Taking Ownership

As students move from elementary school to high school, their success is more and more dependent on them taking  greater ownership of their learning.  Teachers gradually relax the student hand holding of  the early years so that at graduation, our students are independent enough to tackle what is next.  That is the plan, but as we all know, it doesn’t always work out that way. 

On Tuesday I attended a youth court event that was held to address the on-going vandalism problem at Kenai Central and Soldotna High School.  It  assumed that this problem stems from the two schools’ rivalry.  After a brief introduction by the youth court director Ginny Espenshade, the youth court student members ran the meeting.  It was attended by about 25 students and six adults .  The goal for the evening was to examine the KCHS/SOHI rivalry and to look for ways to move the students away from the retaliatory mindset that is probably the main motivator for the vandalism.  I thought it was a great first step in breaking down the barriers that are preventing the students from moving past the negative side of this rivalry.  More impressive to me, was the students leading the effort to make this improvement.  As we strive to have the student take more responsibility for their lives, it was good to see that this group is doing just that.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | Leave a comment

Finding the right balance with our students

In  my last post I wrote about the need for the district to be cautious of trying to take on too many improvement efforts.  My analogy (in that post) of driving a car at a fast speed, also applies to our classrooms.  One of the challenges that our teachers face is finding how hard they can push their students to learn.  If they are too soft, the students do not make adequate progress  and if they miss the mark and push too hard, then the kids burn out and school becomes a slog.  Further complicating matters, is that our digital native students often have a difficult time staying focused in a traditional classroom.

I attended Soldotna Middle School’s Turkey Trot today.  This is an annual event where the 7th grade  competes against the 8th grade  in a series of fun games such as blowing a ping pong ball across the gym floor while suspended in a sling of bath towels.  Although the staff tries to maintain a semblance of order during the games, (I’d call it  pandemonium) the main purpose of the event appears to be to scream as loudly as possible.  While the games and competition are fun, I sense that the main reason for the Trot is to offer that diversion or balance to our students’ schooling that we may overlook.  It was a great way to begin the Thanksgiving break.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | Leave a comment

How Fast Can We Drive?

The recent media attenti0n on the nation’s schools that followed the release of the documentary “Waiting for Superman,” caused many in the education community to cringe.  Although I have not seen the film, I am not particularly concerned by this negative publicity because I feel that those who are paying attention to KPBSD recognize that our students’ education is not, as the film suggests, mired in mediocrity.  My sense is that it is good and getting better.  I am however, concerned that we may be trying to do too much.  The question I have to continually ask is are we trying to drive our car faster than it will go?

The KPBSD staff is tasked with the enormous responsibility of doing all that it can to ensure that our students receive a quality education.  Because all of us are already working hard, asking staff to do more is not something that Iwill casually do.   Our work to develop a new evaluation system for our teachers is this year’s most significant improvement effort.  This work is a collaborative effort by teachers and administrators that will lead to improved instruction and hence, a higher level of student learning.  Its implementation will cause us to drive faster; it is important that we recognize this.  I encourage everyone who has an interest in the district to learn why this increase in speed is worth it.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | Leave a comment

Homeless Students

One of the more disturbing statistics that crosses my desk is the number of homeless students being served by our school district.  While the exact number of these children is hard to know, it is currently more than 100.  At its height last spring the number was 275.   This works out to be about 1 in 38 students, a frightening statistic that you might associate wtih Anchorage or a large city Outside.

I attended last night’s Candlelight Vigil for Homeless Youth here in Soldotna.  It was an upbeat affair that belied the depressing issue at hand.  Thanks to David and Debbie Michael for organizing this event.  As we head into our season of thanks, let’s all look for ways to soften the harsh reality that far too many of our students are facing.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | 1 Comment

Improving our Community

On Saturday I attended a community visioning discussion that was sponsored by the Kenaitzes, the Community Action Coalition and the Mobilizing Action through Planning and Partnerships.  A group of about 60 people reviewed what we have in our community that is positive and healthy, what we’d like to see to make our community healthier and then what we can do to realize what we’d like to see. 

It was a good exercise that led to a a lot of thoughtful discussion.  I enjoyed hearing  peoples’ perceptions of our schools and the need for the district to play a role in promoting a healthy community. While I agree that the schools should work toward helping our children live a healthy lifestyle, I feel that it is equally important to promote ideas that will lead to healthy adults.  Our students need the security of living with healthy adults and the foundation of good schools.

