Foster City Islander Article - 06-27-2007

Envision Foster City 100 Years in the Future

Imagine strolling around our Civic Center on a breezy summer evening 100 years from now. You see the entrance to the venerable old “Art and Tech High” and “Ed Center” that recently celebrated its centennial. You remember the exciting speech by one of the high school’s famous graduates, a Nobel Prize winner, who recounted its many valuable contributions to our community.

As you pass the school, you marvel at its ingenious integration into the surrounding buildings, an innovation in city planning. You reflect on the thousands of students who have graduated from the school, which was in the vanguard of the now famous “Education Revolution” that started in the 1990s and eventually led to the complete revamping of our nation’s educational system by 2020.

You remember learning in American History that a century ago (i.e., 2007) our country was loosing its global competitiveness because of its antiquated public schools. To reverse this slide, schools gradually learned how to motivate students and prepare them to compete in the rapidly evolving global marketplace; and then America’s economic standing in the world steady improved.

You’re stunned when you realize that those better educated students were the very people who solved the major problems facing the world in the early 21st century, global warming, alternative energy, global terrorism, universal healthcare and immigration reform. You’re grateful when you think of the important role that the “Ed Center” played in the educational and cultural life of our town over the last century and how it has helped make Foster City a great place to live and raise a family.
You remember the wise and courageous people who led that “Education Revolution” and you’re thankful to those leaders who had the vision and courage to build “Art and Tech High” and the “Ed Center” a century ago.

Contact me at phyllismoore1@comcast.net or 650-349-5676

http://www.fchighschool.org/.