Culture of Community and Academic Success

I grew up attending Hilliard City Schools.  As a student, I witnessed the direct impact that teachers could have on a child.  When I was young, I used to join my father for take your child to work day, and since he was a teacher, I also got to see things from the teacher’s perspective as well.  I was fortunate in that I was able to see the daily life of a teacher, at the same time as I was a student myself.  These experiences were formative for me and helped drive home the point that things were more interconnected than they were separate.  I learned that students, teachers, parents, administrators, and all other school staff needed to work together to achieve a common goal.  Unfortunately, all too often I have seen these various groups at odds with each other.

Instead, we need to cultivate a culture of community within our schools that incorporates and values everyone who wants the absolute best for our students. Respect should not only be an expectation, it should be continually taught and reinforced.  

We have taken tangible steps to help foster this cooperative environment such as chairing the new communications committee.  This committee directly involves parents and the members of our community by creating a space for dialogue where questions can be directly answered.

In a similar way, I want teachers to be included in more administrative discussions so that together they can create a vision for our schools and be effective in implementing that vision.  I want an open dialogue between teachers, local administrators, central office, and the school board so that all parties can be unified in their goals. 

Communication must also be continuous and result in appropriate action. Staff cannot possibly implement the required actions to help students if they are unaware of the student’s needs. We must continue to ensure that all students are put in the best possible position to succeed and that their needs are being met.

Perhaps most importantly I believe in a school board that is responsive to all.  If a parent, teacher, administrator, or even a student has an issue that the school board can address; I never want that person to feel like they are a burden to the board.  This is why we have opened more options for engaging directly with district officials including the multi-day portrait of a learner community vision project, the establishment of the communications committee, and the recording of board work sessions. I have also visited every one of our schools to listen to needs and learn how I can best serve.