Thanks to Our Custodial Staff!

In the final couple of weeks before the start of the new school year, it becomes a flurry of activity around the district.  Our staff is working under an incredibly unforgiving timeline and really pull out all the stops to ensure we are ready to go for the start of the school year.  I think you will all agree that the facilities look fantastic!  If you see one of our hard working members of the staff, please thank them for their hard work!

Late last week I was visiting with Mr. Schlatter and asked him if he could find someone who would be willing to clean out the flowerbeds and landscaping along the East side of the elementary building.  He told me that it wouldn't be a problem and that he would take car of it.  The next day as I was walking over to the high school I noticed that this area had been taken care of.  I asked Mr. Schlatter who it was that took care of it so quickly, and he remarked that he had no idea.  I did some checking around to see who it may have been, but no one seemed to know who this wonderful person was who completed such a selfless act of volunteerism.  We still don't know who the "Flower Bed Fairy" is, but if you are out there reading, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you!

The Board of Education met last night in a regular business meeting.  As far as meetings go, it was a pretty routine meeting.  I will get to some of the specifics in a moment, but first wanted to extend a thank you to the parents who came to the meeting to advocate for an additional teacher in the kindergarten.  We all recognize that the kindergarten sections are larger than we would like them to be, but we also recognize this isn't a problem that is isolated to just the kindergarten.  We made pretty dramatic cuts in staff from last year, the by-product of which is larger class sizes; systematically.  Believe me when I tell you that we hear what you are saying, and if we could there is no doubt we would add teachers to our staff to reduce class size.  Unfortunately until we are in a better financial position, it is important that we stay the course.  We will continue to monitor the situation in the coming weeks.

In other action last evening, the Board spent time touring the facilities to see how some of the updates and upgrades to the district have come along.  There was also a review of some policies that will come up for action in the next couple of months (we are specifically looking into our policy on student permits for school), along with a policy on staff use of technology.  

This will be an interesting conversation in the coming months, especially since the state of Missouri recently banned the use of social media in the schools.  They no longer permit teachers to use such sites as Facebook for student learning opportunities.  What do you think about that?  Should teachers be permitted to use social media sites, such as Facebook for educational purposes?  

Iowa: Did You Know?

 

During the last several weeks, I have been commenting on the Education Summit and some of the challenges that we face with the whole idea of reforming our educational system in Iowa.  I belabored the point that, although important, this work can't move forward without the full support of the decision makers at the state level.  In fact, in my conversations with people who have asked, my comments about the education summit have been summed up in a pretty simple phrase, "talk is cheap".  Perhaps there has been some skepticism in my tone.  I find myself asking the question, "Does Iowa have the political will to transform our educational system?"  We don't yet know the answer to that question.  Time will tell.

In Hudson, we know all too well that money is tight.  Our current financial position has caused us to make some tough decisions and no doubt there are still difficult decisions to come.

To reform our educational system, from the state down to the district level, it is going to force all of us to view education through a different paradigm.  Unfortunately, the schools we have today look very much like the schools that you and I attended.  I say 'unfortunately', because so much has changed in that time frame.  Computers and the Internet have changed all of that.  We are a global society, and yes, we are training our students for jobs that don't even exist yet. 

When we think about school, we think about what it was like when we were there.  Tragically, we often think that is what school should look like for our children.

So then, have I made my point?  Change is hard.  We have financial considerations, and a system of educating our population that is based on a model that is over 100 years old.  Those are two pretty huge obstacles that stand in our way.  It would be very easy to kick the can down the road and leave the task to someone else. 

But what is at stake?  Take a look at the video that is included with my post this week.  Some of you have probably seen the popular "Did You Know" videos.  This one has been specially prepared for Iowa and very clearly illustrates what is at stake.  The video is authored by Dr. Scott McLeod of Iowa State University, who is also a co-author of the very popular "Did You Know" series.  After viewing the video, I would encourage you to join the conversation by visiting and bookmarking the Iowa Future website.

For those of you that are avid readers like me, I would recommend you read The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner, co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  In his book, Wagner outlines seven 'survival skills' for today's youngsters.  These are not the same skills we were taught in school.

We can all agree that this will be difficult.  The challenge will be to get everyone to agree that this is necessary.  Shall we roll up our sleeves and get to work?