The Editor,
Did you know that according to Greek lore, the god Zeus sent out two eagles from the farthest west and east points of the world in an effort to locate a middle point, which turned out to be the Temple of Delphi, famous for the inscription “Know thyself”?
The temple was considered the middle of the world, and therein was born the Greek saying “nothing to extreme,” about which School District 43 and other districts using the semester system know nothing.
Education these days is about binge learning — especially in Grade 12 — fantastic expectations are piled on earnest students in the name of “preparation for university,” which is a ruse because the system is really predicated on saving money and packing it all in before a two-week spring break, for example.
There is no room for incrementalism or flexibility or, heaven help, sickness in the semester system, and it is no wonder that numerous students get lost or turn to drugs and alcohol as form of release from this kind of factory work, both in school and after school.
Also indicative of poor pedagogy is the lack of self-determinism allowed in the schools, another key ancient Greek concept. In no place in B.C. that I know of is there a true student parliament that has any teeth. A legitimate student parliamentary system would go a long way in mitigating some of the negative effects of the semester system by inculcating a sense of school spirit and, moreover, by building an awareness of civic duty, so known to the Greeks.
But our students are taught to be workaholics, that to succeed you need to know how to grind away in the hamster wheel, when instead perhaps they might benefit from some time off reading Greek lore.
Joerge Dyrkton, Anmore
