Dr. Chris Goering, Associate Professor of English Education at the University of Arkansas, came to speak in the town hall meeting hosted by AP Language and Composition teacher Tara Seale, Oct 2.

Goering was originally here for research on an article he is writing on use of music to engage students in the classroom, but that was not the only article Seale was interested in.

Goering has recently written an open ended letter in a blog post to the President titled “Mr. President: On Education, You Can’t Handle the Truth” urging Obama, if re-elected, to make drastic changes in Education.

“I knew about the blog post and read it when I found out he was coming. It tied into the Martin Luther King letter my students were reading. I thought what could be better than to have my students evaluate an open letter to a prominent official from their own time period,” Seale said.

The meeting was interactive with questions asked by both students and teachers during the discussion. AP eleventh and twelfth and Pre-AP tenth grade English classes were in attendance. Topics ranging from No Child Left Behind verses Common Core to how teachers should be evaluated to standardized testing were discussed.

“When I wrote this, I had no idea it would be read by 100 plus students, but I’m glad you did,” Goering said.

The meeting, Seale said, was a time to express opinion and ideas to better our country.

After the meeting Seale’s students are using the information gathered as well as Goering’s blog post to write their own blog post about public education in America.

“They are writing a blog to question and analyze what Goering wrote,” Seale said. “They’re adding to the conversation.”

Click on Mr. President: On Education, You Can’t Handle the Truth to read the full article.