Election Day: Vote for Milt Williams

If you live in Red Deer and you are eligible to vote, I encourage you to vote for Milt Williams for Red Deer Public School Board.

Milt is fresh off of retiring from teaching just last year after teaching for 24 years in Red Deer Public. I had the pleasure of working with him for some of those years. 

If trustees are to make good decisions about schools, they need to have some experience in schools. Milt has the experience and the wisdom to be an excellent trustee. Milt tweets here and blogs here. 

I was proud to help Milt out during his election, and wish him all the best.

Please get out and vote.

Milt Williams for Red Deer Public School Board

Milt Williams 

For Red Deer Public School Board

About Milt:

• Taught for 24 years in Red Deer Public

• Store Manager of Operations for national furniture chain.

• small business Shareholder/Owner/Manager

• Married to Marianne (former teacher). Four children: John, Andrew, Daniel and James who have all attended Red Deer Public Schools.

• Successfully implemented the MicroSociety program at Aspen Heights School, where a school based society is modeled on real life.

• Awarded 2012 Coordinator of the Year at the MicroSociety International Conference held in Philadelphia, USA.

Milt's Priorities:

 Every decision must be based on what is best for the students.

 Promote open communication between parents, trustees and teachers.

 Encourage innovation that promotes learning within Red Deer Public Schools.

 Students learn by doing. To help foster this experience the District needs to build more bridges between schools, businesses and the community.

 Maximize the use of schools after hours.

 Support front line staff by ensuring they have the tools needed to educate our children.

 Have students elect a student representative who will attend board meetings and add a student’s perspective to discussions.

"Every school, a good school"

Contact Milt:

403-346-4083

h.milton.williams@gmail.com

@MiltWilliams

Milt Williams for Red Deer Public School Board on Facebook

Reflecting on Sir Ken

Ron Heinrichs is a Parkland School Board Trustee in Alberta. Here is his contribution to the Sir Ken Robinson Blogathon which was inspired by the Sir Ken Robinson event in Red Deer.

by Ron Heinrichs

Wow!

I was one of the lucky 700 (400 on the waiting list) able to obtain tickets to a public dialogue with Sir Ken Robinson in Red Deer at Westerner Park.

As a former teacher, principal and newly elected Trustee, it was a privilege and quite refreshing to hear a world class leading thinker on creativity and education. A noted author, speaker and international advisor, Sir Ken was able to use his humorous, stimulating and continuously thought provoking approach to challenge the educational status quo and belief systems that stifle creativity of our children.

In his words, “Creativity is as important now as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.” It is clear, that increasingly, many students are unable to find and develop their true talents due to the constraints imposed by the present educational system. There can be little question that this leads to disinterest, low motivation and subsequent high dropout rates.

In his two hour talk and dialogue, Sir Ken, eloquently illustrated the kinds of changes that can lead to a blossoming of student creativity and subsequent learning. One memorable example he gave was the effects of a regular pairing of senior citizens with a class of young elementary students where reading was the prime focus. This lead to highly beneficial results for both groups - it was noticed that the seniors started to dramatically reduce their need for medication and the children’s reading ability and scores soared beyond any expectation. This, along with other illustrative examples, will undoubtedly have caused the many students, educators, and parents in the audience to question many facets of present day education delivery systems.

It should be noted that Alberta’s present day Education Minister, the Honourable Dave Hancock, was a member of the audience. Given the potential positive changes that a new and progressive Education Act might deliver, there may be some hope for a movement towards recognition and development of the true abilities and talents of all of our students.

In responding to audience questions, Sir Ken was quick to recognize that the need for change at all levels - from the governing policies to the classroom teaching strategies – is paramount. In the end, it was reassuring to hear someone, who understands the significance of many of the newer technologies, such as social media in student life and learning, also realize their limitations and their inability to replace the meaningful interactions that occur every day in the classroom.

This very well organized event was, without any doubt, a positive and much needed timely dialogue.

Trustees & Teachers: Working Together

Esme Comfort is a school board trustee in Canmore, Alberta. She is also a full time job (event planner); proofreader/editor; family woman, music and tech lover (wannabe geek). Volunteer, and curious about everything.


by Esme Comfort


Despite attending seven schools before moving on to university, and despite now serving my seventh year as a school board trustee, I am not an educational expert. I am not a pedagogue with formal training in Education. My views on education formed through my own experience as a student, my experience as the parent of two boys who attended K – 12 in Alberta Public Schools (Canadian Rockies School Division), my experience as a school board trustee and a voracious appetite for information, conversation and reflection.

