Dive Brief:
- In an open letter published Monday by the Huffington Post, mother and blogger Kim Simon suggested five ways administrators can make the school year better.
- Titled "Education Reform Begins With A Coffee Kiosk," one of the letter's suggestions is installing a little coffee booth on campus where parents can grab a coffee and muffin in the morning as they drop of their children and head to work.
- Another idea is having mini "trampolines" for each child. Between lessons, teachers can have students jump for a few minutes, ideally getting out any squirmy tendencies during the actual lesson.
Dive Insight:
While some of Simon's ideas may seem kooky, a bigger message is there. Perhaps a school cannot afford a trampoline for each of their students, but maybe there is a mini "squeeze" ball that students can get and play with between lessons. Or maybe teachers even lead students in jumping jacks between lessons. T
he ideas behind each of her suggestions have legs. Surely, any administrator who used to be an educator would empathize with and appreciate Simon's fifth suggestion: "A Google-esque environment where teachers are able to take care of all of their personal needs on campus." Here, she details her idea for: catered meals for all school staff, on-site childcare, an on-site gym, dry-cleaning services, valet parking and car wash services, a dog run, and a seasonal flu vaccine clinic. She continues, "Folks in the tech industry work crazy long hours doing really important things, and have to have these on-site services available so that they can actually survive the outrageous demands of their job. Oh wait. So do teachers."