Best of Luck to the Class of 2012

Yesterday Wyndmere watched as 18 graduates proudly accepted their diplomas to signify the accomplishments of 13 years of hard work. Graduation is a bitter sweet day for anyone who works in education. On the bad side, you are saying goodbye to young adults you have watched grow for years. Thousands of hours were spent with these individuals in the classroom, music room, FFA meetings, and athletic practices. When one has that type of daily interaction with these quality young people, it takes a little time to get used to not seeing them anymore. However, the positives far outweigh the negatives as we as a staff couldn't be more proud whenever a young man or woman accepts that diploma. It is very rewarding for the students, but is just as rewarding for the staff. We as a school wish each and every one of them the best as they move on to the next step in life. On whatever road they may choose, we all wish them to find success and happiness.
Congratulations Class of 2012!

Russell and Patsy Janssen

Earlier this school year, Russell Janssen passed away. Shortly after, the school received notice that the district would be a benefactor of his estate. Before I discuss the generous donation, it is important to first acknowledge both Russell and Patsy's contribution to this community and school.

Since I have been in Wyndmere I have walked past a trophy case each and every day. The trophy case doesn't hold district championship trophies or game balls, but instead holds the history of a truly remarkable career in education. For 51 years, Patsy Janssen worked in small country schools and the Wyndmere school district. Think about that for a second...51 years. That is enough time to see three generations sitting in a school desk. Anyone who grew up in Wyndmere had a connection to her. Either you had her as a teacher, your parents had her as a teacher or your children had her as a teacher. Sometimes all of those were true. I never met Patsy, but I feel as if I sat in her classroom because she is a relative legend in this school.

While I know less about Russell, his reputation preceded him as well. I learned of a man who had some unique hobbies, such as his radio correspondence with friends from around the world. However, what most impressed me most about what I heard was his love for his wife. Even after Patsy passed away, people would remark about how his love for his wife still carried on, stronger than ever. This is something that I have the utmost respect for.

But now let me discuss Russell Janssen's will. As many people may have heard by now, the school was a benefactor of a very generous monetary gift. A gift was given to the elementary, in what I view as a gift to the same type of students Patsy called her own for years. The other portion was given to the high school to be used for scholarships for graduation seniors.

It is too early to say how exactly the money will be used in the elementary and to what type of students the scholarships will be awarded. Those details will be discussed later.

While the school was fortunate to be selected by Russell (and I am sure Patsy), I feel it is important to mention one other thing. Having seen the will, I was able to see the numerous charitable donations Russell chose to make in his last will and testament. His generosity far extends outside of the school district. This is yet another thing I can respect about the Janssen's and will ensure the generosity will be used to benefit the students of Wyndmere.

STEM Day

Last week our students in grades 7-12 had a little bit different school day. For the first time, Wyndmere held a STEM day. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) provides students an opportunity for students to apply what they learn in everyday classes to a real life work situation.

The students met in the gym in the morning and a couple ladies from NDSCS presented a scenario to the students. The fictitious company was approaching the student groups in order to ask them to test, analyze and market their product, "Magic Sand". Magic sand was a product that was created to help clean up oil spills such as the one that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

The students were split into 14 corporations and all groups included students from every grade (7-12). The goal was to conduct testing on the magic sand and create a marketing campaign which would be presented to a panel of board members.

At the end of the day, here were a few of my observations.

1. I was very impressed with a majority of our groups. Many were well prepared and did an excellent job. And while there were some groups that didn't perform as well, I feel that this was a bit of an eye opener for our students. We plan on doing this a few times again next year and I have no doubt they will take a step forward on their second attempt.

2. I felt this was a great opportunity for students to interact with students they normally wouldn't have. Some groups functioned very effectively, while others had a few more bumps in the road. Ultimately the students were able to see the positive and negative aspects of group work and how to become a better team player.

3. We had many students who were noted for excelling in the public speaking aspect. However, we had many students who had never been asked to do anything like this. As a staff we were able to identify an area where we can improve the education of our students.

In closing, I hope your students had positive feelings about the day. I am sure there are some that had to really step outside of their comfort zone. I know this may be tough for some, but in the end it can only benefit them to get more comfortable with this type of thing as it will only benefit them in their careers after school.

I am interested in hearing parent perspectives about STEM day. Comments on the blog are always appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you.

Measure 2 Thoughts

            This summer on June 12^th, the state of North Dakota is going to head to the polls to make a decision on one of the most important pieces of legislation in recent history. However, contrary to my thoughts on the measure to keep the Fighting Sioux name, that is not the measure I am talking about.

            Measure 2 is the item on the ballot in June that would eliminate authority to levy property tax. The idea may sound very simplistic in nature, but the effects of such legislation would have lasting impact (whether it will be positive or negative impact often becomes a very political discussion).

            This has been a very hotly debated topic in the press, on radio call-in shows, and at local gathering points. It is important to remember that debate is an important part of the process as it hopefully educates the public on the issue. As an administrator of the school I feel it is important to assist in that process by doing two things.

