Thanksgiving – Gratitude – #112Leads

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“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

November 22, 2023

Dear North Shore School District 112 Staff, Families, and Community,

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday this year, I want to share a message of gratitude on behalf of the Board of Education and the leadership team of North Shore School District 112. We serve you as part of our calling to help make the world a better place; like Gandhi’s quote, we seek to know who we are as we help our students learn and grow.

I am so thankful daily when I reflect on our service and work. I am lucky to work with many talented, professional, and effective educators in such an engaged and thoughtful community! As I celebrate my 19th year of service to the Board, sixth as your superintendent, I am so thankful for every one of you and for the honor of service to our children, staff, parents, Board, and community!

We have accomplished so much in our years together. The COVID-19 Pandemic, the mass tragedies we have endured, global strife, national conflict, and so much more continue to challenge and stress our minds and hearts. Throughout all of this, though, you demonstrated resilience, hope, love, care, and support to me. It matters, and please know I and we SEE YOU. It’s incredible that after all we have been through, recent state performance data ranks District 112 in the 90% percentile based on last spring’s math performance, for example, compared to all other districts in Illinois.

Thanks to you, we’re on our way to modernizing & updating more of our schools and continuing to improve our safety and security measures at all campuses. We are optimistic that our community’s future will be bright and exciting! As you know, we are on a proud journey of continuous improvement. The vital work we do puts our children on the path to success. 

A snapshot of the pressing issues on our agenda includes:
Constructing, modernizing, and renovating Indian Trail  and Ravinia Schools

  • Using Elm Place for Indian Trail School and Green Bay for Ravinia
  • Planning for Sherwood, Braeside, and Wayne Thomas Construction
  • Amending our social media approaches based on input from the staff and parent communities
  • Increasing parent education and mental health approaches
  • Looking forward for growth and enhancement in student learning, selecting updated resources for reading and writing
  • Measuring and reporting on input from students, families, and English Learner families
  • Using Parent Square to share “what’s going on in our schools” with imagery and stories of learning, teaching, and growth is amplified.

We are stronger together, and we take great pride in serving you and the students of District 112. We firmly believe in educating all children in a learning environment with high expectations and access to rigor for each child every day. As the center of our community, District 112  schools are honored to Inspire, Innovate, and Engage all students daily. Our vital work is designed to put each child on the path to success. 

Thanksgiving is an excellent opportunity for me to give thanks to my wife, children, dogs, family, friends, and the North Shore School District 112 brothers and sisters with whom I serve and lead daily.

Collectively, we are grateful to our teachers, support staff, parents, grandparents, community members, administrators, business owners, and members of our Board of Education.  We wish you and your family a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday season!

Sincerely,

Mike

Michael Lubelfeld Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools 

Honoring Veterans – Superintendent Message

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OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
Subject: Honoring Our Heroes on Veterans Day

Dear North Shore School District 112 Community,

Today, we come together to honor and celebrate Veterans Day, a day of profound significance in our nation, and express our deepest gratitude to the brave men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces. More than ever, it seems, we need to acknowledge those defenders of freedom, those warriors of the just, those who devote their lives so that we may be free and safe.

As your Superintendent, I am continually inspired by the values that our veterans embody – courage, sacrifice, and dedication. These are the same values we strive to instill in our students, making today a day of remembrance, learning, and reflection. I’m proud to have veterans in my family (my father, father-in-law, uncles, cousins, and others have proudly served our nation over the years).

Our veterans have shown us the true meaning of service, putting the greater good above self. They have defended our freedoms and safeguarded our way of life, enabling us to thrive as a community and a nation. Their sacrifices remind us of the importance of resilience, respect, and responsibility – principles that guide our mission in education.

Let us take this opportunity to teach our students about the importance of Veterans Day. Let’s encourage them to learn from our veterans’ exemplary lives, understand the sacrifices made for our country, and appreciate the peace and freedom we enjoy. Whether you visit a website from the government, like, Defense Department, or US Department of Veteran’s Affairs, or you attend events in the community, it’s essential that today especially, we honor those who serve and those who have served!!

