Laurels & lances: Dancing, learning, connecting
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Laurel: To ending the week on a high note. Everyone is excited when the school week comes to an end. But at Kiski Area Upper Elementary, one kid is spreading his enthusiasm to others.
Cash “Big Sauce” Malobicky is a sixth grader who loves to dance. He might have been named after country star Johnny Cash, but he’s got hip-hop in his soul and brings everyone to the party as a featured dancer in the school’s video announcement broadcast.
“Ca$h Me Out Friday” is his spot and his fellow students love it. Cash has autism. “It means a lot to me,” said his mother, Rochelle Malobicky, said. “I’ve always worried about Cash’s social life at school, and it makes me feel so good that he has an outlet.”
For Assistant Principal Dan Smith said, “I think it shows them that school is a lot more things than just math facts and reading and writing. There’s the social component, and we try to make sure our kids are having some fun.”
Sounds like Cash is making real change.
Lance: To an obvious lesson. It is important for children to learn about America’s past, including the parts we aren’t proud to claim. Parts like slavery.
They should learn how it happened. They should learn how it continued. They should learn how it ended and what happened afterward. But do they need to learn the mathematics of it all?
South Fayette High School has suspended a social studies teacher for an assignment called “Is the Slave Trade Profitable?” where students run a slave ship in the 1700s like entrepreneurs, deciding how tightly to pack the ship with slaves to make the most money, according to Trib news partner WPXI.
It’s not clear what motivated the teacher, so far not named, to create the assignment. Was it an earnest but misguided attempt at in-your-face realism? A flippant exercise that diminishes the horror of slavery? Or a purely malignant act?
“It’s just shocking that my son had to sit in class and figure out the price that his ancestors were bought and sold for,” parent Leigh Hill said.
It is perhaps less shocking that the assignment was given and the teacher suspended than it is that this is at least the second year the project was given.
Laurel: To making connections. Technology is a great tool — as long as you have access to it.
The best way to get information about coronavirus vaccines, including how to find and schedule appointments, is by using online resources. But for many senior citizens, the internet isn’t that easily accessible. That is unfortunate as those over 65 are among the most at risk from covid-19.
But the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania is stepping up by partnering with Excela Health and others to coordinate and schedule appointments for Westmoreland County seniors.
The program set up 100 appointments in its first week.