Smart is Cool
Every August, I meet with the family of each new student by Zoom. I ask about the parents’ stories, their child’s path, and their hopes and concerns about their child’s BUA experience. One parent shared something I hear from quite a few new families: they really wanted for their child to be in a place where engaging in class conversation, asking questions, and being interested in learning is the norm – a place where being smart is cool. The parent worried that in the past few years of their child’s education in middle school, the culture had shifted; there was less room for those questions and a growing sense of social risk from jumping in too eagerly into class discussion. There were even early signs of their child beginning to disengage.
I’ve been walking the halls as classes get into swing, and I happened to walk by this student’s English class. I lingered in the doorway for a few minutes. I wish the parent could have seen what I saw. Their child was on the edge of their seat, novel open and annotated. In the few minutes I was there, the student spoke several times in an easy back and forth with several other students. At one point, I caught a big smile. As I walked away, I was smiling too.