To our students who are family members of veterans, we also recognize the sacrifices you make. We are proud to serve hundreds of military-connected families in District 112. Your strength and support for your loved ones in service are admirable and do not go unnoticed. For more than a century, District 112 has proudly served military families. It is one of many honors, historic legacies, and special attributes that make our community proud.

I urge each of us to take a moment today to thank a veteran. Whether it’s a family member, a neighbor, or a friend, let’s show our veterans the respect and appreciation they deserve. Their stories of bravery and resilience are a source of inspiration to us all.

In North Shore School District 112, we proudly support our veterans and military families. Today and every day, we stand in solidarity with those who have served and continue to serve our country. On behalf of a grateful school district, school board, administration & staff to our veterans, servicemen, and women, I humbly thank you!

With deepest respect and gratitude,

Mike

Michael Lubelfeld, Ed.D
Superintendent

 

September 11 – 9/11 – Remember – #112Leads

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“We have seen the state of our union in the endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion. We’ve seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. We have seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own.” – President George W. Bush

It can be said that 9/11/2001, “Nine Eleven” was a turning point for my generation. I am 55 years old. I was 33 years old, the associate principal at Elm Place Middle School, in my third year out of the classroom as a school administrator. I still remember vividly, watching in the conference room, around the 9am hour central time, with the principal, the late Dan Kornblut, our administrative assistants and our nurse, Penny Hoder who called us all in to watch, with confusion, horror, uncertainty, and numbness, the second plane hit the second tower.

I always remember my mom and dad and people of earlier generations recalling where they were when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, I never fully understood how that intense, jarring memory and experience would haunt them until 911. Now I understand.

Principal Dan and I visited each and every classroom, addressed each and every student in our 500 student middle school. We asked the teachers to refrain from watching the unedited news streams. We reminded our teachers that a number of our students had family in New York City either permanently or on business trips that day. We balanced free and open education with caution related to the horror of the events and the shock/awe/and uncertainty of what was actually going on.

Being 25 miles north of downtown Chicago, we were keenly aware that the skyscrapers were being evacuated. There was panic, fear, shock, anger, confusion, all sorts of emotions.

As a school administrator, in our little part of the world, we started with a mental health approach, then we literally checked every door, restricted access to the school, and heightened our own awareness of safety, security, etc. We did what we could, with what we had, in the time we were in.

I’ll never forget the intensity of 911. I’ll never forget the horror, the heroism, the intensity and the reach. I’ll never forget how we wanted to inform our teachers and protect our kids. I’ll never forget checking in with each member of my family. I’ll simply never forget.

In Illinois, it is the law to remember September 11th as a Day of Remembrance in the public schools,

5 ILCS 490/86 new)
 8        Sec. 86.  September 11th Day of  Remembrance.   September
 9    11th  of  each  year  is  designated as September 11th Day of
10    Remembrance to be observed throughout the State as a day  set
11    apart  in  honor  and  remembrance  of the persons killed and
12    injured in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

As we prepare to remember 9/11 tomorrow – I simply state, with pride as an American, with humility as a human being, and with responsibility as an educator, that I will never forget!

Sharing song lyrics that we will hear tomorrow and that are forever embedded into our collective memory as Americans, human beings, educators, and citizens committed to freedoms, liberties, justice, and peace!

Alan Jackson’s song lyrics. “When the World Stopped Turning”

Where were you when the world stopped turnin’
That September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or workin’ on some stage in L.A.?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Risin’ against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?
Did you weep for the children, they lost their dear loved ones
Pray for the ones who don’t know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out with pride for the red, white, and blue
And the heroes who died just doin’ what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters?
I’m just a singer of simple songs
I’m not a real political man
I watch CNN, but I’m not sure I can tell you
The diff’rence in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Where were you when the world stopped turnin’
That September day?
Teachin’ a class full of innocent children
Or drivin’ down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty ’cause you’re a survivor?
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her?
Did you dust off that Bible at home?
Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset for the first time in ages
And speak to some stranger on the street?
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun?
Did you turn off that violent old movie you’re watchin’
And turn on I Love Lucy reruns?
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Stand in line to give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?
I’m just a singer of simple songs
I’m not a real political man
I watch CNN, but I’m not sure I can tell you
The diff’rence in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
I’m just a singer of simple songs
I’m not a real political man
I watch CNN, but I’m not sure I can tell you
The diff’rence in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
And the greatest is love
And the greatest is love
Where were you when the world stopped turnin’
On that September day?

