Hello! My name is Diane McGinnis and I am an MAT@USC student in the May 2010 cohort.
I was born in 1962, which makes me 48 years old, but age is relative; I feel way younger! I live in Gladstone, Oregon, which is about 15 miles south of Portland and received my undergraduate degree from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona on May 1, 2010.
Getting my college diploma was a journey 30 years in the making. I began college in June of 1980 at a private college in Eastern Washington, Walla Walla College (now Walla Walla University). I switched majors twice, dropped out, got married, had a daughter, and eventually went back to school. I worked as a secretary, but ultimately concluded that it was not my true calling. After getting divorced, I moved back to the Portland area and have been here ever since.
I don’t know if having a child inspired my passion for teaching. I wonder if it was a combination of job dissatisfaction and a mini midlife crisis where I wondered if I could stand to spend the next 20 years doing the same thing without feeling fulfilled. At any rate, leaving my job as a secretary and beginning my “job” as a student teacher was the most satisfaction I could ever remember having in my entire life. When I started, I knew that I loved teaching. I would come home on Friday afternoons and sometimes did not even make it to 8:00PM before sheer exhaustion would sweep over me. It was exhaustion mixed with exhilaration and a sense of accomplishment. To me, teaching is the most intensely satisfying career out there!
The Need for Innovation and Imagination
In The Oregonian (Oregon’s largest newspaper), stories appear nearly daily about the trimming of school budgets, teachers losing their jobs and buildings crumbling in disrepair. This state, as well as others, will vote for practically anything before schools. At the same time, we still demand that our schools be better than anywhere else in the world. How can this be when we are trimming budgets, cutting teachers and letting our school buildings fall apart?
I constantly wonder if there are other ways to fund our schools.
For example, Gladstone High School teaches culinary arts courses. Often culinary arts classes will cook for an event or community gathering. Could this be a successful way to raise money for the school? Perhaps a “restaurant” that serves meals during and after school would help. We have fund-raising activities throughout the year, but is there a way to make schools more self-sufficient and less reliant on government funding, whether state or local? Can we make public schools a “business” in which certain programs can be funded with community dollars rather than tax dollars? Teaching children lessons on business planning could be as much a part of a curriculum as reading, math and science.
I am interested in alternative funding for schools and plan to write about programs that help fund schools and school activities. Many schools have boosters for sports programs. How about boosters for schools in general? When we are in a down economy, our schools suffer. Perhaps if schools were not relying on healthy state budgets, schools would have a better chance of surviving a recession. I call this a grass-roots effort to bring education up to the high standards we expect in this country, but not just in the wealthier neighborhoods; all neighborhoods deserve topnotch schools for their children.
I believe in equal education opportunities for all students. Everyone should be entitled to pursue their goals and the lack of funding for public education should not affect dreams of learning opportunities. Many may think changing the way education is funded cannot be done, but I believe that innovation and imagination are in short supply when it comes to funding schools. New ideas cannot hurt and everyone benefits when our schools are strong!
I am passionate about our future which means affording opportunities in the here and now. USC has a history of excellent educational opportunities and a tradition of strong scholars and leaders. I am proud to be a part of the Trojan tradition! For me it means sharing ideas and becoming the educators of a future generation of scholars and leaders.
Fight on!
