Revision of Educational Experience Essay

Julia Frederick

Dr. Emilie Lindeman

Composition 1

Monday September 16^th, 2013

The Silver Lining  of Education

            The first thing that someone says when I say I graduated from Kohler deals with the bathroom appliances that they make; but what I think of when I hear of Kohler is Mrs. Good and Mrs. Krejcarek’s science classes, oh the horror. There’s always a silver lining on every rain cloud, though, and for Kohler’s students the silver lining is Stacy Rozmariowski. Besides the last name, there’s nothing tough about her or the way she taught my senior English class. Stacy Rozmariowski, Mrs. Rozy for short, was the break halfway through the most challenging school days. She is the main reason why I think there is more to education, and that teachers can and should go above and beyond to challenge and empower students.

            To really understand Kohler’s Kindergarten through twelfth grade school, it can become easily understood right away when speaking to a student of theirs or a graduate. I was only there for two brief years versus some others whom were known as “lifers” at Kohler Public School. I didn't have to spend my education years at Kohler from junior kindergarten to senior year (like a lifer), to learn their ways, I quickly learned that there wasn’t anything ordinary about this public school system. In fact, Kohler was a rigorous and challenging private school (based) system. I can attend college today and breeze by because of their 8 period class schedule that was crammed with months of homework into a single week. There was not one single class that didn't have hours upon hours of homework assigned. English was the worst, jammed with literature and essays, but science didn't fall short behind. There were plenty of surveys created in sociology classes that focused on the most stressful classes and the classes with the most homework at Kohler. Between English and Science it sure showed Kohler’s true colors of academic rigor. Before when I mentioned Kohler having a private school (based) system, I was directing this towards the criteria of the teacher’s expectations and how they were higher than any of the teachers at my previous school- Sheboygan South High School (another public school.) Looking at Silver Lake as a private school, Kohler clearly surpasses as one. A graduate, like myself, almost doesn't need general course credits at college because the ones at KPS were just as hard and even available to CAP for college credit or just a college class itself. I obtained 16 college credits my senior year, as many others did, between the online classes, the CAPed classes, and the AP classes. And to add to this list, Kohler’s high school classes are considered college preparatory classes at other public schools like Sheboygan South, just to help compare.

            This dreary rain cloud of a school sounds like there’s no possible way for it to have a silver lining, but I promise it does Mrs. Rozy is really the true blue opposite of the other “by the book” teachers teaching at this un-ordinary system in Kohler. Mrs. Rozy is the real-life equivalence to Mr. Keating, whom is an English professor at Welton Academy (a private school) in the film Dead Poets Society. Painting a picture one could say she’s a massage therapist for the mind, a relaxing solution to a maxed out brain from Kohler’s academics. In my English class, filled with 20-something other seniors, the expectations were thought to be of a college composition 1 or 2 class. On the first day when Mrs. Rozy’s face appeared and her voice chimed, we instantly felt relaxed. She explained that she didn't want this to be another load on the homework pile, she didn't want students coming in asking about the assignments, but instead she insisted that we have a safe haven in this room where students instead brought ideas about life. The comparison about Mrs. Rozy and Mr. Keating is a perfect match, right after viewing Dead Poets Society, Stacy Rozmariowski did something that brought upon fear to all the other teachers at Kohler; she challenged the system and empowered students. The scene where a classroom full of uniformed boys at Welton Academy were ordered to rip out an introductory passage in a English textbook was re-watched; then our senior English class did as those boys did. We all ripped apart English texts that enclosed ideas instead of sparking new ones at the order of Mrs. Rozy. That was it, that sealed the deal, ever since then I knew she was different. She didn't come from the same system as we did, and if she did, she definitely didn't agree with its woodworking’s.

            One of the “lifers” at Kohler is the true definition of what it means to be a Kohler student- attend all social events, head of student council, head of future problem solvers, join Globe and Testing The Waters, volunteer, know all teachers, and the list goes on. Katie Anderson, she did all those and more while acing every assignment and test put in front of her. This was all accomplished while keeping up a 4.0 grade point average. She honestly seemed like the nicest and happiest girl you've ever met, and there was no reason to believe otherwise, until the robotic chains of Kohler snapped. Mrs. Rozy had us all talk about what we had on our plate and how we dealt with it. Since she taught at Kohler 5 years ago, she basically knew the load a student would take on, but she still asked. When Katie started talking about it she started off joyful, she talked about the events she loved and the people she met, and then as she went on someone questioned her, “how do you manage to eat or sleep or even take care of yourself?” She lost it, she broke down, and of course Mrs. Rozy was there; she gave the best advice I believe Katie has ever heard. She told Katie she didn't have to help every person, and when a club conflicted with a family dinner she wasn't obligated to satisfy the clubs’ needs just to present something prestigious on a resume or college application. Since that day Katie was different, she has always been nice but she seemed a lot more relaxed. Our lockers were right next to each other, and before I never saw her besides at the beginning of school and ending, but after that talk, Katie relaxed. She went to her locker, she talked with her friends, she walked to class, not ran. But I’ll never forget when Mrs. Good confronted Katie about her lack of dedication to a lab report she submitted. It was still A material, but it wasn't her usual, and I wonder if that’s because she didn't spend time on the computer typing but instead asleep resting for another day or out with friends.

            Mrs. Rozy subverted from this Prussian system, and she led others. It was not a revolt of any kind; it was just her guiding us into a normal groove with no stress. We were able to relax and not think about the next club we should join, the extra credit we could do; Stacy Rozmariowski helped us realize that Kohler’s expectations were not realistic and we didn't have to feel bad when we didn’t met them. I now view the ways of education very differently before. I pick through teaching ways with a fine tooth comb, because I have seen the silver lining, and she is Stacy Rozmariowski. Subversion against a demeaning power, challenge young minds, empower those to be strong- that is what an educator should do.