            First, I believe it is important to provide sources of information for the public to become educated on the issues at hand. Both sides of the issue have websites that have a wealth of information. Empowerthetaxpayer.org (Pro-Measure 2) and keepitlocalnd.com (Anti-Measure 2) are great avenues to weigh the points both sides present. This is a critical part of the process as every citizen is hopefully learning about all of the possible scenarios that may arise from either the passing or defeat of Measure 2. As someone who has taken a great amount of time in learning about both viewpoints, I have come to understand it is never as simple as “let’s just eliminate property taxes”. The politics of the issue are in full swing and both sides will only ramp it up as the vote gets closer.

            Second, as the superintendent of a school, the impending vote on Measure 2 has caused a great amount of uncertainty. I can only assume the governing boards of townships and cities have just as much concern. This concern originates from the cloudiness, which is the future financial stability of our schools, towns, and townships. Schools rely on the ability to levy property tax in order to supplement the current state funding. Part of Measure 2 would require the state to fund “legally imposed obligations” of school districts and political subdivisions.  There is much debate about what that exactly means for the future. The legislature would also be required to create a formula, which would determine allocations to school districts and local municipalities. It is impossible to formulate an opinion on what a formula would look like, how it would affect our school, town and townships, and also how long it would even take to create the formula. I mention this not to sway anyone’s opinion either way, but to express how this causes concern as there would be less local control in determining how schools and local municipalities are operated. For another person’s viewpoint on how Measure 2 would impact local governments and local districts here is an article written by a former city auditor and current school business manager.

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/columnists/measure-timeline-impractical/article_0f7aa78c-8af2-11e1-b131-0019bb2963f4.html

            There are many thoughts that I have concerning this issue, but in the end I have one vote, just as you do. What will you do with that vote? Vote yes, vote no..that is up to you. All anyone can ask is that each voter casts a vote based on some form of research and all questions are asked and answered before voting. A measure of this magnitude is owed at least that much.

21st Century Skills

Earlier this month, the staff and I had discussion concerning 21st Century Skills. The 21st Century Skills were identified as a group of skills that are key to thriving in the today's workplace. The following is a list of some of those skills.

Collaboration

Critical Thinking

Communication

Creativity

Financial Literacy

Organization

Problem Solving

Self-Direction

Social Responsibility

Technology Fluency

While all of the skills are important in their own right, I felt it was important for our staff to focus our efforts on a select few. If you make an attempt to focus on all of them, you end up focusing on none of them. So the staff voted and narrowed it down to their top four choices. 

However, before I name the four the staff agreed upon, I am giving you the reader and stakeholder in this school a chance to submit your choices as well. Please reply to this post by identifying your top four choices. You can simply name your choices, but I would be very interested in reading the rationale for your choices as well. 

I hope to hear from many of you!

Community Meeting

I would like to thank the group of parents that attended our community meeting last night. I felt it was a great opportunity to discuss the vision of our school system.

It is my hope that everyone in attendance has a better idea of what lies ahead for our students, staff and parents in terms of academic standards. I feel our district is being proactive with these changes and our students will be better because of it. If anyone is interested in learning more about the Common Core standards there is a link under the "Parents" heading on our school webpage.

I also want to thank the parents who provided us with some great feedback on "What we want out of our school?" We will continue to gather opinions from different stakeholders in order to write our vision statement, a document that will require us to continue to reach new heights as a district.

Thanks again for your input last night and I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Mission of Wyndmere School

A little bit later today, the staff and I are going to sit down and start tweeking our mission statement. It has been in place for nearly 10 years and it is time we reevaluate it and ensure it coincides with the true mission of our school. Our current statement reads as follows...

The mission of the Wyndmere Public School is to provide a safe, respectful, and caring environment so all learners will have an equal opportunity to achieve lifelong success.

When evaluating a mission statement there are three important questions to ask. 

1.  Is it clear?

2.  Is it specific? 

3.  Is it measurable? 

Let's start with question 1. One key to having a clear mission statement is removing ambiguity. In the end it is important for the mission to be so clear and there leaves little room to find multiple meanings. When our staff met last week, there was little clarification needed for the first part of the statement, but the last portion leaves much for the reader to infer. This is something we need to improve on. 

As we move on to question 2, there remains much to be detailed. The statement "equal opportunity to achieve lifelong success" is much to broad a goal to set, much less achieve. This means we as a staff need to become much more specific on what we are intending to accomplish. 

Finding an answer to question 2 will always bring us to step 3. Once we have set a clear and specific mission for our school and students, how are we going to know if we are successful. If I were to refer you back to the statement of "equal opportunity to achieve lifelong success", I would challenge anyone to provide me with a measurement of success in achieving that goal. 

The task of evaluating and rewriting a mission statement is never a quick process. Everyone will have opinions on the language and intent of the mission statement, but nevertheless it is still an important process. Once we are able to set our mission, it is going to be much easier to get staff, administration, students, the school board, parents and the community working together to provide the best possible atmosphere for our kids to succeed in. 

In closing, I have noticed there has been some regular traffic on this blog and I am very excited about that. I am hoping that people are willing to post reply's to the same questions I am asking my staff. The more information provided in this process will only ensure we find the success we are looking for.