Meadowlark Memories

Korrin B.

February 5, 2011 - 9:00 PM

Last week, the Eugene School District 4J announced that it would have to close a few of its schools next year, as well as lay off many teachers and administrators and create more furlough days, in order to deal with budget cuts. The decision had been talked about for quite some time, but this prolonged discussion didn't make the news much easier for the community or for myself.

My first job when I came to Eugene my freshman year was as a work-study student at a local elementary school. I worked in what I came to view as one of the most incredible after school programs around, After school Community Education (ACE). I continued working with the program into my first senior year, for a total of about three and a half years. I got hired into positions through the City of Eugene Recreation Division and the Eugene School District 4J, rather than just being a work-study student. I met amazing, talented staff who truly cared about the children they worked with and the experience taught me so much, eventually allowing me to be offered a summer position working with The Fresh Air Fund in New York. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this community. It changed my life and I know that the program changed the lives of so many wonderful children from low-income backgrounds. So, why was last week's news so hard on me? I worked at Meadowlark Elementary School, one of the schools that were chosen for closure.

I immediately thought of all of the faces of the children I had worked with over the years. I thought about when they had first started the program and being able to see their improvements in writing, reading, and social skills throughout their enrollment. I worried about what disrupting them by putting them in a new school would do to them. Meadowlark was such a great neighborhood school. It had a sense of community like no other place. The students were such great kids.

It is sad to think about this place that truly meant so much to me now facing its extinction. Meadowlark Elementary School changed my entire experience as a student in Eugene. I worry about our nation's priorities sometimes. What can be more important than educating and preparing our youth for the future?

To all of the staff, children, parents, and invested community members of Meadowlark Elementary School, and all of the others facing closure, I am so sorry. I can sympathize with the sadness.