We applaud your choice to relocate your family and your life's work to our energetic and vibrant community. We hope you will quickly discover how many ordinary citizens here with extraordinary talents hold a desire to contribute to the public education system.
Most people would give their eyeteeth to participate in a robust civic life, if they could first envision one, and then see their way in. Democracy comes alive when "official leaders" welcome the "unofficial and ordinary leaders" all around them. It makes a huge difference to share the heavy lifting - a privilege and a responsibility that comes with the territory of democracy.
This community looks forward to working with you on behalf of the next generation and their collective future.
"Good leadership is not a matter of getting everyone to follow you. Good leadership is helping the group or community make the best out of each individual's contribution. A good leader organizes or catalyzes a partnership of thought and action that cultivates and harvests each member's unique contribution for collective understanding and success. The best leaders are like the best teachers and parents: They enable their groups to independently nurture and utilize their wisdom and resources."Tom Atlee, “Deep Democracy and Community Wisdom“
12 comments:
"Mary's Farewell" is a disturbing, disingenuous but revealing piece. "Malicious bloggers" take heed. The Constitution guarantees all of us the right to free speech. The site manager has done an excellent job keeping this forum under control, yet giving everyone a fair chance to speak their opinions, which of course, we all have a right to.
Not long ago I attended the DHS FFA Chapter's annual awards banquet where Dr. Barter spoke at length about the importance of ag programs to the district. Her farewell article contrasts starkly with the comments she gave that evening. She now says that the district's "historical agricultural community has given way over the years to ex-urbanites who enjoy SW Colorado's rural setting. These changes have forced the district to consider whether it should continue traditional programs that primarily have served the needs of the agricultural community or whether resources should be used for different programs." She goes on to say that "the board and superintendent have a responsibility to explore whether preserving tradition will negatively affect the district's ability to prepare students for work in the global marketplace and that the superintendent clarifies the conflict in values and financial, social and institutional ramifications of either course of action."
My translation: the superintendent must translate the social, economic and financial effect of these sorts of decisions for elected board members??? How about letting the community do that? How about board members reaching out to the community to specific affected populations for insight and opinion? How about the school board putting together meaningful, independent and effective advisory councils made up of people who actually engage in the affected industries to help guide them through their investment decisions? How about including graduates of the DHS welding, woodworking and automotive departments who would probably have the best insight about vocational program needs?
I am a determined advocate of the agriculture and trade vocation departments within the district. While it is true that land values and commodity markets have had a dramatic impact on production agriculture in this region, it is also true that we all (because we eat) have a vested interest in preserving our local agricultural industry. The same can be said for the rest of the vocational programs.
Not all children are destined for Ivy League institutions. Some will leave high school to go into vocational fields, thank goodness. If not, where will the next generation of construction, metal fabrication, steel workers, livestock managers and automotive technicians come from and will we outsource those services as well as all the others that have gone offshore in recent years?
The vocational and ag programs at DHS have historically been "under funding threats" for years, which has not permitted them to flourish and thrive. That's a true shame. For many reasons they have been positioned for failure, yet they have not. The construction project that left the kids in the welding department in harm's way is a great example. These programs have adapted to surviving on a shoestring and little attention, with parents managing many of the additional expenses and conducting fundraising events to support their kids. Close scrutiny of the budget demonstrates that the budget knife hasn't been applied equitably to all areas, including administrators and support staff.
I sincerely hope the district's leadership can now get past the mindset that generating effective, well-educated, blue-collar workers is something that should be hidden and forgotten. Rather, we should be investing in children with these interests equally and with just as much pride and fervor as the next generation of lawyers, scientists, doctors and athletes.
The budget issues at hand are going to take creative thinking by the school board and they call for a whole new solution-oriented approach. As I've said before on this forum, hiring a new superintendent and hoping for the best is not the answer. People will become engaged if they are listened to, respected and if their input is valued. Let's hope that as of July 1 the secrecy, spin and intimidation come to a screeching halt and that a whole new era of transparency begins where we can discuss openly and frankly the problems and arrive at reasonable solutions. Admitting there are problems is the very first step towards finding resolutions and that's something we haven't been permitted to do.
