NPR: New Orleans Casts A Wide Net For Teachers
Like the city itself, the heart of New Orleans' schools is increasingly becoming a melting pot of different cultures and backgrounds, as teachers are flocking here from across the country to help be a part of the rebuilding process.
An NPR piece covers the topic, saying that in most parts of the country teachers teach not far from where they went to school. More than half of the teachers in New York City, for example, work within 15 miles of where they grew up.
That contrasts with New Orleans, which is bolstering its staff of teachers with programs like Teach NOLA and Teach For America that recruit talented, ambitious young men and women who aspire to become teachers themselves. New Orleans' 500 teachers who came here under the Teach For America program, according to NPR, is among the highest amount in the country.
But is that a good thing? Because of its heavy reliance on outsiders, some say that the city's schools are in danger of losing teachers who may not feel attached to the city. NPR says a study shows teachers from Teach For America are "much less likely" to stay, and few last longer than three years.
"And it's not romantic to say that people want to develop and grow in the areas that they lived in or grew up in. To lose that local flavor, it hurts the profession of teaching in terms of its local value," said Andre Perry of the University of New Orleans.
Are you concerned about the lack of homegrown teachers, or do you think we can use as much help as we can get? Let us know in the comments below.
NYT: New Orleans Jazz Band Gets in Step With the Times
“Preservation Hall is not a museum piece,” said Preservation Hall Band Director Benjamin Jaffe. “We’re not recreating something that existed a hundred years ago.”
Jaffe's words may be news to many. Preservation Hall is often viewed as static symbol of the past, committed solely to the jazz music the city has hung its hat on for generations. After all, the time-worn building begs to go unnoticed on one of the busiest streets of the French Quarter, looking like it not only wants to recall the past, but stay ingrained within it.
In an interview with the New York Times, band director Benjamin Jaffe said that perception is misguided. Through recruiting younger members and guest musicians, theatrics and getting the audience more involved, the band is making a conscious effort to stay up with the times.
"Mr. Jaffe, who was raised just blocks from Preservation Hall, has barely altered the 18th-century building, which still lacks public bathrooms and air-conditioning," writes Phillip Lutz. "But he has introduced fresh musical fare, including rock ’n’ roll tunes like The Kinks' “Complicated Life,” whose chord structure and lyrical message he deemed suitable ... the band’s most recent of nearly a dozen visits to the Music Hall have been boisterous affairs, with musicians standing on chairs and engaging in other theatrics."
This is not a new trend. Jaffe has taken the band to new levels over the years as they spread their notoriety by touring frequently across the country. Just this past fall, during the Voodoo Music Festival, the Preservation Hall hosted for the fourth year a tent that features local, traditional music in a festival that proudly markets itself as a presenter of cutting-edge, modern music.
When I saw Preservation Hall play on that stage at Voodoo in October, I saw a band continuing to bring the city's musical backbone into the new millennium. Clint Maedgen, the newest member of the band and the lead-man for the New Orleans Bingo! Show, which also celebrates the city's proud history of cabaret and theater, sat on stage crooning out a stirring rendition of St. James' Infirmary that seamlessly blended old and new (To see what I'm talking about, head to Youtube for a hilarious cartoon music video of the song).
And for those interested in hearing what direction the band is going, the Preservation Hall Band will be releasing a new album in February that will benefit Preservation Hall outreach programs.
