Kids need to be motivated to learn

The juxtaposition of Sunday's headline "LZ's No. 1" and the sidebar "Time to measure success" struck me as ironic, but perhaps insightful.

The headline - state football championship; the sidebar - schools are not adequately preparing our students. Is this an indictment of our society's inability to prioritize? Is too much emphasis being put on success outside of the classroom? Are drastic changes needed?

As a certified substitute teacher, coach, parent and taxpayer facing two new referendums this spring, I am constantly analyzing the school system and I want to share some thoughts about improving it.

First of all, playing the blame game accomplishes nothing. There's plenty to go around on all sides, myself included. We are all accountable for the system we have, and we all want to see it improved . Unfortunately, attempts at improvement rarely start at the bottom, with the students.

Quite simply - how do we motivate our students? I'm not saying our children are lazy; I'm sure every member of that Lake Zurich team worked very hard. The coaching staff must have spent hours analyzing the players' strengths and weaknesses, developing strategy, correcting mistakes and so forth.

So where is this effort in the classroom? Why is motivating students to excel in the classroom usually much more difficult than on the athletic field? OK, a great play is more exciting than algebra for most of us. But as I looked at that picture on the front page of players reaching out to touch the trophy, I realized why these athletes worked so hard. The results were tangible, real. These players believed all the drilling, sprinting and weight lifting were going to help them accomplish something special.

The coaches had the privilege of teaching motivated athletes who love to play the game, and the ability to hold those who weren't measuring up accountable. I'm sure there was tremendous support from parents and the community, and the cheers were loud.

How do we capture some of this magic in the classroom? It is easy for the football player to see how bench-pressing another 20 pounds is going to help them make that tackle. But they wonder how solving that equation is going to help their careers. The link between the education they are receiving and future success is often not tangible to them.

Any attempts to improve the school system from changes in financing to changes in curriculum have to focus on how to improve student motivation. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. How can we make our children thirsty for knowledge?

Steve Shogren

Fox Lake