THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 30, 1995 TAG: 9508290127
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
The following is a welcome address delivered Aug. 21 to faculty members, administrators and school personnel by Superintendent Jane T. York at Windsor Middle/High School.
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 1995-96 school year and to the second annual curriculum work week. It's also a pleasure to be in the southern end of the county. We thank the staff here at Windsor Middle/High schools for hosting us this week in the lovely facility.
This time of the year has always represented two things to me: the opening of another school year and football season. You have heard Dr. Birchette and me say that we could learn from coaches how to be successful teachers and that coaching and teamwork are what we are about.
It seems appropriate to quote Vince Lombardi, who described his vision as follows: He stated that he was dedicated to excellence, to victory and to making this world a better place to be. It occurs to me that we are about this same kind of dedication as educators.
A dedication to excellence goes without saying. Excellence means, in my opinion, that we set high our standards for behavior and achievement and that we provide a caring atmosphere within that context.
A dedication to victory in our field or arena means that our students achieve - especially in the basics.
Thirdly, dedication to making this world a better place to be means that we, as educators, become role models to our students and prepare them to help us make our democracy and our society a better place. We model our roles through our dress, our actions and our love and respect for learning.
As we start this year, I want us to focus on what Americans expect from our public schools. We are in trouble. Sometimes, I believe there is a conspiracy to discredit us. Part of it we deserve, and part of it we do not deserve.
One of the most recent surveys conducted by an organization called the Public Agenda recently released their 1994 findings. First and foremost, Americans want safety, order and the basics. For years, we have focused only on the academics. I challenge you this year to make order and discipline a priority in your classroom.
Given structure and order, learning can occur. Americans are concerned that public schools are so disorderly and undisciplined that learning cannot take place. We, the School Board and I, have heard that from you.
We (your School Board, your principals and your central administration) are prepared to support you and find alternative situations or consequences for students who are disruptive. Part of good teaching is, however, effective management of student behavior and, therefore, you do have to help in the process.
When parents want the basics, they actually mean reading, writing and arithmetic. They go bananas when a teenager can't make change without the cash register, and I don't blame them.
The bottom line is that parents and the American public want the same thing for our children that we want for our children - safety and academic success - and high standards for both.
Later this week, you will hear the results of our tests for spring 1995. On the Literacy Passport Test, we scored above the state average on all three tests but not on the percentage passing all three.
We outscored Chesapeake and Williamsburg; 86.1 percent of our students passed math, 78.6 percent of our students passed the writing section and 80.4 percent passed reading. And for the most part, we tested all of our special-education students. Approximately eight of 10 sixth-graders in Isle of Wight County passed this sixth-grade test.
My friend Jerry Bracey says, ``When they run the 100 meter dash at the Olympics, somebody finishes last, but the losers are not slow learners.''
Jerry also says that, ``We've never been a nation of learners,'' contrary to this nostalgic myth - but we are closer to that state than we have ever been before.
I'm proud of you. We've worked hard. We still have a lot of work to do. Let's make our topic of conversation RESULTS this year. I already know you work hard, so let's stop talking about it. If we focus on RESULTS, I think we will get them.
We didn't all come to this division on the same boat; we came on different boats, but we are in this boat together. The needs of our students have to be met. We aren't here for the convenience of the staff.
Despite the fact that problems most children face lie outside the school rather than inside, on the street rather than on the playground, and in the living room rather than in the classroom, I still believe we can and do make a difference. If I didn't, I couldn't go on.
May you enjoy this week and may you grow and learn. That may require change - something only babies seem to like when they are wet and cold.
I am proud to be your superintendent. MEMO: TEST RESULTS/ 5
ILLUSTRATION: File photo
Superintendent Jane T. York is stressing a dedication to
excellence.
by CNB