Commentary: Another side of the Des Moines Public Schools

Remember to vote for school board candidates on Tuesday, September 11, 2007. There are two seats open and five candidates seeking to fill them. Around Des Moines reported on an August 27 forum at which the candidates appeared. I would liked to have written about each candidate separately but other commitments left me no time. As for the myriad issues that were raised at public forums paid for by the school board in June, I hope to be able to attend school board meetings to report on them here. So far that plan has not worked too well.

There is one thing I finally did. I signed up to teach a Community Education course. These courses are coordinated by the Des Moines Public Schools and there are “classes for all ages,” according to the brochure listing courses. The minimum cost is $15 because the Community Education program is expected to pay for itself. This means permanent staff and office space must be recouped through class fees. Thus, for $15 you can get training on how to ride DART (local transit) buses, including how to read timetables. Or, for $215 and an Iowa instruction permit adults can learn how to drive a car.

There are classes that will help you write, dance, bake, speak a foreign language, improve your health, work with wood or clay, learn computer software, and start a business, among other things. Classes are held at locations throughout the city, mostly during early evening hours or on weekends. Unfortunately, hardly any locations are within a few blocks of DART bus routes. However, there are some courses that can be taken over the Internet at a cost of $75.

At least five people must pre-register for any class to be presented. One of the Community Education staff members told me that there have been people who showed up the evening of a class only to find out it was cancelled because there were not enough people pre-registered. You can still show up and register at the class, but please remember that some instructors also use pre-registration numbers to help them prepare.

My class is called Journaling for Portraits. It was designed in response to seeing too many scrapbook pages that consisted only of generic statements and maybe a date or name. The two-hour class will include a short lecture on techniques then hands-on practice at creating custom scrapbook pages that reveal details about and the personality of a specific person, pet, or object, instead of merely showing a picture. The cost is $25. The location is Roosevelt High School, Room 110, at 4419 Center Street, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The date is Tuesday, October 23. Participants need to bring two pictures of either a person, animal, or object. (Center Street is about five blocks from the #3 bus route on University Avenue.)

Guest Writer: M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.

Sandy Renshaw is Sandy Renshaw is a self-employed communications consultant. You will also find her blogging at Purple Wren.
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