How to know if your school is good for your child.

Arizona has earned the reputation of being among the worst, 48, 49 or 50th of all United States in education, due primarily to lack of funding and special interest groups requiring schools to incorporate practices known to cause damage to children.

I sit through hours of speeches talking about how poorly we treat our children in schools in Arizona. I hear politician after politician asking what to do with our schools.

In 2002, truly concerned about our children learning hate rather than love, destruction rather than building, I just decided to try to do something to "fix" K-12 learning. I had no idea what to do but I had an open mind and I thought I could learn to bridge possible solutions into the market. We held hundreds of "Think Tanks" to ask the question "What would you want all kids to know, to grow into happy, successful, kind adults?" We weren't constrained by anything other than agreement. And we wanted to be able to agree without thinking about cultural or physical location. It took four years, using thousands of Post-It notes and discussions to finally agree.

What you will read next are StarShine's 15 Guiding Principles. These define StarShine practices and people, including our volunteers and donors. What I have come to realize after fifteen years of working on this, seven days a week, (yes, today is Sunday :) is the valuable information this list contains. Every school should be held accountable to this universal list of human needs and attributes. If every school was scored using this list, most schools would have to drastically change. StarShine has created hundreds of documents to help do a better job of training Learning Leaders and children so they can love their lives and work, but it all starts here. I hope these give you some ideas. Please feel free to email me directly with your comments at trishmccarty@starshine.us

StarShine 15 Guiding Principles

The StarShine Effect is created through the demonstration and agreement to certain principles by all who participate in StarShine learning throughout the world. StarShine expects each principle to be demonstrated by its environment, teachers and students.

1. Every person born is unique and perfect and on their own road to discovering their dreams and highest calling.

A.     Environment:

1.      Desks are creative and move around; none in rows

B.     Teachers

1.      Individual Learning Plans are developed

2.      Twice per year teachers and students develop Vision Maps for goals

3.      Teachers spend no more than five minutes at a time for lecturing.

C.      Students

1.      Students can explain their own ILPs whenever asked.

2.      All students have a goal and can change them at any time.

2. We are on the planet to help one another toward achieving individual goals for the Greater Good of All.

A.     Every student is assigned a school job responsibility by their teacher to be completed every day to make the school better.

B.     Each classroom must participate in a community service project, if not ongoing, a minimum of three times per year.

3. We each do the best that we can on each day, depending on what we know and understand, according to Maslow’s Hierarchy.

A.     Teachers and students understand Maslow’s Hierarchy and how each day, everyone slides up and down depending on many factors.

B.     Students learn compassion for others by understanding that everyone is doing the best they know how to do and we all must help one another to become more thankful and inspirational.

4. Music is the first language.

A.     For each classroom, Bach or Mozart or other classical music will be playing in the background as it stimulates the right and left brain to ease learning.

B.     For purposes of these standards, music is classified into six levels of difficulty:

1.      Level 1–Very easy. Easy keys, meters, and rhythms; limited ranges.

2.      Level 2–Easy. May include changes of tempo, key, and meter; modest ranges.

3.      Level 3–Moderately easy. Contains moderate technical demands, expanded ranges, and varied interpretive requirements.

4.      Level 4–Moderately difficult. Requires well-developed technical skills, attention to phrasing and interpretation, and ability to perform various meters and rhythms in a variety of keys.

5.      Level 5–Difficult. Requires advanced technical and interpretive skills; contains key signatures with numerous sharps or flats, unusual meters, complex rhythms, subtle dynamic requirements.

6.      Level 6–Very difficult. Suitable for musically mature students of exceptional competence.(Adapted with permission from NYSSMA Manual, Edition XXIII, published by the New York State School Music Association, 1991.)

5. Beautiful, safe environments that are clean and include art, music and nature inspire creativity and help to secure man’s sustainability.

A.     Students are responsible for keeping grounds clean and beautiful.

B.     Student artwork and community artwork is displayed.

C.      Children spend time outside.

6. Teaching and learning gardening is a necessary part of becoming one with nature and the environment and is a means for personal health and community building.
7. Celebrating local culture and global diversity allows for a rich life.

A.     Each year since the first year, StarShine pays tribute to the lives lost in 9/11/01 and the United Nations Day of Peace on 9/21 by observing 11 Days of Peace & Sustainability from 9-11 through 9-21.

B.     During the 11 Days of Peace & Sustainability, StarShine reaches deep into the community to provide cultural experiences for the students.

8. Practice: Connect versus convince; Exercise: compassion versus judgment, Love versus fear.

A.     Student and community development begins with co-creating the outcome, encouraging a win/win attitude among all participants.

B.     Student and Leader development is a direct result of engagement and understanding.

9. Individuals practice being ambassadors for their own country as well as a country other than their own.

A.     All StarShine students are assigned a local and international country to represent each year by studying and writing to the country’s leaders and/or classrooms.

10. Co-learning demonstrates that every person is a teacher and every teacher is a student.
11. Financial literacy fosters hope, belief and abundance as it facilitates a wise use of assets.
12. Partnering and mentoring fosters interdependence toward building common ground, as in: “the world agrees on time so everyone can communicate”.
13. Holistic explains that each event reinforces all.  The pursuit of success and happiness, both individually and collectively, must include body, mind, spirit, health and wealth.
14. Leveraging technology facilitates connecting people; personal contact is vital.
15. World peace is a result of individual peace.