Showcasing students work...Is it time to rethink the focus of schools?

Once again this summer, I am blessed to have the opportunity to travel to a couple of national conventions/conferences.  As such, the wheels of thought are spinning as I have had the opportunity to engage in great conversation with our schools leaders as well as witness some presentations and showcases that humble me in my own work as an educator.  I am eternally grateful to the #CozadMakers schools system for believing in my work and investing in my professional development, so that I can work to enrich the experience our students have at Cozad Community Schools

The first of these conference has been the Skills USA National convention in Louisville Kentucky.  Sixteen thousand attendees have gathered to watch students engage in an authentic showcasing of their technical skills across the spectrum of vocational, technical, and academic areas.  Students from high school and post-secondary institutions across the country have earned the right to compete and showcase their skills in every competition from industrial technology to robotics to health care and beyond under one roof at the Kentucky Exposition Center.  A national champion will be crowned in every competition, scholarships and prize winnings will follow, along with job offers from America's leaders in every industry as they jockey to secure the next Michael Jordan of their field.

Don't be fooled that these vocational competitions are for the 'other' kids.  These are the best and brightest in schools across the United States.  The worlds demand for workers with the skills to apply the theory they learn in academic settings is insatiable.  The world  needs people who can perform.  Their earning potential in many cases is higher than those who work in what are typically seen as the 'prestigious' jobs in America.

Unfortunately today, schools and our society seem to think that career and technical education is the 'ugly duckling' of education.  These STEM opportunities, may be receiving a great deal of press due to the buzzword phenomenon, but few schools are taking the leap to make these new programs the common occurrence as opposed to being the rarity in new program implementation.

So why is that so?  Why are schools so remiss in putting these CTE classes and programs as their flagship?  Why are we resistant to the experiences that are driving growth and innovation in the world?  Tom Whitby (@TomWhitby), an educational leader, blogger and 34 year veteran of education published a blog today, where he proposed an answer to all these questions: Because innovation is change, and we are afraid of change.  

To focus on career and technical education, in the same way we focus on the core areas, would be to change from what we have done for decades in education.  It would be to resist the forces that are mandating standardization and quantification in education.  It would require that we admit education can be done differently and it can be better.

After this week at Skills USA National Convention, I can assure you that I will be bringing some new ideas back to my alma mater where I work.  A few of the thoughts and questions I will work on finding answers to are:

• Lets rethink the course offerings we have as a school.  They nearly identical to the classes we offered 20 years ago when I was a student.
• Can we envision a school where we tap into the hidden genius in EVERY student?
• What opportunities can we offer our students by partnering with our business community that engage students in real world learning and application of skills and knowledge?
• If we believe that the word FAIL stands for First Attempt In Learning, then lets not be afraid to try something new and Bobbi, thanks for the reply. The booking reference is one that I ready a few years ago and I agree it's a great book. Your question at the end of what you do to turn those teachers around her still reluctant to change, in my opinion focuses on the concept of creating the shared vision. Once you have that  thanks for the reply. The booking reference is one that I ready a few years ago and I agree it's a great book. Your question at the end of what you do to turn those teachers around her still reluctant to change, in my opinion focuses on the concept of creating the shared vision. Once you have that 

It is easy to sit behind the keys of a blog and post these thoughts.  It is another to delve into the muddy waters and work to find a solution.  I can assure you, that I am vested in what is best for our students.  I can assure you, that I will never be satisfied with good enough.  I can assure you that as I watched the best and brightest in the nation competing here at Skills USA, I was pompous enough to believe that our students could be on this national stage.  I was confident enough in our teachers to believe with a focused and shared vision, we could be the best in the nation.

I am excited to head out to ISTE in Philadelphia Saturday and continue my journey to answer the existential call to improve the great education our students at Cozad receive.  I look forward to once again learning with my fellow #CozadMakers teachers.  I look forward to the great ideas that arise, the hard questions we will have to ask ourselves that will follow, and heart and soul of work that it will take to make things great.

There are two quotes I think about often.  The first one is one that is also a favorite of great friend Jed Droge (@ibejed)

The second one is a quote I use while with athletes as a coach.


I am excited to see the #CozadMakers teachers, students and community join me in moving from good to great and making our better best!

