Getting an A in Citizenship
Ray Cortines, what a wonderful man! He guided Pasadena Unified School District through the difficult days of school integration and budget cutbacks. He was back in town recently for a speech at a fundraising evening for El Centro de Acción Social. It was the first time I had heard him speak.
He held us spellbound, speaking softly with only a rare downward look at his notes. He told how, as a child, his report card showed all but one A. He had a B in Citizenship. "You know how we used to get grades in Citizenship." And we all smiled and nodded. His parents were not pleased with the B.
Our parents looked at that Citizenship grade even before they looked at the rest of the report card. They were concerned about how we related to the other students and our teachers -- did we show respect, were we courteous, did we accept responsibility. When they were satisfied that we were behaving ourselves properly, they went on to how we were doing with our school subjects. How we behaved was every bit as important as how well we were doing with our studies. And they were right!
Ray Cortines was asking us, in his gentle way, to think back to what our teachers were looking for in us when they graded us in Citizenship. He was urging us to apply those same standards today, and to not to be content with anything less than an A. He knew, and we know, that our communities and our nation deserve nothing less.
We have an election coming up next month. I am told, by people who know about elections, that we can expect a 5% turnout of voters. At that rate, 95% of us would get an F in Citizenship. Any democracy needs its citizens to vote and that includes Altadena. You know that!
So go for an A in Citizenship. Vote on November 6.
He held us spellbound, speaking softly with only a rare downward look at his notes. He told how, as a child, his report card showed all but one A. He had a B in Citizenship. "You know how we used to get grades in Citizenship." And we all smiled and nodded. His parents were not pleased with the B.
Our parents looked at that Citizenship grade even before they looked at the rest of the report card. They were concerned about how we related to the other students and our teachers -- did we show respect, were we courteous, did we accept responsibility. When they were satisfied that we were behaving ourselves properly, they went on to how we were doing with our school subjects. How we behaved was every bit as important as how well we were doing with our studies. And they were right!
Ray Cortines was asking us, in his gentle way, to think back to what our teachers were looking for in us when they graded us in Citizenship. He was urging us to apply those same standards today, and to not to be content with anything less than an A. He knew, and we know, that our communities and our nation deserve nothing less.
We have an election coming up next month. I am told, by people who know about elections, that we can expect a 5% turnout of voters. At that rate, 95% of us would get an F in Citizenship. Any democracy needs its citizens to vote and that includes Altadena. You know that!
So go for an A in Citizenship. Vote on November 6.
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