So when Joe invited me to do a guest post on his blog, I was taken aback. Joe’s tone takes no prisoners; he is a very passionate advocate for his beliefs. What could I, a dedicated amateur, say that is relevant, that has traction? Worse, as a School Board Trustee, am I not the enemy, part of the evil “system”?

When a newbie trustee in 2004, I had a lot to learn. A veteran of Parent Advisory Councils and various other parent advocacy groups, I was tired of being dismissed. So I thought if I moved up the “system”, I could learn more and, in time, influence decision-making that would in turn impact student learning. I wanted to see changes that would better education for our students.

In those first heady days, I read and listened non-stop. I discovered I was indeed privy to knowledge and resources to which as “just a parent”, I had not previously had access. I gradually began to understand more about teachers, teaching practice and learning. This was framed in the context of the governance duties and realities that control the opportunities and challenges for the transformation of education in our school district.

That learning continues today. Through the resource with the ridiculously euphemistic moniker of “Twitter”, I stumbled on the concept of the PLN. At first I thought it meant “Professional Learning Network”, and then I realized the “P” stands for “Personal”. (There is a great article by Karl Fisch  to explain the PLN.) So I eavesdropped on conversations, followed links, tweeted myself, and retweeted others. And BOOM, as one of those educators in my PLN likes to say, I connected. And sometimes it did not feel good. By turns challenged, offended, and intrigued. I was prodded to reflect on what I believe and what I am doing.

I retreated to reread some of the material that had so inspired me initially. It still resounds today: from Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don’t Learn Dufour, Dufour, Eaker, Karhanek, 2004:

“Hope has a human face. The most powerful fuel for sustaining the initiative to improve a school is not the desire to raise test scores but rather the moral imperative that comes from the desire to fulfill the hopes of those we serve and those with whom we work.”

And the quote below is who we are as a board, as a district, it’s what we aspire to do. We are not Waiting for Superman and we will not be an entrant in the Race to Nowhere.

“Although having money is terrific, the brutal fact is that it is no substitute for the actions and efforts most apt to improve teaching and learning.” – Mike Schmoker in Foreword to Whatever It Takes

My faith is reaffirmed. I know again how hard educators work. How they examine and re-examine their practice. How deeply they care about their students. I believe that teachers, boards, administrators, and parents need to be allies. 

We all have the same goal: what is best for kids’ education – what is best for kids, full stop. 

Let’s get on with it.

Local autonomy

Decisions about kids should be made by the people closest to the kids. It makes little sense to me to drive the decisions further and further away from the classroom teacher, but that is exactly what is happening in education systems all over the world. More and more people outside of the classroom are garnishing more and more power over those inside the classroom. 

In Red Deer Public School District, we talk a lot about differentiated instruction and how important it is for the teacher to know their children so that they may tailor instruction to the kids needs; however, in Red Deer, we are not applying that same pedagogy to our assessment practices. Rather, we are creating more and more command and standardized assessments that are being made by people other than the classroom teacher.

Last night at the Red Deer Public School Board Trustee open forum, a small number of concerned citizens showed up to listen to each candidate. Almost every single candidate voiced their sincere concern for local governance. Time and time again, trustees echoed the sentiment that decisions must be kept locally.

I agree.

But Trustees need to understand that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. It is just as wrong for the Provincial Government to rob local School Districts of their local autonomy as it is for the School Districts to rob local autonomy from the schools. (To take this a step further: it is just as wrong for the principal to rob local autonomy from his or her teachers as it is for a teacher to rob local autonomy from their students) 

If it is irresponsible to expect a student in Grande Prairie (city in northern Alberta) to be taught in the exact same manner as a student in Lethbridge (city in southern Alberta), then we have to understand that it is assessment malpractice to expect a student at Normandeau (a school in northern Red Deer) to be assessed in the exact same manner as the student at Westpark (a school in southern Red Deer). 

Remember that the heart of local autonomy is with the child, and the best decisions for the child are made by the child in collaboration with a safe and caring adult who actually spends time with the child.