When the Maine Department of Education is ready to begin the process of revamping the education product that gets delivered through its public school system, it doesn’t have to look any further than the readers of the Bangor Daily News for ideas. The inbox of my e-mail account for this column was overflowing with responses to my question, “What are your ideas for a new model of public education?”

Steve Dugay, a retired teacher with 35 years of professional experience, shared his thoughts: “Education today is so out of whack with reality, I have been saying this for years and years. It is as if we send these kids to electrician’s school to learn to be plumbers.” He goes on to suggest that “we need to connect our education with the real world. My s-t-w (school-to-work) program had kids connecting with hospitals, veterinarians, aquaculture, tourism, auto repair, etc. The kids and adults loved the learning and the program overall. It connected learning and earning!”

Mr. Dugay’s idea reminds me of apprentices. No, not the kind of apprentices we see on Donald Trump’s show. I’m thinking of apprentices who learn a group of skills, or a trade, or art, or a calling by working with qualified experts in their fields over a period of time. Apprentices and their mentors balance theory with practicality and promote professionalism within their particular fields. Modeling through our own practice is an effective way to teach our students the academic and social skills essential for being responsible adults.

Peter J. Lucas, an educator from Lincoln with 35 years of professional experience, wrote that his ideas for school in the 21st century involve “first removing hopeless political agendas from public schools” and then “remove trendy programs (snake oil?) sold to school systems, embraced as a solution to every imaginable learning problem. Such programs soon are dumped down the drain as too time- or money-consuming with negligible results.” He asserts that our schools need to “become much more consumer-oriented” and specifically recommends changing “the existing calendar and the 182 required days of school, lockstep age and grade differentials, and the huge gap with how technology can really be used” because changes in those areas will positively affect the education our children receive.

Beverly Johnston, a self-identified retired educator, mother, grandmother and caretaker of her world, wrote passionately and eloquently of her dream for schools of the 21st century. She thinks that we need to “help students connect with nature and the environment by using what is in our own neighborhoods as outdoor laboratories.” She believes that “We need our young people to understand that humans are a part of nature and not apart from it.” To accomplish this she suggests that we “create partnerships between local conservancies, environmental groups and schools” as well as making our “playgrounds nature-friendly.”

Johnston recommends that we should read “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv for inspiration as we approach this task. She goes on to state, “We parents and teachers and school systems must help our children have meaningful contact with nature. We must help them be engaged with nature … not just drive through it without really seeing it, touching it, smelling it and hearing it. Our classrooms and school yards need to be a place of understanding the fragility yet resilience of the natural world and our place in it. That WE humans are able to help nature sustain itself in order to sustain ourselves. That is my dream.”

Brian Callahan, a regular reader from Searsport, added his ideas that included, “teaching students to THINK (not just to ‘think outside the box’) and teach them to be tolerant of opposing ideas and thoughts.” He goes on to talk about the essential need for distance education formats because we live in such a “geographically diverse” state. In order for this to be effective he advocates “the state (or some government entity) wire the entire state for high-speed Internet to facilitate interconnectivity” because “waiting for telecom companies to wire us will take much too long.” He goes on to say, “Doing that would not only help link students and teachers that are geographically diverse, but head us toward my ideal of an IEP for each student.” An IEP is an individualized education plan currently only mandated for special education students.

All of us – parents, teachers, students and administrators – can be instruments of change for our public school system. The educator from Lincoln sums up a frustration of those who try to facilitate real change. “Living among us are thousands of educators, working or retired. They possess within them millions of hours of work experience, most of which lies fallow, because no one nor any program is out there to motivate them to come forward and help make change happen.” To make any of these dreams become reality, we need support from the Maine Department of Education, Maine employers, and Maine residents. Our children’s education today will be the foundation of our world tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you who wrote last week. Please keep reading and writing. Do you have a different view of public education for the 21st century? Tell me about it. E-mail me at: conversationswithateacher@gmail.com