Teacher Appreciation Week

As we celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week, it again seems appropriate to dedicate this column to the efforts of our teachers who continue to work so tirelessly to positively affect the lives of our students in the Newton community.

When I first entered my classroom as a novice high school English teacher, teaching did not appear to be nearly as complicated and complex as it is today. There were not the many federal and state mandates in place; the quest for school accountability embodied by the Quality Performance Accreditation process was not even looming on the horizon; No Child Left Behind referred to making sure all students were accounted for in the auditorium or on the field trip bus, not to raising the bar for many facets of the educational process. Technology consisted of constantly ruining ties and white shirts by running ditto and mimeograph machines. How things have changed!

And yet, in many other ways, things have not changed very much at all. Our teachers continue to do the most important work that takes place in our community on any given day – they impact the lives of our students, preparing them to become productive citizens in the 21st century world. Of greater significance is the fact that the world requires more of our students in many ways than did the world of past generations. And, students coming to us in 2009 are more dramatically impacted by that world than perhaps we were when we were in school.

In addition, educational institutions are faced with more complex challenges than ever before, not unlike those challenges facing our community, our state and our country. The current financial dilemma is just an example of the ambiguities and uncertainties which seem to permeate our profession and our lives.

The glory of it all is that we continue to rise to ever-increasing challenges. Because of our teachers, students are being exposed to greater learning opportunities than at any time in our history. Perhaps Albert Einstein said it best: “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” We could dwell on the present difficulties, but prefer instead to consider the possibilities and opportunities which we have in educating our students. Every day in our classrooms presents new opportunities for teaching, for learning, and for educational success.

Teachers have become true “miracle workers,” demonstrating that it is possible to perform daily education miracles with limited resources and significantly increased demands. A great testament to that statement is the fact that all of our schools have continued to make significant student achievement gains even with higher targets to reach.

I hope you will join me this week in saluting our teachers who continue to provide the educational expertise, dedication and perseverance that has served our students and community so well for the past 136 years! Remember in your own educational experiences a teacher who “made a difference” in your life, being thankful for that teacher’s involvement and personal interest in you. We have the greatest jobs in Newton – we create the future through the work we do with our students every day. Let’s pause to thank our teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week (and perhaps every day for that matter) for the fine work they perform in USD 373.

Fasten Your Seatbelts...

I guess I’m in a reflective mood this afternoon as I write this newest blog for our district web site. The legislature will adjourn this afternoon and will reconvene for the “veto” session (nice choice of words) at the end of April. We still have little understanding of the impact of the stimulus funding for education either on our state or on our school district. We are also facing an election of board members next Tuesday. Those board members (at least one new one) will continue to grapple with the financial decisions which have been made by those far removed from the education enterprise. As Bette Davis said in one of her great movies, “Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy ride!” I think we have done as much preparation as we can, given the limited information we have at our disposal. With a transition in the Governor’s office also in the mix, it will be an interesting time for sure. If I could wish one thing, as I reflect today, it would be for an epiphany in leadership at all levels in our state. We need more leaders willing to be courageous, to do the right thing for the citizens of Kansas, and not indulge in the same type of rhetoric which has plagued real progress in our state in the past. Alas, the old adage remains true; “If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’ll get the same results you have always gotten.” I believe we have to be the model of hope and optimism in this trying time; we have to continue to examine what we do, hone our practice, and make sure we use the needs of students as our litmus test for every decision we make. I remain optimistic about our profession; about other areas…..not so much.

Let me know what you are thinking as we move to the completion of this school year.

Opportunity for Self-reflection

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, -- in short, the period was --- like the present period .”

-- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

I was struck by this quote as I watched the Ronald Colman version of “A Tale of Two Cities” the other night. In addition to being one of my favorite movies, it is also one of the best novels ever written in my opinion. It also reminds me of another quote that says,
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Dickens lays it all out for us in his brilliant novel; the lack of attention to the plight of the common people; the dangers of mob rule; the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

Well, I’m not sure I want to go that far, but it does remind me that people survive the most dire situations and ultimately life does get better. We appear to be in such a dilemma today. We are facing difficult times; but, I believe we will not only persevere, we will survive and thrive. It is going to take all of us working together to make good things continue to happen for the students in our district. However, with the all district collaboration, we saw the power of idea generation by over 600 employees for the betterment of our district. As I said at the general meeting, these times give us the opportunity for self-reflection and for putting forth ideas which, ultimately, will improve our district and when we improve our district, we improve the educational opportunities for our students.

Thanks to all of you for your willingness to work with us for the betterment of USD 373.