Impact of an educator is far and wide – #112Leads

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Superintendent’s Welcome Remarks for 2023-2024 in North Shore School District 112!

At the all-staff institute day on August 23, 2023, superintendent Lubelfeld welcomed back nearly 600 staff members for another awesome school year in North Shore School District 112. In this episode of Lighthouse 112, we share excerpts from his thank yous and his messages about leadership — how we are all, and we are each a leader, how the “seeds” we “plant” today will help our students (and society) flourish in the future. While we may not always see the fruits of our labor, each child, every day, deserves our very best! Inspire. Innovate. Engage! #112Leads

Audio

Selection of Slides used during the Welcome

Audio – Welcome New Teachers – #112Leads

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On August 14 in North Shore School District 112, we welcomed nearly 40 new teachers and staff members! This was the first of five days of orientation and onboarding exercises, workshops, and “setting the stage” for an amazing year and career in our District. Superintendent Dr. Lubelfeld & Deputy Superintendent Dr. Schroeder set the stage for the new staff with a welcome! In this Podcast, we share excerpts from their message of welcome, including brief bios of them as individuals, the brief history of District 112, the mission, vision, values, and goals, and why new folks were selected in the manner that they were. Welcome to School Year 2023-2024 to our new staff and thank you for listening to Lighthouse 112!

Part 4 of 4 – Final Reflections from Conference on Education – A Nation at Risk

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In this fourth of four blog posts illustrating forty years of educational reforms in the United States since the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, I am proud to reinforce some of what I knew, know, and plan to do! The report gave a start to decades of educational reforms that helped to cause a national obsession with standardized test results. Some of the momentum has been great in terms of causing an awareness of what it means for a school system to educate each child every day — some of the momentum has been horrible in terms of causing people who score “less than proficient” to be looked upon as illiterate.

So … in a nation where soundbites rule and folks no longer read a lot of content, except for readers of this blog – of course! On a five-point scale, for example, in Illinois, at the end of year high stakes assessment, students who score a 4 or a 5 are labeled “proficient,” and anyone with a 3, a 2, or a 1 is NOT. And if you are NOT proficient, the narrative calls for you and for your school to become failures.

I know this sounds kind of dramatic, and I know it sounds overly simplified — and it is –, but that’s what 40 years of “reforms” and an obsession with standardized test scores to rate and rank the nation’s public schools have yielded. Make no mistake, I am all for accountability, and I preside over a public school district where I want each

Worthy of review and discussion especially 40 years past the “reform” movement …

child to be proficient in all of the standards (knowledge, skills, performance indicators). I absolutely understand the need for academic measures to show the public they are getting a positive return on their investment of public tax dollars, and in my district, I’m proud to report that they are.

My issues are that one score at one point in time does not accurately reflect or show the actual quality of education of the school or of the district. The child with a score of 3 (in the above example), for example, and clarity – is literate. He can read. He can compute. He is somewhere behind the “proficient” rating put upon him by the state … and in the 50 different states, there are different measuring sticks for proficiency… what else have I learned about 40 years of reform? It’s not been equally implemented. It’s not been equitably implemented; it’s not been fairly implemented.

Instead of “A Nation at Risk,” – they might have been more accurate if they entitled the report “50 states do public education differently, and we have no idea if the nation is at risk” …Our nation might have been at risk, it might be at risk today – I’m not fully qualified to make that assessment nor can I declaratively make that conclusion, I can, though, indicate that my local public school district is NOT at risk. We have work to do, and we are committed to continuous improvement. We rely on measures of culture, satisfaction, customer service, financial responsibility, student learning, and student growth, among others, to assess our successes and our needs for improvement.

Solutions we discussed and that were presented by professor.

I do question the “proficiency” rates and the complete “wall” between a 3 and a 4 in the end-of-year Illinois test. We do all we can each day for each child to get our students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities to meet and exceed the standards set. Thanks to input and, dialogue, and intellectual discourse with leaders all across the United States, including from the District of Columbia, CA, IL, OH, IN, TX, MI, PA, MD, NY, CO, & AZ, my thinking was challenged and my analyses of the past forty years of American education in the United States was enhanced.

