TimeTo Reflect

This morning, I had a press conference with student reporters from the "Tower". This is something I do regularly, but time slipped away this year and this was our first one. It's usually a pretty easy exchange of ideas between subjects I raise with them and questions they ask of me.

One of the first questions from students today was something like, "How has the year gone so far"? My response was that's it's been a good start, and I attribute that to a couple of major factors. First of all, we have had great leadership from the senior class. They set the tone at the beginning of the school year, and especially for Spirit Week. I have nothing but praise for the leadership of the class of '11.

Secondly, we've enjoyed a strong fall sports season. Believe me, the Homecoming assembly is much better when everyone feels the football team can win that evening. And that type of success has been enjoyed by other sports.

Our girls' cross country team and volleyball teams have enjoyed great seasons and we hope they can finish as strong as they started. Both boys' tennis and girls' golf enjoyed strong regular seasons finished very high in state competition. And tomorrow night the football team plays Detroit Cody in what we hope is the first of several playoff games. That type of success carries over to the entire student body and makes everyone "proud to be a Blue Devil".

One of the issues I raised with the students is that we are looking at renovating the bathrooms in the main building. Not a very glamorous topic, but one that would directly impact nearly everyone. We have a meeting later today with the architects and representatives of the Preservation Committee.

The major questions will be like this, What do we do about restoring, renovating, or replacing the marble walls and dividers? Can we afford it? On the one hand, it would maintain the look of the original construction, however, not many people can afford to use marble on walls any longer.

This is an old building and there is a lot of old piping behind those walls. It will be a major undertaking if changes are made, but compared to the rest of the building, the restrooms are in really bad shape. Nothing short of a major renovation will bring them back to life.

In summary, it has been a good start as we continue the work of day-to-day operations of a large high school. We try to celebrate our little successes while keeping an eye on the future.

Special Visitor Today

We were fortunate earlier today to receive a visit from the State Superintendent of Schools, Mike Flanagan. Of course, this was not without significant notice and an element of fanfare.

Mr. Flanagan is trying to visit a different district each month, and this month was GPPSS' turn. He began his day today at Poupard Elementary with a look at Title I program implementation, and then traveled to North HS for a visit to AP classes and to see firsthand the infusion of new classroom technology.

A luncheon was served in Cleminson during his visit at South, complete with musical accompaniment from a string quartet of South students. Another group of students from our Commercial Foods program prepared a great lunch for about 35 attendees, including a majority of the Board of Education. Following the luncheon, Mr. Flanagan visited one of our classrooms before making his final stop at Brownell MS.

During his speech to the luncheon crowd, Mr. Flanagan sang the praises of the district, across all levels. This comes from a man that has directed the most significant changes in K-12 education during my 38 years in education.

Mr. Flanagan was clearly one of the loudest voices behind implementation of the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC). This is the curriculum that takes full effect with the class of 2011, this year's seniors. Across the entire state, standards were raised significantly with the requirement of four years of math, and either Chemistry or Physics among three years of science instruction.

Frankly, those changes weren't that dramatic in a school system like GPPSS. However, for a significant majority of schools state-wide, it was a leap of faith to assume all students could complete this rigorous curriculum.

The purpose behind the changes was no secret. We had to create a more educated workforce in order to attract more business to our state. Long gone were the days of a manufacturing marketplace that could provide a healthy living wage for employees with only a high school education. We needed a stronger talent pool to attract new business.

I remember very well the outcry from many of my colleagues that served as high school principals when the legislation first passed. There was a great deal of doom and gloom, with predictions that our dropout rates would increase significantly. There were also many attempts to "water down" the MMC to make it more achievable.

Mr. Flanagan and few others stood tall against the protest. And the voices of protest were loud and clear--people didn't like the rigor of the new requirements!

Now here was are just a few years later and there are many success stories across the state. Students and teachers have stepped up to meet the challenge. It hasn't been easy, but it is getting done.

Accountability for educators has never been higher and distrust of the system has never been greater. Movies like "Waiting for Superman" don't help. It also doesn't help when we are experiencing such difficult economic times and there is such angst in all of our communities. People want someone to blame, and our schools become an easy target.

As I reflected on today's visit, I couldn't help but think how far we've come in a few short years. Teachers are working harder than ever before, and students are attempting and completing more rigor than ever before. It is a success story, and it was nice to get validation today from one of the principal architects of the change.

All in all, it was an enjoyable and gratifying visit.