John Morton

Time to put on our thinking caps

I wanted to visit a bit about the all-district collaboration which I have called for the morning of Friday, February 27, 2009. It seemed important to me and to others on the administrative team to garner input from all of our staff about ways to economize, work “smarter and not just harder” and to be proactive in the fact of economic and fiscal uncertainty. To that end, we decided to pursue the collaboration as a means of getting all of our staff members involved in brainstorming ideas to further the cause of teaching and learning in our district in ways which might both assist us financially and afford our students greater opportunities than they now have.

We will be addressing the issues of time, staffing, resources and building on our successes on this day. Each of the thirty work groups will be asked to come up with their top suggestion in each of the four areas which will be submitted and summarized for the entire group. Summaries will be sent out to all staff on the Monday following our Friday meeting. I believe that there is some urgency here and I hope that we have clearer direction from the legislature than we now have. To that end, I am asking each of you to put on your thinking caps and come to our session prepared to offer your great ideas both for the short term and long term for USD 373.

If something prevents you from participating, feel free to send me an e-mail with your ideas. We need everyone as we work collaboratively to continue to move our district forward in an uncertain time. I look forward to February 27 and to some great ideas which, hopefully, we can implement both this year and next.

Working Smarter

I appreciated the hopeful, yet pragmatic tone of President Obama’s address yesterday.There is no doubt that things will probably get worse before they begin to get better.We will be watching the legislature with interest and anticipation as its members grapple with ways to assist our state out of its current financial morass. What does that mean for us in USD 373? It means that we need to think about our current and future expenditures and continue to think about ways to work smarter and more creatively as we face the prospect of reduced budgets. One thing I have been thinking about is an employee idea bank, where our staff can make suggestions for saving money for the district. It is going to take all of us thinking and working collaboratively to move past our current situation.

I’ll be putting something out to staff in the near future regarding this project. It is still my fervent hope that we will be able to achieve budgetary reductions without having to eliminate any staff. If you have additional ideas, I would be happy to hear them. Thanks for all you continue to do for our students in USD 373.

New Year, New Ideas

Here we are at the start of a new year which, hopefully, brings new promise and better times to our country. I have recently been in two retreats with our administrators to address issues that will be facing us both in the immediate and more distant future. I will send out that information to staff this week. I am hopeful that we can collectively think of ways to continue to expand learning options for our students and to provide the necessary resources to support our staff. It will, undoubtedly, be a challenging budget year for us. However, we need to examine things we can do which do not necessarily cost money, but which might improve the educational opportunities we provide. I will once again be visiting with staffs in each of our buildings and departments in an effort to hear what staff members have to say about our district and where we are headed. I hope you will choose to join in those discussions. We spent a lot of time yesterday discussing how we might identify and address root causes of issues facing our district and, we hope to use some of the techniques we discussed in conversations with staff. I am meeting with the Sunset staff today so those staff members will be my guinea pigs with this process. I hope all of you returned to the new semester rejuvenated after the long break and prepared with the planning day yesterday. Thanks to those teachers who shared their thoughts with me regarding the benefits of the planning day to begin second semester.

We are undoubtedly going to have to challenge some of our assumptions this semester, and we are going to have to find ways to work together in the best interests of our students. I am confident that we can do so in such a way that will continue to move our school district forward. Thanks for going on this exciting journey with USD 373 and I look forward to your comments.

Keeping the Focus on Students...

One of my favorite quotes is by Dr. Robert Schuller. He once said, “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.” We know that we are in for challenging times in the months and possibly years ahead. However, it is important to remember that the downturns we are experiencing are not permanent; And, reflecting on the quote I sent to you last week, how we react is often more important that the situations we face. So, I guess the point of today’s blog is to suggest that we need to keep focused; primarily upon the students we serve, remembering that they are experiencing similar feelings to ours with all of the uncertainty surrounding us. We may be the bright spot in their day. Keeping the focus on students, on learning, keeps the focus off of us and our issues. I think we have tough, resilient staff members in our district, capable of withstanding whatever comes our way.
Together, we can overcome obstacles and maintain a positive educational climate in our district. We may also need to be a bit more sensitive to and more respectful of each other as well. Stress is not fun. How we manage stress may be challenging. However, I know that by supporting each other, we provide each other with additional ways to both cope with and survive internal and external stressful situations. In the spirit of the season, I am suggesting that we need to take a deep breath, find ways to relax and reflect, and be thankful that we work in a profession that so profoundly impacts so many people and, in effect, the very future of our community, our state, and our nation. Thanks for reading and I’ll look forward to your responses…