elongating studying days and hours for students using Kipp Academic models will not only strain students to study more for less knowledge acquisition but will also drain their will to study. Introducing digital ways for instruction in the classroom will also enhance learner creativity through coding. When 6th, 7th or 8th graders are exposed to computers at this young age, they are able to invent new ideas which can be incorporated into products and services used in the contemporary society. Isn’t this worth investing on since children are our future leaders and teachers? Allocating $ 3.5 million to this digital program in the school will help decrease drop outs and transfers.

Conclusion

The best performing schools consist of advanced technology to help students grip onto their academic potential. For children to study well without disruptions and external factors affecting them, they are more likely to have passion for learning. For St. Lois, these renovations and projects will enable students and teachers head to the right educational direction. When children are counseled, they grow up to be happy and are able to maintain relationships with peers, families, friends and other acquaintances. I believe St. Louis deserves the change it needs to steer it to achieving its organizational goals. I believe a student at St. Louis deserves the chance to enjoy the privileges that other students from private schools are blessed with. St. Louis deserves a chance in improvement. America deserves competent citizens and quality education for its economic and social growth. Where else would we take the $5 million grant if not in our children?