Thursday, February 16, 2012

Kazenopolis: "The mini city also has junior Border Patrol agents"



Way to go! The Laredo Morning Times ran a story this morning on Kazenopolis, a so-called mini-city at one of the local schools complete with it's own aspiring Border Patrol agents. What better way to discourage bullying, especially against the English Language Learners (the current designation for Spanish-speaking students).

Can you imagine those junior Border Patrol agents stopping a non-English speaking student in the halls "papers please!".

From The Laredo Morning Times

The mini-city

The teller station is the community’s centerpiece.

There, students can open accounts, make deposits, write checks, balance checkbooks and withdraw their “Kazenopolis Cash.”

Meanwhile, booths representing the mini-city’s departments line the hallways surrounding the library.

Departments include the post office, utilities, recycling, agriculture and a radio station.

The mini-city also has junior Border Patrol agents.

There’s also a mini-mart, where students can spend their mock currency. Items range from pencils and crayons to basketballs.

Prices were jacked up after inventory started selling fast.

Some students protested the increased prices.

Staff, in turn, saw this as an opportunity to teach them about inflation.

Students who wanted to complain about the increased costs were asked to write letters to the Kazenopolis mayor or city council.

The goal of the project is to teach students the basics of local government.

3 comments:

  1. >>>The goal of the project is to teach students the basics of local government.

    Huh. So when is the concept of political corruption gonna be taught? What about the notion of selling one's soul for the mighty dollar? Is that a 5th grade or 3rd grade lesson?

    El Alcalde, Raul Salinas, is clearly a role model in this type of behavior.

    Bring him in to show the students about other lessons:

    1) Using political patronage to remain above the law
    2) How to deflect questions about pending divorce trials during political functions
    3) How to use private businesses to line one's pockets

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  2. I think there's a similar course being planned for middle school, modeled after our county government. The curriculum and instrucion department is working on exactly what would be the best way to teach political cronyism: creative job creation to repay your canoneros.

    Event coordinator for the community centers comes to mind.

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  3. Fix your government and leave the kids alone.

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