Retired general stresses importance of science and math education
Source: Ocala.com, 3/17
ASP Board Member Gen. Lester Lyles is featured.
By Andy Fillmore
Retired four-star Air Force general and presidential committee member Lester Lyles told a receptive Ocala audience Wednesday night that unless education is revamped to focus on science, technology, engineering and math, many future Americans lacking that knowledge “will be serving French fries at McDonald’s.”
Lyles said although fast food service jobs are important, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning was focused on “centerpiece” jobs in technology.
Lyles’s presentation was part of a lecture series hosted by the Florida Institute of Human and Machine Cognition, located in downtown Ocala.
“We believe in investing in the community,” said John Rogacki, IHMC associate director, about the free series by noted authorities on a variety of subjects.
Lyles’ lecture focused on the world standing of the U.S. in technology and business. He also proposed solutions to deal with “The Gathering Storm,” (the title of the lecture), the name given to concerns voiced by many American leaders about U.S. shortcomings in the global scientific race and STEM education. As if to drive the metaphor home, he said a 2010 study on the topic was called “The Rapidly Approaching Category Five” storm.
“China has replaced the U.S. as the number one technology exporter,” he said. “The computer portion of IBM has been bought by China, and France has taken over Bell Laboratories.”
Lyles retired in 2003 after more than 35 years in the Air Force, which included serving as Vice Chief of Staff and Commander of Materiel Command, which oversees research and development. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in mechanical and nuclear engineering.
He has been awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal and the National Black Engineer of the Year Award, received NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal and was named the Astronautics Engineer of the Year by the National Space Club. He serves on several boards, including the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
Lyles said during his presentation that about 69 percent of those teaching math in the U.S. do not have a degree or certificate in math and about 93 percent of those teaching science do not have a degree or certificate in that subject.
His speech touched on American culture honoring recreation and entertainment figures rather than “our heroes, teachers,” after an attendee mentioned a sports figure drawing a $300 million contract and a professor driving a taxi for income.
Lyles said that in Korea, teachers are called “Jewels of the Future.”
He said teaching methods need to change.
“We can’t use methods of the 1960s,” he said. “We have to use iPods and the Internet.”
Lyles mentioned the “Everybody Wins” (www.everybodywinsdc.org) reading mentoring program and talked about awareness, writing to Congress, funding research centers and encouraging STEM education as “lights at the end of the tunnel.”
“There are things that can be done,” Lyles said. “The problem is, Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, the U.K. and other countries have done them.”
Lyles said an ABC network program recently depicted “removing all the non-American made items from a home, and all that was left was one pot and a stove too heavy to be moved.”
“Walmart has 6,000 suppliers; 5,000 are from China,” he said.
His discussion also alluded to early childhood education.
“There is no natural law that education start at 5. Get rid of ‘pre’ from pre-school and change the value system of education,” he said.
Attendee Lori Martin-Gregory said she soon will open a nursery school in Ocala and raised concerns about reactionary educational methods “not cultivating imagination.”
Lyles suggested “using the arts to stimulate imagination” and “segue to better reading.”
Lyles mentioned students and robotics, and Cornerstone School director Ingrid Wasserfall told him that during the recent Lego robotics competition at Forest High School, three Cornerstone teams advanced to the regional level. She said the Lego lessons were part of the school’s 29-year history of “scientific learning.”