Thanks to the three groups for bringing folks together for this, it was a good start to a long process.

On another sadder note, we lost Kenai Middle 8th grade student Rylene Oskolkoff last week in a car accident.  This was a big blow to the school and the community. I send her family the very best during this difficult time.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | Leave a comment

Sense of Community

I suspect that most would agree that a supportive community is a critical ingredient in the recipe for successful schools. A community that is divided over its level of support for education causes school improvement efforts to be that much more difficult. With this in mind, I have watched our federal senate race very closely. The candidates’ endless stream of negative ads and the vandalism of political signs makes me feel that this race is the most divisive political campaign in recent memory. I wonder then, how this political fracturing of our community will affect our schools. Will the political lines in the sand carry over into the support of our schools? On Friday night this concern was pushed aside.
 
I attended the memorial service for Takoda Zimmerman, our student from Nikiski who passed away last week. The overwhelming sense of community at this celebration of Takoda’s life made it clear that the fabric that ties us together is still there and is strong. Although the event was sad and difficult, the outpouring of support for the Zimmerman family was a good reminder that the contentious political divisions only run so deep. In the big scheme of things, they are really not that important.
 
The importance of strong community support for our children, and for one another, cannot be diminished. Let’s not let politics cause us to lose sight of this.
 
On behalf of everyone at KPBSD I send the Zimmerman family condolences for the loss of Takoda and wish them the best during this difficult time.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | Leave a comment

District Honor Choir Concert

When people are asked to describe quality, you will often hear about items that are made with a  high level of craftsmanship.  Predictable examples to go with this description are Swiss watches, German sports cars and Turkish rugs.  I have a new example to add to the list, the district’s Honor Choir Concert.  Although it may be a stretch to  rate the concert at the same quality level as a Porsche, I am happy to have that argument.

The more than 100 high school students who took part in last night’s concert were superb.  Led by guest director, Pat Patton, the choir was, to me, quality.  Bringing the students from our six larger high schools together for the event is an excellent way to celebrate  the extraordinary vocal talent that we have in our district.  Thanks to all who were responsible for making this happen.  If you have not attended this concert in the past, make a point to mark your calendar for next year’s event, you won’t be disappointed.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | Leave a comment

School Food

I attended a community meeting in Homer last night that was called in response to a series of concerns (expressed by some Homer parents and community members) that the district is not doing as much as it can to promote healthy eaters.  While much of the meeting wallowed in a discussion of the nutritional value of school meals, my sense of the real issue at hand was a dissatisfaction by many in the audience with the food culture of our country and the perceived lack of responsiveness (by the district) to do more to alert our students to this culture’s limitations and harmful effects.

To me, this conversation is thus, about a lot more than whether we should offer students fat free chocolate milk.  It is about the role that schools play in influencing culture.  Are schools socially responsible, (I think yes) and how best does a public school act to show this responsibility?  This conversation is of course a slippery one and is often divisive.  In the case of school food, I support the goal to help students understand the bigger food picture.  I don’t feel however, that the district’s is completely missing this mark. 

I commend the parents and community members for their willingness to push the district on this issue.  The district will continue, within the confines of its federal lunch box, to make improvements to school meals.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | 3 Comments

Student Activities

Congratulations to the SOHI football team for winning the state championship on Saturday.  Toward the end of the game, when the result was no longer in question, I watched the sidelines instead of the game.  As expected, the SOHI players were exuberant while the Kenai team was despondent.  Although it was hard to see one of our teams lose, the event reinforced (in me) the value of our student activities.  From the mind amazes competition to cross country running to swimming, each of our activities has an incredible group of students, coaches and parents who are dedicated to their sport or event.  The enormous role that activities play in many of our students’ lives is an important piece of the schooling puzzle.  Thanks to all who make our activities programs so successful.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | Leave a comment

Academic Honors in Nikiski

I was privileged to attend the academic ceremony last night at Nikiski High School where several students were recognized for their scholarship.  Students received academic letters and some were inducted into the National Honors Society.  One of the on-going challenges that we face is how best to offer all that we can for our high school students at our smaller schools.  While it is easy to be enamored with the larger high school experience and its diverse offerings, there is something to be said for a smaller school where the students have known each other for most of their lives.  Watching the students at Nikiski receive their awards last night made it clear to me that they are doing just fine with their smaller high school experience.

Post to Twitter

Posted in Schools and Assessment | Leave a comment