We talked about “the science of reading”, various political groups engaged in local school board elections, the existence of school boards themselves, local control issues, state issues, civil rights issues, and much, much more! Some among us called for a “Marshall Plan” for public education to restore the prestige and invest in getting more teachers (and educational support personnel and administrators) into classrooms, schools, and districts. We discussed the structure of education itself, the roles of state and federal, and local governments, and the pros and cons of each.

Let’s all remember that in the United States of America, we have the most patents in the world, we have the largest economy in the world, and we have the strongest military in the world. With 90% of students in our public schools, clearly, our Nation is NOT at risk due to the public schools. One could surmise that in the forty years since A Nation at Risk, we have learned much, and we are successful in many areas.

I strongly believe it’s time to change the narrative that the USA is at risk due to the public schools. In contrast, we’re doing so well BECAUSE of the nation’s public schools. I also believe it is time for us all to accept that it’s statistically impossible for “all” to be “proficient” on a bell-shaped curve – with 50 as “normal,” there will always be less than and more than. It is time to develop a more realistic accountability system that means more than “average” or “beyond or below”.

Finally, I thank the National Superintendent Roundtable for convening us so thoughtfully, so provocatively, and so meaningfully as we ponder the past forty years in US public education – and as we forecast the next decades. Our nation and our world have endured powerful changes due to public education. Let’s commit to sharing the correct narrative, and let’s believe in each child every day with rigor and high expectations, and high standards. Let’s measure what we’re actually doing and let’s get it right in the next 40 years!

Part 3 of 4- Reflections from National Conference about 40 Years since A Nation at Risk

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This is another in a series of reflections from my engagement in the National Superintendents Roundtable national conference in Los Angeles, California, in July 2023. We focused on Forty Years since A Nation at Risk: What Have We Learned. In this third post in the series, I share reflections from another person in the mix and at the tables in 1983. Christopher Cross, former assistant secretary of education (among other notable accomplishments), shared enlightening insights about this report, the politics of the time, and much more! In order for us to best contemplate What We Learned and where we go from here, it’s incumbent upon us leaders to learn from the sources at the time! Chris did not disappoint; just like Jim Harvey, his insights were exceptional. Complemented by Audrey Amrein-Beardsley’s recap of history over the past few decades, the learning and convening at the National Superintendents Roundtable was nothing less than exceptional.

During our time, we also toured the President Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum – wow is all I can say – it was a true treat. After I share reflections and notes from Christopher Cross, I share a collection of images from the Libary & Museum tour.

Christopher Cross – author, scholar, former assistant secretary of Education – incredible speaker

Cross was there when the US Department of Health, Education, & Welfare (HEW) split up to form the new US Department of Education. In the US, Cross shared, there actually was a US Department of Education briefly in 1860, then it folded into the US Department of the Interior, and in the 1950s, education went into HEW until the 1976 presidential election, where Jimmy Carter created the US Department of Education. Carter also received the National Education Association’s (NEA) 1st ever endorsement for the presidency. These were chaotic times in the US – Vietnam War, Watergate, Energy Crisis, Economy, and more. Carter created the US Department of Energy, and he also created the US Department of Education. In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president, and part of his platform was to abolish the US Department of Education. Instead, the commission he created wrote “A Nation at Risk,” … and here we are 40 years later.

Cross shared how the Secretary of Education, Terrell “Ted” Bell, got education into the national spotlight. This was a cry for reform, a cry for greater finance for education, and a cry to get attention for education in general. There were concerns about the quality of the nation’s educators, the teaching force, and the preparation at the nation’s education colleges, and there were no aligned standards or state reporting systems at that time. Cross was the assistant secretary of education, and the NCES, the National Center for Education Statistics, was under his supervision at that time. Prior to what was called the “Wall Chart,” the only data nationally reviewed was SAT and ACT data. Per Cross, with this renewed focus on multiple data points, states could no longer hide from dealing with the issues that were typically hidden (poor student performance in various groups, gaps, etc.). Please note that this report was only 8 years after Public Law 94-142 was put into place, making it the law of the land to educate children with disabilities. Cross called for us convened together to put forth a clarion call for a new commission. Forty years after the publication of A Nation at Risk, it’s time for us to reflect on the learnings at scale and focus forward.

