Indigo Journal

Rex Promotes Natural Resources Education For Public School Choice

Posted on 04. Jun, 2009 by Tim Kelly in SC Politics

One of the many unfortunate side effects of the Sanford Years – besides mass nausea every time We hear Sanford discuss “the end of the day” – is that all efforts to substantively improve education have been subsumed by the fight over paying white people to send their children to private schools. (Yes, I'm well aware of Howie Rich's latest efforts to champion civil rights by subsidizing some appearances by Sen. Robert Ford and allowing Will Folks to use the phrase “trapped in failing schools” at least twice daily.)

Despite this, Superintendent Jim Rex has quietly and effectively pushed for expanded public school choice. (FULL DISCLOSURE ALERT: as regular readers know, my wife is general counsel for the SC Department of Education.)

One of the most interesting pilot programs underway is a partnership with the SC Department of Natural Resources that integrates conservation education and outdoor sports into a curriculum that includes field trips and after-school programs.

Rex was in Florida yesterday to talk about the program in front of a perhaps surprising audience – the National Shooting Sports Foundation summit.

More after the flip.

“The natural world should be part of every student’s education,” Rex said, “but I also think that some children and young adults thrive in classrooms where the natural world is the organizing concept.  I’m pleased that we’ve been able to create this option as part of our growing menu of public school choices in South Carolina.”

Rex said natural resources schools can increase student's enthusiasm about school – and thus achievement – by participating in outdoor activities. A pilot program intergrating natural resources and conservation into the curriculum is under way at Palmetto Middle School in Williamston.

In one optional after-school activity, sixth-graders with parental permission can take a gun safety and hunter education course.  Students who score well on a hunter education test can be selected – again, with permission from their parents – to participate in a turkey hunt with DNR staff.

Rex is an avid hunter and sports shooter, but understands that some might take issue with the idea of including shooting sports in public school activities.  But he said it’s time that schools recognized shooting sports as legitimate competitive activities.

“Skeet shooting is an Olympic sport,” Rex said.  “It’s been a recognized sport at private schools for years, in South Carolina and in other states.  There’s no reason we can’t find safe ways to include it in extracurricular activities at public schools if a community wants it.”

“We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for guns used as weapons, and at no point would students have weapons on campus.  But we have to acknowledge that they are a fact of life and that we have 200,000 licensed hunters in South Carolina.  If parents approve, we can teach young people respect for firearms and how to use them appropriately, should they choose one day to become gun owners.”

Rex predicted that additional South Carolina schools would be added to the SCDE-DNR pilot program next school year.

Other public school options expanded or created on Rex's watch include single-gender, Montessori, arts-infused, language immersion and physical fitness programs, magnet schools, charter schools and virtual schools.

One can only hope that when our long state nightmare finally ends in January 2011 other innovative programs with the aim of improving rather than gutting public education will become a reality as well.