Well spoken, Leesa! Food = the future and our agricultural roots thankfully have been nurtured by ex-urbanites who totally get it ...Visit the Farmer's Market any weekend! Ag lives and evolves. Food: global, local and vital to the next generation's future - how to finance it, preserve farmland, conserve and distribute water, develop new technologies and markets. To couch the CTE program's lack of support in this context of having to balance community values - "the needs of the agricultural community" - made absolutely no sense.
The situation Mr. Owen inherits is far more complex than a Sunday Supplement farewell.
However, we must carefully weigh where we put our energies. I hope we're finished with being run ragged by 9-R's contorted misrepresentations.
The only reason I'd take this on one final time is that people believe what they read -- even when they might know it's wrong... (see recent NY Times story on "How your brain lies to you..."
And very few people - relatively speaking- have had any substantive relationships with 9-R - beyond our teachers, parents and students.
So maybe it's worth one more letter to the Herald standing up to the outgoing PR machinery's claims made in past few days.
Good grief. I'd hardly know where to begin. But maybe with reference to when we'd last seen "healthy decisionmaking" and "difficult dialogue" not to mention "vigorous debate." I think I'll conserve my energy to work with the new superintendent who hopefully has been able to keep an open mind in this initial season of transition in which "Barter... has been in close contact with Owen since he was hired..." (today's Herald.)
I really appreciate what Leesa has to say and how eloquently she says it.Free societies are societies in motion, and with motion comes tension,dissent,friction. Free people strike sparks, and those sparks are the best evidence of freedom's existence. Mary Barter never understood this, nor does she who will remain unnamed. What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.
Hopefully our new superintendent will actively and honestly engage ALL members of the community in discussions about education and it would help if he could bring himself to speak in a simple, uncluttered style.
One of the many problems faced by school administrators is that they have to report to people who know little or nothing about education - to wit, school board members and state legislators. Dr. Barter always played this to her advantage by using the horrible jargon of professional educators, being apt to carry on about "the comprehensive standards-based review proces," or "the strategic future-oriented planning process paradigm." This kind of language plays well with Leadership LaPlata but does diddly for your average parent.
I like Dr. Owen because he is not that far removed from the classroom. The way the system is set up now the only way a teacher can make more money, get more recognition and rise higher in the system is by becoming an administrator. So, year after year, a discouragingly high number of them go back to school and get advanced degrees in school administration so they too can become part of the school bureaucracy. Sadly too many of them suddenly cease being educators and start becoming politicians. Let's hope Dr. Owen stays true to his classroom roots.
The renaissance in public education will occur when we stop holding teachers accountable for standardizing students (remember "Celebrate Diversity?)and start holding them accountable for developing great human beings who will be contributors, not burdens, to society. Crafting an education system based on how students can jump over high-stakes hurdles is a terribly dangerous road to travel.
We must change what we try to measure. We must change what we hold teachers accountable for. If we want to attract and hold good teachers (poor teachers were cited as one of the reasons the "small schools" model failed in Oregon) we must give teachers control of the curriculum so they can decide, with parents and students, what subject matter content is best to help students develop their unique talents and gifts and encourage children's natural zest for learning. Positive reform should begin with dialogue involving administrators, teachers parents, and students, about the goals of education. This dialogue should examine present educational policy and practice to find what things contribute to self-confidence and growth and healthy connections among young people, and strenghten the relationships of schools to communities. This might include public hearings, at which parents and teachers and others are encouraged to state their views on appropriate goals for education, and to identify those things in their local school which support or retard these goals. Dr. Owen would have to be both leader and careful listener at such hearings. This would be more productive than the current 3 minutes of "public participation" allowed at our board meetings!.
If we can educate and mobolize this great community force, we can achieve a great deal.
The biggest change we need is for the administration to LISTEN to parents. Too many parents have opted to no longer be involved with 9-R because of poor treatment by the administration. It's time for 9-R to listen to parents and stop trying to leave us out of the equation.
