GFW Adds Over 100 New Student Opportunities and Seeks Community Input

Community, Staff, and Students ask the district to explore programming and facility options.

The GFW School Board met on Tuesday, January 18 and heard public comment on the state of the district, its programming, and its facilities from a variety of speakers including students, staff members, and parents. Statements touched on a number of issues including programming wants, challenges for academic and athletic programming at district facilities, and other items that excited students and staff during the tours of other schools in December. 

GFW Athletics Director, Science Teacher, and district parent Rich Busse shared some of the challenges posed by current athletics facilities. 

“GFW used to be a hub for regional and sectional track meets, but we can’t hold those events because our track is simply beyond repair,” said Busse. “We have state-caliber track athletes that compete very well at the state level, but they don’t get to perform locally because of the condition of our track.”

Mr. Busse described other concerns including bleacher safety, an outdated lighting system of the football field, and other safety concerns. Middle and High School Principal Brittany Galetka shared statements from students and staff that touched on issues including expansion of the agriculture department, skilled trades education, and the need for student choice in programming.

“The common thread I saw at each of these schools was choice. Students had the opportunity to choose programs tailored to their interests which, not surprisingly, led to greater student interest, engagement and enthusiasm,” wrote Mark Leitheiser, a 34 year veteran staff member of GFW. “I’m certain a greater variety of class options in all academic areas would be a positive step forward for GFW students.”

Students who traveled to other school districts shared feedback that the programming that was offered in facilities that supported learning for today’s and tomorrow’s world got them excited about school. 

Superintendent Horton announced that initiatives to engage the community will continue with more opportunities to participate coming soon around potential facilities and programming options in the district.

 “We have listened to our community and responded by adding over 100 new opportunities for students; our community has been and continues to tell us that we need an answer to our facilities that will support 21st Century Learning, ” said Horton. “I will engage in a robust community engagement process to hear what our community wants and bring those opinions back to the board.”

The board approved a new course and registration guide for GFW Middle School and GFW High School. All grade levels will see expanded programming in a number of career clusters and pathways for students with expanded course options, additional support for students, and new technology initiatives. 

The district will be establishing what are called “Academies” that will be the overall umbrella for courses and programming focused on particular areas of interest and career options with several new opportunities for students. 

  • The BACE Academy (Business, Art, Communication and Entrepreneurship) provides additional business and entrepreneurship courses as well as work-based learning. Expanded arts programming including graphic design, web design, sculpture, and photography will also be offered. 
  • The AEM Academy (Agriculture, Engineering, Manufacturing) brings in a focus on agribusiness classes, auto mechanics, construction and metal fabrication courses, as well as more opportunities for work-based learning. Thunderbird Manufacturing will also combine a number of the fabrication skills with business courses that aim to train students to be able to produce products. 
  • The HSHS Academy (Health Sciences and Human Services) focuses on a number of areas including emergency medical careers, law enforcement, child growth and development, and additional science courses.  

The board also approved a resolution to move the fifth grade program to GFW Middle School starting in the 2022-23 school year. This move will improve staffing and curriculum planning and allow students to be able to participate in more options at an earlier age. Benefits for fifth graders will include early involvement with band and choir programs, more elective options and early trade experiences, and access to more after school programs. 

For more information on GFW Public Schools, visit www.gfwschools.org


This article was originally published on JeffHorton.info

Continuing our commitment to community engagement

These are exciting times for our school district! We are moving forward with a new course and programming guide that will result in over 100 additional opportunities for our students being added. These include expanded course options, additional support for students, new and improved programming, as well as new technology initiatives. Our career and college readiness academies include:

  • AEM Academy (Agriculture, Engineering, Manufacturing)
  • BACE Academy (Business, Arts, Communication, Entrepreneurship)
  • HSHS Academy (Health Services, Human Services)

When I started as superintendent, we held a listening tour and heard from community members about priorities for our district including improving our finances and expanding student opportunities. We kept those promises and are continuing that work. During the strategic planning process, We heard about the needs in our district and the areas that needed more focus, and we built those directly into our plan and have seen several goals achieved already. 

Now we are in a strong position to continue to expand student opportunities and are seeking community involvement as part of our “Your Strategic Plan in Action Tour” which has resulted in exciting new things on the way. We also continue to hear that our facilities need attention, and we will explore options with our community. There are benefits to looking into addressing these issues now according to our financial advisors and auditors. Interest rates are at historic lows and the Ag2School Tax Credit is increasing to 70% for agricultural property, which would cover around 50% of any facility project in our district. 

We have listened to our community and kept our promises, and we are seeing results of our work. We will continue to listen as I hold an extensive community engagement process where I will be in the community hearing about what direction our district needs to go in next. I encourage you to reach out to me and get involved with this process to help continue to strengthen our district and better serve our students. You can provide your feedback by emailing planning@gfwschools.org.

