My second answer to the question of why I am running is because I see improvements that can be made to the presentation of this district.
In my first answer, I indicated a number of problems and my experience with dealing with the types of problems identified. Today, I am focusing on what the district is doing well, but is failing to capitalize on.
Some of the comments I heard from people in the community revolved around academics at the high school level. “There are no AP classes, there are limited classes in foreign language, the (insert program here) is limited.”
The fact is that none of these statements are accurate. Lincoln High has had an AP program since the 1980s and possibly even before. While there may be fewer foreign language classes than in other schools, the fact is that Lincoln offers classes that have strong quality. One of the first AP classes in Lincoln was in Spanish.
I am proud to say that Lincoln has implemented a program to introduce parents and guardians to what Lincoln has to offer if they are considering an inter-district transfer. However, this is really a bandaid on the bigger problem of perception.
This district needs to consider that old adage that “perception is reality”. WPUSD is perceived to be less successful than other districts and I want to remedy that belief. We need to focus on a few items which I have generally categorized as RECOGNITION.
A few years ago, Lincoln High had a principal who would routinely put out notes of achievement on Facebook to the greater WPUSD community. He would publicize everything from a winning sporting event to success in robotics competitions to student acceptance at prestigious universities.
My goal is to get back to that sort of public relations effort. We need to publicize the success of not only our students but our greater academic community. We should celebrate our teachers, staff and administrators for achieving success within their chosen career field. We should be encouraging our teaching staff to go beyond the classroom and demonstrate their application of their careers in various ways (English teachers submitting essays of creative writing for publications, science teachers working with external interest groups to demonstrate their skills and core competencies).
Further, we should incentivize teaching productivity with public encouragement for teachers who have excelled at helping their students achieve success (how many students are performing at or above expectations for their grade level).
We also need to develop a system of tracking our former students to demonstrate success in their chosen field. Success is not always dictated by a position in society, but by success at your chosen profession. Not every student may go to college, but every student can be successful in the way he or she chooses. Students who pursue technical achievements in the welding, agricultural, or automotive industry must be showcased as much as any academic successes. We also need to build our alumni into a strong association so that we can call on our alumni to help mentor future generations of Zebras. By building these connections, we are building our working community as well as creating ways to advance our students further into their futures.
We need to publicize these successes but also find ways to reward our staff. An appreciated workforce is generally a productive workforce. We need to set a standard and continually raise that standard to help our students and staff toward greater success both personally and professionally.