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Issue 92
Board Member's Benchmarks
In May, the day after I was appointed to
fill a vacancy on the Healdsburg Unified School District Board, board
members Judy Velasquez and Anne Schroeder each called me to invite me to
visit the schools. Their phone calls caused me to pause; “What if what I
saw wasn’t okay with me? “ It turned out to be “way more than okay.”
After 30 plus years as a teacher/educator/principal, one tends to
develop one’s own set of standards and benchmarks when evaluating
schools and teachers. And so, when I made my first visit to Healdsburg
schools, it was those benchmarks and set of standards that shaped my
view of the Healdsburg Unified School District.
Benchmark #1: Engaged Learners
Engaged learning is “meaningful learning experiences for students”. And
engaged learners is what I saw at each school. They were engaged in
serious academic work – in math, history, English and the arts. It is
not an accident that our students have been admitted to Yale, Dartmouth,
NYU and the University of California campuses and to many other fine
colleges and universities. This district has demonstrated a tradition of
preparing students for the most rigorous of academic environments; our
graduates have demonstrated that they can excel in these environments
precisely because of their academic preparation.
Benchmark #2: Teachers that are Passionate About Teaching
We are a country that loves numbers and charts and bell curves. I am,
quite frankly, into passion for kids, as well as for one’s subject
matter. And that was precisely what I saw as I walked through the
hallways of Healdsburg High School and entered the classrooms, as well
as what I saw in the other hallways and classrooms of all the schools.
The classrooms were rich with art and objects relating to the various
subject areas. These were the classrooms of teachers invested in their
students and invested in the profession of teaching. The students were
smiling, polite, welcoming. Trust and respect enhance learning; fear
inhibits learning. I saw both trust and respect in the classrooms, both
ways – teachers to students and students to teachers.
Benchmark # 3: “Cultural Norms Owned by The Students”, not just the
grown-ups
In many well respected, academically acknowledged public high schools
across our country, there are security guards in the hallways whose sole
job is to get the kids to class. In good schools, the students own the
norms of the culture, and literally pass these norms down from class to
class, in a somewhat tribal manner. What I observed in every one of the
schools was an intrinsic ownership, by the students, of appropriate
behavior, in the classroom and in the hallways. Hallways were orderly,
quiet. The students love their schools, their teachers and are kind and
respectful. I observed very few imposed behaviors. Our arrival was not
announced: the classrooms I walked into were comfortable, and engaged.
Benchmark #4: School Pride and Respect = Respect for Oneself (This
benchmark might qualify as unconventional)
My first school visit was to the junior high school. Now, I am an old
(former) seventh and eighth grade English teacher. Middle school is the
land of the ugly duckling; the good news is that the ugly duckling
becomes a swan. The angst and anger of these years is often played out
in weird clothes and haircuts, bad behavior, bad language, and sometimes
vandalism. Which gets me to the point. I walked into the junior high,
and into an immaculate, orderly, happy place. John Curry, the principal,
proudly took us on a tour --first stop: the boys’ bathroom. John knew I
would understand. An immaculate boys’ bathroom in a junior high school
does not exist. But it does at the Healdsburg Junior High School. But
what really exists is pride in one’s school, in one’s place, and hence,
in oneself.
Here I also saw engaged learners---kids working in small groups so
engaged they didn’t look up when the visitors entered the room. I saw
kids smiling when I walked into their classrooms, raising their hands to
tell what they were studying.
As an educator, I felt terrific about what I had seen. Yet, we have some
significant work to do. We need to have an endowment fund so that we can
begin to replace what we have had to cut from the annual budget. We need
to improve not only our student/teacher ratios, but our technology as
well.
But we also need to celebrate and take pride in what we have as a school
district. One way we celebrate is with the annual graduation of our high
school seniors and the Graduation Celebration party hosted by countless
volunteers and donors immediately following the ceremony. I was told at
my first board meeting that all board members were to attend the high
school graduation. I was thrilled. But, I did not know what to expect.
I arrived at the designated meeting place a half an hour early. The
graduates were already there, lined up, ready to march. I was struck by
how polite, controlled and orderly they were, all 200 plus kids. And,
every one was there. No late stragglers rushing in. No hats being
“frisbeed” across the street; no catcalls; no disorder. Just a great
bunch of kids patiently waiting for what was probably the most exciting,
important event of their lives, so far.
From the speeches, to the vocal and instrumental solos, to the handing
out of the diplomas, every moment spoke of deep personal feeling, of
love and caring, and of justifiable pride by administrators, teachers,
parents, the community, and by the graduates themselves for each and
every one of these graduates, their classmates.
And when the ceremony ended, and the sun began to set on a gorgeous
evening, I thought to myself, what Healdsburg should be known for, is
not just for its wonderful restaurants, wineries, or upscale shops. It
should also be known for its sense of community, its great high school
graduates, and for the fantastic, personal, excellent education the
Healdsburg School District provides for its students.
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