Boldly Go—In 30 Seconds

This semester, as we head into the spring election, is an exciting and important time for Hamilton Southeastern Schools.  For the next few weeks, we want to spend some time thinking and writing about how to support HSE Schools.  Before May 4, odds are good you are going to be asked your thoughts about our schools, and our hope is that our blog entries might help you prepare for important conversations.

 

What will you say when you are asked about our schools?

From Phil: Starting with the Big Picture

When I first started to write my Elevator Pitch, I kept stumbling to find the words.  I was reminded of Wittgensen’s wisdom about the importance of words.  I finally gave up on paragraph form and decided to go with bullet points that I will try to remember when I find myself caught off guard by a question about our schools.

This week, I’m starting with the big picture: public schools as a whole.  In the future, I want to focus closer to home.  If, however, I am asked this question, I will have at least a partial answer:

"Why should I support public education?"

• Education for All: Public schools have both a mandate and a moral obligation to provide an education to all students. For public schools, “all” means “all.”  We take (and love) every student who walks through the door.  We wouldn’t want it any other way.  We are glad we can’t pick and choose our students because every child deserves a quality education. Public schools have a tremendously successful history of providing this for our families, our towns, our states, our country, and our world.
• Pay It Forward: I attended public schools, as do my children and my grandchild.  When I was school age in a different state and different era, there were those who came before me who built and supported the public schools I attended.  It is now my turn to provide for the next generation.  My support is both paying back and paying forward.
• Economic Development: Part of our moral obligation is to provide the best possible opportunities for all children. This takes money, but it is money well spent.  Children who receive high quality educations soon become part of a high quality workforce that drives local and state economies.  There is no better economic development tool or better investment for a community than creating and supporting world-class public schools.

Respond to Phil: plederach@hse.k12.in.us

Star Trek fans should be able to
relate to Jan's message!

From Jan: Boldly Go, HSE!

The Hamilton Southeastern School District is a rare and exciting place to be.  This School District is BOLD! 

HSE21 provides a BOLD vision of transformation, where classrooms are transformed into learning labs and students are engaged in authentic and relevant learning opportunities. The district-wide 1:1 initiative BOLDLY expands learning beyond the four walls of the classroom for the 21,000+ students in the district. 

There are success stories too numerous to mention, and students are doing amazing things each and every day with the support of great teachers, administrators and support staff. 

The instructional vision of HSE²¹ is a BOLD commitment to providing students with an educational experience that is world-class!  

Respond to Jan: jcombs@hse.k12.in.us

Here is a BOLD challenge for any of you reading this blog: Send us your Elevator Pitch.  What great things are going on in HSE?  Why should our community support our schools?  

If you have an answer, send it our way!

Have a great week, HSE!

Your HSE Teaching and Learning Team

• Jan Combs, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning
• Stephanie Loane, Director of Elementary Education
• Tom Bell, Director of Special Education
• Jeff Harrison, Director of Educational Technology
• Phil Lederach, Director of Secondary Education