Another exciting news item about our district is that we have received news that our credit rating has seen a big improvement according to S&P Global thanks to the decisions that we made and the work that we took on. Our previous credit rating came with a negative outlook, which means that S&P Global thought there was a high possibility that our rating would be downgraded. We have now seen an upgrade, which means our district will now have lower borrowing costs. This is a great achievement and I am very proud to be able to share that we took the charge from our community to improve our finances very seriously and that we are seeing results of that work.

All in all, it’s an exciting time to be a Thunderbird!

This press release was originally published on JeffHorton.info

How to Help Your Children Prepare for Their Finals

Being a child is tough, but dealing with final exams on top of growing up makes childhood even tougher. It’s a necessary part of growing up and getting your education, though, so as parents, it’s important to step in and help your child prepare if possible. While you can’t take the exam for them, you can help them at home to become as prepared as possible; this way, when they go to take the test they’re confident in their abilities and are more likely to succeed. How can you go about doing that, though? Here are a few ways.

LEARN ABOUT THE EXAM

One of the best ways to prepare for an exam is to learn about it and know what to expect. It’s important to know what will be on the test and how the test will be structured, because tackling a multiple-choice test is much different than going and taking a test based on essays. Look at class notes, the testing website if it’s online, or consult the school for information on the exam to find out things like when the test will be, what will be tested, how long it’ll take, and so on. 

TALK TO THE TEACHER

Your child’s teacher will know the test best, so you should reach out to them if you want to learn about the exam. Doing so will get you the most up-to-date information on the exam’s structure and subject matter, and they’ll be able to tell you where your child is struggling the most so you can help them with it at home. Learning this will help your child study effectively.

GET A PRACTICE EXAM

If the exam in question is a standardized test, you should look for practice exams online for your child to take. These tests are ones from previous years, so you’ll be able to see the type of content typically on the tests and how it’s formatted. This method falls through if your child isn’t taking a standardized test, so if that’s the case, your best bet is to look at your child’s notes and textbooks. Some teachers provide review guides before their tests, and some textbooks come with practice tests at the back of them, so use both of these to your advantage.

HIRE A TUTOR

Tutors are meant to help your child study and prepare for their classes and exams, so if you’re not sure about whether you can effectively help your child prepare, consider hiring one. You can reach out to older students who’ve taken these exams in the past or go online to tutoring websites to find a tutor for your child. 

This article was originally published on JeffHorton.co

The Need For Courageous Conversations In Education

In an educational setting, the lines of what is appropriate and necessary can seem blurred. Add in a new era of standards and repercussions for errors of sensitive subjects, and teachers and other educational staff can feel a bit concerned about discussing the deeper issues. Finding the right way to talk about the sensitive, and oftentimes difficult, conversations of race, sexism, diversity, and inclusion can be arduous and nerve-wracking. 

While it is harsh to put the weight solely on the teacher, the inevitable responsibility can not be denied. It is the teacher’s job to develop their students efficiently to succeed in the world. However, when a student’s educational setting is far different from their experiences outside of school, there is a lesser chance of building a connection and helping the student to be responsive to their realities. 

To help alleviate the angst amongst educational staff,  Glenn E. Singleton founded the Pacific Educational Group, PEG, in 1992. Dedicated to achieving racial equity in education, PEG engages in continued partnerships with educational organizations in efforts to reconstruct the behaviors, beliefs, and results in the classroom to provide all races the education needed to reach their fullest potential.

Pacific Educational Group has expanded during its 25-year history from its original focus on PreK-12 education in the U.S to address race in higher education, law enforcement, non-profits, corporations in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. PEG believes racism is the biggest contributor to the diminished capacity of all people, especially those of color and indigenous heritage, to achieve their highest potential. Until we become aware of its extent and discuss the factors and impact can we hope to eliminate any negative racial outcomes and experiences. 

PEG’s award-winning protocol for achieving this goal is titled Courageous Conversations and works by engaging, sustaining and deepening interracial dialogue. PEG is used to enable educational staff to talk with their students and address racial disparities fully and intentionally. The strategy of Courageous Conversations is to impart a stronger understanding of the issues and demonstrate how to discuss race explicitly in all environments. PEG’s diverse and dynamic staff work together to design curriculums, coach leaders, and facilitate seminars that can be used in their professional and personal lives. 

About PEG, Christopher B. Coleman, Mayor of the city Saint Paul in Minnesota, said:

“The City’s leadership team has used Pacific Educational Group’s training and the Courageous Conversation protocol effectively to launch our racial equity work. Sharing these concepts and approaches with our partners, Saint Paul Public Schools has created a level of trust and understanding around racial equity we didn’t have before.”

Originally published on JeffHorton.co

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