Strengthening the 'Community' in Cozad Community Schools

A couple of years ago our district changed its name from Cozad City Schools to Cozad Community Schools.  This was prompted by the closing of our rural schools whose attendance had declined.  For those of us who have always worked in the city (I use that term loosely as our population is just over 4000), we didn't notice much change other than the name.  However, this year many of the new initiatives we are unveiling are touching on this theme of putting the 'Community' into our school.

It is an exciting time to work in our district.  We have always had a very strong educational system here that has been well supported by our community.  In my tenure here, we had not been proactive in forming new partnerships to increase educational opportunities for students.  Maybe this was due to the standards and assessment movement gaining steam or from complacency.  Neither of which are good reasons.  As the winds of change  have began to blow, our school started to realize that we had student needs that were going unmet.  Not in the traditional academic way, but in the real world skill sets they would be required to demonstrate after graduation.  Some of those skill sets are soft skills, and others are the certifications and connections they will need to have a leg up on the competition in this global economy.

Enter the 'Community' in our school.  This fall we began discussions about ways to improve the relations with our community to gain support for new projects.  The logical conclusion was to invite the community into the schools to share with them what we are doing and ask for some feedback of what we could do better.  Through this process of engaging some of our community members, we made the decision to look into partnering with businesses to help us prepare our kids for the real world with more than just a diploma.  For the backstory on the declining value of a high school diploma, see my previous blog post by clicking here.

The first step
The first partnership was to approach the Cozad Community Health System and Central Community College to be able to offer a Certified Nursing Assistant class to our students.  Lyle Davis, the hospital administrator and Central Community College have always been very willing partners and have offered great support to Cozad Community Schools.  With a little legwork, several phone calls and a couple of meetings, I am proud to say that we have twelve students who are working through the CNA course and will earn their state certification this semester.

This first win, helped us overcome the inertia of complacency.  Our next partnership was with the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, part of the University of Nebraska System.  Utilizing our Dawson Area Development coordinator, who was previously an employee at NCTA, we brainstormed a 'wish list' of ideas and then approached NCTA about entering into a conversation about ways we could make that list of dreams a list of realities.  Our first meeting involved our high school administration and our career and technical education staff at the college and several of their administration and team members.   From this meeting I can tell you that, Ron Rosati, the Dean at NCTA, is a progressive forward thinking man.  Long story short, no obstacle too big, no challenge too hard.  Our next meeting is scheduled for February 6th, 2014 and will be to begin working out the logistics of how this partnership will work.  To sum up what this partnership will offer is this: NCTA wants our students taking their classes through synchronous and/or asynchronous methods utilizing adjunct instructors.  The best part of this is that much of these college classes and certifications will be offered to our students free of cost and the potential exists for our students to earn nearly an associates degree and several industry level certifications prior to graduation.  This is exciting to say the least!

While the ball was rolling, it just so happened that we were approached by a large cattle feeding operation here in our area to explore the opportunities that may exist in the area of agriculture.  After part of a day touring their 'high tech' facility we began to brainstorm some ideas of how we might be able to work together to provide greater leadership skill experiences, technical skill set attainment, and skills in applying academic concepts to the real world in the agriculture industry. We were quite impressed with their operation and willingness to engage us in conversation.  We are looking forward to these talks continuing. I won't name the operation directly because these talks are still in the preliminary stages, but to say the least, we are excited to dream about how this partnership could bring yet another great experience to the students of Cozad Community Schools.

Whats next?
As we continue to steamroll through this school year, we are already looking to expand these partnerships in our community and surrounding area.  Each month our high school's 'Ed Tech' team meets with the executive board of the Cozad Development Corporation.  Robyn Geiser and her team have been instrumental in helping us connect with other 'movers and shakers' who are looking make a difference in the next generation of our citizens.  Our plans include the placement of twenty five high skill students into meaningful work experiences next school year.  Our three year goal is that every student in our senior class is matched up with a business mentor where they can gain some real world skills and networks to potentially bring back our best and brightest after graduation.  Other plans include the beefing up of our CNA class so that next year students will also attain their Medical Assisting (CMA) and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certifications as well.  We are looking at several technical certifications and partnerships where students could CISCO, A+, Windows, and other technology related certifications.  We are also tentatively looking into the logistics of offering a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) program and Pesticide Applicator Licensing to our students. For the sake of space I will omit the other twenty-some ideas we are mulling over as well.

As our partnerships mature and our 'Community' is more fully integrated into our schools, I am sure that I will report on those successes.  Until then however, we will continue to dream big, think outside the box, and welcome the ideas and input of our community.

Dustin Favinger