School Board attends National Conference

  by Rachel Dahl -- The Churchill County School District Board of Trustees meets tonight in their regular meeting at the Old High School at 6:00 p.m. At their last board meeting each member of the board of trustees shared what they learned at the National School Boards Association conference that was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in April. The board, along with superintendent Summer Stephens traveled to the conference where they attended workshops and trainings in all aspects of education. Trisha Strasdin spoke about how impressed she was to hear repeatedly at the conference the same verbiage being used among the local district as the idea of personalized learning and “profile of a learner” along with “Pathways” are implemented. She is concerned about the students the district is not reaching, and talked about data that was presented at the high school regarding 25% of the students who are not engaged and not progressing toward graduation. “Education is broken in our country,” she said,” as we transition from the Industrial Age to the Technology Age, we have had a bumpy road.” She said we do a good job of celebrating the successes at the high school, “but how do we overcome the challenges?” “The national school board take away for me,” said Phil Pinder, “is you spend a lot of time wondering – is there anyone else in this country who has these problems and the answer is yes.” Pinder said education is not being funded properly anywhere and everyone in this country who is serious about educating kids is going to have to get serious about funding. “We’ve got to educate for Career and Technical Education and work toward apprenticeships,” he said. He also said that the way we educate is going to change, and changes will be tough, frustrating, and challenging. “But, I‘m here to tell you, we in Churchill County can do it if we roll up our sleeves — these decisions won’t be easy, and we might not be right all the time, but I’ve appreciated all the input I’ve received and I hope the communication continues.” Fred Buckmaster attended a workshop on teen mental health during the conference and commented on how important teachers are for our students. He mentioned the program Jaime Shafer has been doing – the “why you matter program” and the impact that has for students. He also talked to some members of a small school district in Wyoming that is facing many of the same things we’re facing and some of the innovative programs they are trying. Matt Hyde also talked about mental health and our young people. “What’s wrong with kids today — there’s nothing wrong with kids today, nothing,” he said. He said it isn’t kids today who have changed, but the environment they come into that has changed. “We need to change the environment to a positive environment, and we need to change the political culture of this district.” Carmen Schank described the impressive manual provided at the conference that described each of the classes that was available for professional development. She also described the enormous exhibit hall and the trade show that was part of the conference with every possible vendor demonstrating all the products available to districts across the country. There were numerous companies that contract with districts to provide safety equipment, sell busses, books, furniture, “and all the things available to bring into your schools,” she said.  Schank also said that she attended several meetings and heard about money being cut from impact aid, discussion about vouchers and charter schools, which the National School Board Association does not support. “These meetings are valuable to get a sense of what’s trending, from Social Emotional Learning and bullying to governance and ethics, every board member should be able to go to see what goes on.” She also said that there are hundreds of thousands of jobs that can’t be filled. “There aren’t enough writers, and everything from banking to sewing is going to technology.” Amber Getto echoed the CTE discussion, saying many of the problems in the ChurchillCSD are nationwide problems. CTE will become increasingly more important and it is important to remember that learning happens anywhere, not just in a traditional classroom. According to Getto she learned that there are seven million jobs open with skill sets that are not available. “Change is hard, but teachers can’t continue to teach the way they taught us,” she said. “We have to change with the times.” Kathryn Whitaker said that she also heard that students aren’t the problem, the systems are the problem. “Now with a board that’s more forward-thinking people are like, screaming, and they don’t know what to think and they’re scared.” She said there has been discussion recently at the high school about how to offer more rigor, but with great emotion, said there was no discussion about leaving behind about 25% of students. “We need to be forward thinking and change the way we approach differentiation and pacing and offer the options students need. “I was pleased that the board felt validated in the work we are undertaking with our strategic plan and developing the profile of a learner,” said Stephens about the ongoing themes that emerged at the conference.  “It affirmed their commitment to working toward a more personalized and customized system for learning.” She said her key affirmations from the conference were the focus on career pathways and building relationships that lead to increased success and connectedness. “We are in partnership in schools with amazing, boundless creatures of possibilities (our students), competency-based systems are effective, productive struggle is important, and that we are in this to ensure that all learners are life-ready,” she said. Each board member agreed with Schank’s sentiment regarding the investment made in sending the entire board to the national conference, “It was a fascinating and wonderful experience.”   Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon. Never miss the local news -- read more on The Fallon Post home page.