Many of the issues we face today in 2023 include:

  • COVID learning losses/interruptions in learning
  • Racial achievement gaps
  • Local Control Issues
  • Views against liberal arts & higher education (teacher shortage)
  • Actual enrollment declines
  • Reliance (over-reliance) on local property taxes for funding
  • Khan Academy and all that it represents – free access for all 24/7
  • A I and the tidal waves related to this
  • Adequate measures of quality indicators or lack thereof
  • And a whole lot more …

Cross and Harvey are GOLD STANDARD American historians, political people, and scholars! Their perspectives were off-the-charts impactful. Their candor, humor, reflections, recollections, and calls to action were superb.

Cross allowed us to hold discussions on the framework of education itself, reform or advancement from the past forty years, legislative advocacy and partnership needs, contemplation for creating a new task force, commission, redefinition of the purpose of public education, and more. Representing California, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Colorado, Arizona, and the District of Columbia (and all points in between), we had deep discussions and reflections on the multitude of lessons learned since A Nation at Risk was published.

In the next post, the final one from this series and this conference, I’ll make final reflections, recap some other major reforms sparked by this 1983 publication, and look toward the future of education here in District 112 and beyond!

Below I share a collection of images from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Libary & Museum tour

Part 2 of 4- Reflections on What’s Next after A Nation at Risk – 40 Year Anniversary

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As I shared in the first post on this topic, we convened in Los Angeles to remember A Nation at Risk, look at lessons learned, and, more importantly, look forward to the future – What Have We Learned? was the overarching question!

In the last post, I started to identify what Jim Harvey reflected on with respect to some of the controversial issues related to the Report and its construction process. 40 years later … the sad reality/perspective from one of the writers is that the folks in charge of the report had a conclusion ready before the report was even written … they then used the report writing process to find data to fulfill and justify their already determined conclusions. One could even suggest that they “cooked the books”

 

The social ills that the people who were writing the report tried to get in the report included poverty, racism, and funding inequities — these were raised during the 18-month writing process, and they were ignored. These are still social ills plaguing the nation, including the public schools in all 50 states!  Our speaker argues that the Commission missed the argument. Casting educators as “enemies” of economic progress was preposterous, he argues.

Blaming schools makes NO sense for out-of-

Worthy of review and discussion, especially 40 years past the “reform” movement …school factors. Out-of-school factors have had, continue to have, and will continue to have MASSIVE impacts on student performance. As one of our other experts shared, “roughly 86-99% percent of the variation in test scores is due to outside-of-school factors. Inversely, about 1-14 percent of the variation in test scores is attributable to school-level factors, including but not limited to teachers. Dr. Audrey Amrein-Beardsley is a professor at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University and a renowned expert in assessment, educational reform history, and more!

As a quick aside, I have written about what success looks like on the blog,  see https://mikelubelfeld.edublogs.org/?s=measure+success for a list of earlier written blog posts on this topic. I am a strong advocate for using research-based and evidence-informed practices (like those from Marzano, et., al, Hattie, et., al, etc.) to impact and influence teacher work with students and school measures of success and district guideposts for success. We measure culture, engagement, and satisfaction as well as student growth, student learning/performance, etc.

Harvey went on to remind us that the US is a huge international outlier in terms of us having the highest rates of childhood poverty and the lowest support for poverty programs. All in all, school reform is not simple. It was not in 1983, nor was it in 1957 (Sputnik), 1979 (Florida test), 2001 (NCLB), 2011 (Race to the Top), 2016 (ESSA), or now, 2023! There are wickedly complex problems that Harvey identified – wicked not as in evil, but wicked as in highly complex.  Solutions needed in school “reform efforts” are those that require large groups of competing stakeholders to agree on what you “will” do. A Nation at Risk put education at the forefront of the nation’s attention, which is a good thing. But it created a 40-year obsession with standardized tests, which is not a good thing – in moderation, yes, the testing, in my professional opinion, is beneficial when it drives instructional decisions. I’m not sure that each child needs to take more than 100 standardized tests, though I think we may have gone overboard. The Commission put in place to assess the nation’s schools missed a great opportunity.

