The summer sleep is over as school daze approach 4 the millions of attendees... As such, we offer the following wakeup call 2 those 'in charge' of school curriculum. Inspect, introspect and meet r challenge... the results will astound.

Take a trip thru a metropolis, anywhere u choose. Most likely the school system has the 'basic package' wrapped up - math, history, social studies, the usuals. Yet no matter what state we xplore, the educational systems r in the same state - morbid. Repeatedly we observe a curriculum full of gaping holes so vast that another generation falls thru. Where r the classes about the prime subject we all deal with: LIFE?

Public schools send a message that it's important 2 b "intelligent": make good grades, win praise, get a scholarship. Sure, there's nothing wrong with being "smart"... yet everyday life requires an intelligence completely unrelated 2 reciting state capitals, measuring the area of a triangle and regurgitating answers 4 a test soon 2 b 4gotten.

The most successful, abundant lives overflow with a special INtelligence that includes courage, compassion, inner motivation, a healthy respect of self and others. Where r the classes which nurture these traits in children? ...lessons on discovering the drive that makes us us and how 2 make that r life's work (if u dig it, it ain't "work") ...or stretching a dollar 10 miles when we need 2? Getting along with people we don't want 2 deal with? Remaining peaceful in a chaotic situation? And a big one, one of life's common paradoxes: how 2 get hired without xperience, and u don't have xperience because u can't get hired.

"Life INtelligence." Is anyone, anywhere, teaching this stuff? Homelife may not offer it. Peer groups probably don't. TV certainly doesn't. Yet these r things most (if not all) of us have faced, regardless of background, upbringing or how 'smart' we r. Let's face it, teenage years can b xtremely chaotic. Wouldn't it b much more productive if we as teens learn 2 value rselves and live from the beauty within instead of learning 2 judge one another based on which corporation each chooses 2 b a human billboard 4? (and oh, the inner turmoil that arises 4 those who can't afford the latest hot gear!) Wouldn't it b best if life-shaping ideas came from healthy, mind-xpanding ideas, and not corporations buying and selling r brains on TV?

School administrators, the financial papers may b a sad state of affairs, but the children's minds do not have 2 b, 2. Lack of funding is a common problem throughout American schools, but funds r readily available when innovation comes in2 play. We r talking about enriching the lives of those around us, which in turn enriches r own. Do something in a new way, show it works and the money will soon b pouring in from sources unexpected. (Conventional sources may not buy it right away, but following convention never created anything but more of itself!) Other districts will come seeking advice.

This stuff really does happen... ask the staff at Seed Academy in Minneapolis. This small private school has repeatedly taught some of the city's 'problem' students - kids who could not read, had no homes, showed no 'scholarly' skills whatsoever - to read and xcel well beyond students of similar grade level elsewhere. The public schools challenged Seed 2 educate some of its most difficult pupils and the results were so impressive, the public schools adopted their unique "direct education" method. These schools r now turning out students with a firm belief in their own abilities, which will in turn be beneficial 2 the community. It ain't about getting good grades on a test.

Kids from the projects r becoming successful at life. Others can 2.
It's time the administrative mindset got off recess and on 2 process.

...4 those not in the education busyness, u can help facilitate these changes 2. Print out this letter or write one of ur own and send it 2 the local school superintendent, state lawmakers, the newspapers' 'letters 2 the editor' section. Go 2 the school bored meetings and wake the members up! Learn about schools that DO work and send them info on how 2 do same.

2gether, love4oneanother.