Monday, March 1, 2010

A day of sharing and celebration . . .


Today, we had our second meeting focused on documenting our Classroom 10 journey with the intent to seek outside resources to influence the pace of the journey. In the room were teachers, administrators, community members, and high school students. We have identified four components to our work and today we spent time focusing on identifying current reality in each of these areas based on the input from the building level discussions around Classroom 10.

Today was also an opportunity to bring more people into the conversation as we document our journey and seek outside support. One potential source of outside support is the Investing in Innovation (i3) federal grant opportunity. This is just one of what we believe will be multiple opportunities to share our story and search for partners to support our learning. One such partner has emerged with a district in Hawaii who was a part of today’s discussions via ooVoo. There are many questions still unanswered on this journey, but today was another step to ensure that the necessary questions are being surfaced before we identify structures to provide the high support necessary for success on this journey.

I am energized by the work of this team and the potential to bring additional resources into our system. The pace of change on our journey will be slow unless we can find outside sources of revenue to support our work.

The day ended on a very high note this evening as the school board sponsored a celebration for those teachers in our system that have achieved National Board certification. Superintendent Dorn sent a statement acknowledging the number of teachers reaching this honor, 25, and the level of support we provide for them during this rigorous learning opportunity. Terry Duty, high school principal, was recognized by Superintendent Dorn for his advocacy and leadership in this program. It was an enjoyable opportunity to share our appreciation and thank these teachers for their commitment to learning and growth in our chosen profession.

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