What they did is pre-determined that America’s economic woes at the time were due to the failings of its public schools. Today more than 50% of the nation’s public school children live in poverty – we have a poverty problem, I’ll posit, not an educational problem, per se.

In the next posts, I’ll share Christopher Cross’ reflections on the A Nation at Risk time period, report, and implications, share history of school reform notes from Dr. Amrein-Beardsley, and more! What I surmised from all of this, in brief, and as mentioned by Jim Harvey at the conference, the narrative of the failure of America’s public schools is false. The out-of-school challenges are really important, and they impact the nation’s public schools though the schools cannot be solely responsible for childhood poverty, for example. We must get a grip on the test-based obsession and moderate and regulate some of this over-reliance on standardization. Harvey closed his exceptional lecture with a quote from William Butler Yeats:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler Yeats

 

Part 1 of 4 – Forty Years Since “A Nation at Risk” – Education Reflections

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There is no comfort in the growth zone – but there is no growth in the comfort zone – this was a quote shared with us at the start of the National Superintendent Roundtable national convening in the summer 2023 conference in Los Angeles, California.

Nearly 40 of us convened to remember the education “reform” document and call to action called A Nation at Risk, and to contemplate the 40 years since – where we have been, where we are, and most important, where we are going!

With powerful presentations (some excerpted and summarized here in the blog and in subsequent posts) and with a visit to the President Ronald Reagan national presidential library & museum in Simi Valley (shared via images in the blog), the convening was awesome! Great dialogue, great, courageous conversations and questions and recollections, civil discourse with folks who have differing political views, and a whole lot more took place in our compact, concise, and short but powerful conference.

Often, people ask me, “What do I do as a superintendent” Part of the purpose of this blog is for me to illustrate just that. What “do” I do? 🙂 – A LOT … The role is diverse and rewarding, the opportunities to develop leaders are the most powerful and impacting legacy, and the power and honor to share and extend HOPE is a true gift.

In this blog post, I reflect on, share, and describe superintendent professional development. Leadership convening at a high level. History, politics, government, sociology, education, journalism, and more are covered in this experience and blog post.

40 years ago, A Nation at Risk was presented to the nation. It was a flawed report (as I will share), but it did raise PK-12 education to the forefront as a presidential issue – which can be a good thing. It started a four-decade pathway towards educational “reforms” and an obsession with standardized testing that we still grapple with today.

So …. What do I do?

I learn I gather with national and global experts, I engage in dialogue to make my thoughts known and clearer, and when challenged with new ideas, I may change my

I am facilitating a discussion with one of our presenters

mind! I am a leader and a learner, and a lead learner. My attendance at and participation in professional development is part of what I do as a superintendent of schools. Each day I aim to be better, do better, and lead better for the thousands of students and staff, and community members I have the honor of serving.

40 Years Since a Nation at Risk … What have we learned … I will be sharing thoughts from the many pages of notes I took during our amazing and challenging presentations as well as during our incredible visit and guided tour at the President Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum. As a former social studies and US

Me at the podium! The backdrop is the inauguration – pretty cool!!

History teacher, this was AMAZING. A whole bunch of peak moments were had during this short but powerful trip across the country!

The National Superintendent Roundtable (NSR) is a membership association of superintendents from around the USA. Currently, there are about 91 members nationwide. In partnership with its sister organization, the Schlecty Center, there are about 180 superintendents in total between the two organizations. Both are mission-driven to support leadership and growth.  We are all in favor of and stand by “Strong families, strong communities, with strong schools” as a mantra or “calling card.” We’re here to honor the 40th anniversary of A Nation at Risk and truly digest and dissect – what we have learned and where we are going.

James Jim Harvey – incredible speaker, scholar, writer, one of the authors of A Nation at Risk & Founder of the National Superintendent Roundtable

Our keynote presenter, Jim Harvey, founder of the NSR and one of the writers of A Nation at Risk was outstanding!! Jim reminded us all that public education is one of the major foundations of the United States society. Supporting American ideals and progress is our mission. Jim also reminded us of President Reagan’s inaugural address in 1980, where he stated that essentially, “…government is the problem.”. President Reagan ran on a platform that included eliminating the US Department of Education. His first Secretary was Terrell, Ted, and Bell.

