July 29, 2025: Back to School

Host Barbara Humphrey welcomed her 10 year old granddaughter Josephine to Voices of Reason and Resistance to talk about her school experiences and how she feels about going back to school, to 5th grade, next Wednesday.  She recounted memorable experiences, such as a group project involving rescuing animals from an oil spill and field trips to Fort King George and the Savannah Train Museum.  We talked about parent/grandparent involvement at her school, such as the Dads on Duty and Moms on Duty, when we were invited to school to welcome kids coming into school in the morning.

Josephine talked about how important her interactions with her teachers and fellow students are, and about the club that she and friends suggested last year called KBA--Keep Bullies Away, a club for kids to talk about bullying experiences and how best to handle them.  

Barbara talked about the current proposal to dismantle the federal Department of Education and turn education completely back to the states.  She explained the creation of cabinet level departments, first Health, Education and Welfare then a separate Department of Education, to insure school desegregation and deal with issues of racism and support for education for kids with disabilities, kids from low-income families, and gender equity in sports.  

Please tune in next week on the 80th commemoration of the USA atomic bombing of Japan for a discussion of that event and how it ushered in near long decade of USA empire building.