Alison Scholl Gives a Voice to Teachers and Students in Crisis in IF A TREE FALLS

Related: Alison Scholl, If A Tree Falls, AuthorHouse, education, nonfiction

In "If a Tree Falls" (published by AuthorHouse), Alison Scholl's new book on issues in modern education, readers are given an uncomfortably stark look into the classroom and the troubling issues that arise there. Through this raw portrayal of students' experience, she hopes to inspire readers to become agents of change in what she sees as dire circumstances.

"If a Tree Falls" is designed to be a catalyst that will bring leaders together. Scholl argues that, through focused leadership, a system (or systems) can be designed which focuses on helping children, both cognitively and emotionally. Her book is unapologetic in its portrayal of classroom problems and issues, and it is Scholl's intent to use this blatant honesty to inspire readers to get involved with instating change and reform for the sake of all students and society as a whole.

The book pushes readers to feel uncomfortable enough about what goes on in a classroom that they will be compelled to get involved in bringing about change.

An excerpt from "If a Tree Falls": "Imagine school as a rain forest. The children who are loud, disrespectful, and misbehaved are loud chainsaws that are cutting down the spirit and drive of the other children. We continue to spend money to power the chainsaws and then wonder why there are fewer and fewer trees. The forest wasn't dying before the introduction of the chainsaws. The forest does well in less affluent and more affluent areas when the trees are exposed to more rain or more sun. If there is a drought, these trees make adjustments. But no tree has a chance against the chainsaws."

Scholl is cognizant of how unsettling her book will be for readers, but she has presented the subject matter this way intentionally. "Society is obviously not uncomfortable enough to be willing to make the hard changes needed," she says. "I want to push them hard to get there. Allowing children to continue to suffer due to apathy is unacceptable to me."

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