Subsequent blog posts will detail more of the content and “What do we do now?”.

Reflections from Bottle School Trip – Guatemala 2023 July

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Bottle School Project with Hug it Forward

Reflections from  Tecpan, Guatemala

July 2023
Wrapping up an incredibly meaningful experience with my son in Guatemala! We finished tying up the 10,000 bottles filled with inorganic trash in the three classrooms we helped complete in the elementary (K-6) school in Zaculeu, Tecpan, Guatemala! The 400 students in grades K-6 now have three more elementary classrooms for education. One day we or someone will build a middle school, grades 7-9, so that these kids can continue their education. Currently, about 15-20 students are able to continue to middle school from the community.
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Think about that for a minute or two……. Trips like this, service like this, and experiences like this help to illustrate how education, economics, politics, geo-global politics, etc., all intersect to create or stifle opportunity. Trips like this give me context, perspective, hope, and love.
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Thanks to Hug it Forward and Serve the World Today, my son and I got to join some amazing people from across the United States and from France and Guatemala to make change in our world – to do good with other good people – to build a school alongside people in a community who seek partnership, support partnership and work alongside in partnership! The bottle school project confronts many challenges, including trash/environment, community development/involvement, investment in often forgotten people, education – space, opportunity, function & hope, economic development, and migration policies (and more).
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From the Hug it Forward Website
From their materials:
“Hug it Forward works to support and empower communities in Guatemala to build Bottle Schools: schools built using plastic soda bottles stuffed with inorganic trash. Entire communities come together to make the dream of educational opportunity a reality by upcycling “waste” to build their own bottle school.
  • This school infrastructure project will be accomplished thanks to funds provided by Hug it Forward’s donors and with the collaboration of community members. The municipality and the PTA (parent-teacher organization in the community) work jointly with students’ families in order to provide all the manual labor required for the construction, as well as a three-classroom bottle school requires over 10,000 bottles—children in the community are responsible for collecting the majority of these and stuffing them with trash to make “eco-bricks.” This gives them pride and a true sense of ownership in the school.
  • The school is built in Zaculeu, located in the municipality of Tecpan, Guatemala, Chimaltenango. Zaculeu means “White Land.” People in Zaculeu grow their own corn, beans, coffee, and a lot of different kinds of vegetables and fruits, especially snow peas, corn, and beans. This project of which we are a part, will benefit 386+ students, 13 teaching staff members, and 600 families in the area.
  • The members of the community are indigenous Mayan people who speak Kaqchikel.
  • The signs are in their mother tongue, Spanish and English.
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We built walls out of bottles in three classrooms. We expanded the educational footprint in the community and we supported ecological awareness and recycling on a grand scale. We played with the children, we spoke with the community elders, we visited homes of the members of the community.
Before bottle walls are constructed
A bottle wall before it’s covered with plaster and used as insulation – construction in process
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We immersed ourselves in Mayan culture, Guatemalan culture, we learned Guatemalan and Mayan history and politics and immigration perspectives first hand.
Park of the Cross, beautiful view of Agua Volcano (dormant)

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We learned, we served, we experienced, we helped, we hugged, and we leave better people than when we arrived as we have new friends, new world views, and we now have a community with greater educational opportunities.
As I have stated, words and even pictures alone cannot fully illustrate the power and intensity of this trip and its set of experiences. I encourage you to consider attending a Hug it Forward service trip. Thanks for reading, as always, I welcome comments!
It is an honor to try to make the world a better place through service, family, spirit, and hands on learning. We leave Guatemala mentally, spiritually, emotional fulfilled. We brought good, we received good, and our little efforts will lead to generational change.
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As we come home, we aim to extend the learning, feelings, doings, beings illustrated herein and live as best we can sharing good wherever we can.
As I prepare for another school year, I am recharged, refreshed, revised, and wholly energized to support and facilitate change. I am committed to supporting administrators so that they may create optimal conditions for teachers and staff, so that they may create the environment for “each child every day” where all means all and where, in North Shore School District 112, #112Leads, we inspire, engage and empower every day!
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