I am glad I was able to attend the school board meeting tonight. It was Keith Owens' first. I leave tomorrow for a few weeks and driving in from the county wasn't easy, but just to see and hear the new start, observing Keith Owen's gracious and easy manner made it well worthwhile. The district is off to a fresh start; we will soon be learning about various ways to approach "strategic planning." I anticipate a style of public involvement that will draw our community together to see that all children are well served. Congratulations, board, on staying the course in this lengthy search process. And thank you, Mr. Owen, for accepting their offer and bringing your family here to join us. We look forward to working with you on behalf of all the interesting and delightfully unique young people growing up in our community.
I'm not sure I can take reading any more nonsense about our failing CSAP scores or "the gender gap!"
Where has everyone been the past 8 years? Now we are going to "research" it all. Our CSAP scores were poor then, and all of a sudden it's a big "Ohh! Let's research that for the next 12-24 months!"
As for the gender gap....I went to school in 1969, and we knew about the gender gap then, which is why we separated boys and girls in the classroom, and I'm sure educators knew about it when my parents went to school fifty years prior to me. LOL.
Why would it even be front page news?
Groan, I just read the rest of the article and someone called Lefly said: “It’s a very interesting finding, and I think it bears more examination. I’m sure we’ll be doing some of that.”
Lefly must be twenty years old or something.
The only thing wrong with education, other than lack of money and vision, is that some left wing do gooder changed what actually worked back in the 1980's.
Thank God this whole stupid blog is grinding to a pitiful halt. Seems the interest in demonization has gone by the wayside (for a brief moment). That is until the new Super makes a "decision". Then it will all start again. But then the new school year (hunting season) is just starting.
By the way, all you peple who supported Paddy... Takes one to know one.
Dear Anonymous,
Get a life!
If you are unable to leave your name but feel it necessary to berate citizens of this community for their opinions on our Public School System seems you have quite a bit in common with Paddy. Paddy dug his hole now he can sleep there why don't you join him? It is a Hunting Season when people like you continue to be blind sided by criticism. OPen you eyes and realize we could do much better. Have you talked to teachers lately? Most support us and are happy someone is paying attention. Hey, we all had a great summer break. Now back to the hunting.
Whilst I´m sitting on a mountain top in Bolivia for five weeks, I got to escape into La Paz for a moment and read the Herald. I´m sorry Paddy was so stupid, I´m surprised that it was a $10K bail. How much was the District Attorneys bail for driving under the influence of a pharmacutical drug....Bolivian computers do not do question marks, but that was a question. Paddy, my friend, you should have waited until Sunday, even though many Durango people leave dogs in their cars and walk them every half hour or so, it was still a silly thing to do, to break in through an open window and retrieve your dog. Patience is a virtue, and your dog could have lasted one night. They don´t euthanase for 30 days, or so I believe.
I like the Anonymous post, the writing reminds me of someone over on 12th Street. I wonder how many times that person drives under the influence, quite a lot I would think. I knew that person would pop a blood vessel over here. We all make silly mistakes, Paddy is only human. Shame Anonymous is not.
P.S. We don´t have to demonise Dr Owens to use your phrasology. I don´t think we ever demonised Mary. We just had enough. Same old, same old, with no success. Mary would have done better to fire that liar, liar pants on fire member of staff, and just stuck to telling us the truth, instead of the East Coast hype.
At least we know through Dr Owens success at Pueblo, we stand a decent chance of moving in the direction we want to go.
As for some board members unable to handle Paddy, with or without the animal shelter fiasco, all I can say is ¨get a life¨. Sure, you will get your recall, but what a shame you were not decent enough to accomodate him. All you have ever done is alienate him by your pompous reactions. I don´t care about the school board any more. Life is sweeter, without all their BS. To one board member, you should watch the board meetings on tape....you would see that you act like one of those 7th grade Esclante girls that Mr Giddings would warn all the entering 6th grade parents about.
Anne:
To whom are you referring? Your obtuse references to "liar liar pants on fire" and "that person (who) drives under the influence" are as bad as anonymous posters. Name names, Anne. Then live with the consequences.
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