Tekamah-Herman
Schools, as every other public school district in Nebraska, participates in a
Continuous Improvement Cycle to set goals and make sure we are moving in a
positive direction. Every five years,
the district entertains an external visitation team to review the Continuous
Improvement Process. The district had a
measurable goal of improving reading comprehension in all grades and an
immeasurable goal of improving communication in and out of the district.
The external team that visited was composed of four
public school administrators and one community college representative who was
formally in a K-12 public district. This
team met with our Continuous Improvement Team and administrators, took tours of
our buildings, met with elementary and junior/senior high students, met with
some of our teaching staff, had lunch with some of our Board members, and then
reported their observations, commendations, and recommendations for our next
five-year cycle.
We have many great things going on at Tekamah-Herman
Schools that were recognized by the external team. Some of those highlights included: 1) having
great students and staff who were proud to be a part of Tekamah-Herman, 2) an
outstanding curricular offering for a district of our size, 3) the active participation
of our students (extracurricular, i-Help, FBLA, Computer Club, FCCLA, National
Honor Society) in the school and community, 4) the Board’s vision in creating
the curriculum coordinator position, which has proven to be invaluable, 5) the
positive strides taken to prepare students for the digital world with
technology, 6) the use of data to guide decisions and improve student learning
in the classroom.
While one of the duties of the external team is to help
us celebrate our accomplishments (noted above), another is to provide
suggestions for improvement in our district.
There were two or three minor changes they recommended which can be
addressed over the summer concerning staffing and technology, but there was one
big one that they spent most of their time on when reporting out to our
staff. Facilities. The external team reinforced, as a district,
we must reach, challenge, and educate students regardless of what is going on
around us. This is absolute fact and
something we strive to reach on a daily basis.
However, the quote they used several times was “You are doing the best
you can with what you have”. This struck
me and made me ask, is this fair to our students to just get by when they are
competing with so many other students for scholarships, placement in higher
level education, and jobs once they leave us?
I think most would agree
our facilities are in need of some significant attention, however there is not
a clear public majority as to what that should be.
In
addition to several facility comments from the team, they stressed the
importance of everyone (teachers, administration, Board of Education, and
communities) getting on the same page and working toward a common goal for our
students. I hope each of you are reading
these articles, sharing with those that aren’t, talking about the future of our
district, and educating yourself as to the needs of our district. If you have talked with a Board member,
please continue to do so. If you have
not, please take the time. If an
external team can make such strong observations in the span of nine or ten
hours in our facilities, it is a pressing need for our students. The Board wants to do what is best for our
students and needs public input for that to happen. If we continue to fail bond issues or make
incorrect decisions regarding our facilities because of lack of input, that is
a severe injustice to our students, current and future.
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