February-10-2020-Regular-Board-Meeting-Segment-1
[00:00:00] All right. We're going to call to order this, um, board meeting of the Westland Wilsonville school district and Ms. Douglas, would you please take roll Ellen Heights here. Kristi Thompson here. Reagan millitorr here.
Kelsey King here. All right. Now let me get to hear from a communications from our high schools and we get to begin with Courtney Slatter from arts and technology high school.
Good evening. My name is Courtney solder and I'm a junior art check, high arts and technology high school. Caitlin Finn, our usual school representative is unable to be here today. I'm glad to be here tonight to update you on what's going on at our school. Quarter three started on January [00:01:00] 28th and the students are busy with their new classes.
We welcomed 25 new students to our school since the beginning of quarter three. Our enrollment is now over a hundred students, which is the largest we have ever had in our school. We are thrilled to have so many students and families interested in our school, in our school. We have both. We have lots going on in classes and activities that students are really enjoying.
Something very exciting is the new partnership at the clock, hummus community college and our district to offer the EMT a one Oh five the introductory course in the emergency medical training program to classes, to a class of our tech students, a CCC EMT program director. And it w. Lesson, we'll smoke parents.
A parent Tanah swats thoughts, sorry. Is teaching the class with the collaboration of ATHS [00:02:00] a wellness teacher, Laura beco, uh, students are attending class at the CCC campus, Wilsonville in Wilsonville three days a week and are working in the classroom at ATHS two days a week. Students are saying that they really like going to the college campus and they're looking forward to all the hands on work that they will get to do in the class.
We will keep you updated on all the great things that are happening in class. In January 13 students participated in the Phoenix program, a leadership and personal growth retreat. The group was at camp Collins participating in fun, engaging.
throughout the weekend, focusing focused on building positive habits for school and life success, developing skills to set and reach personal goals and build confidence in seeking and accepting support in order to thrive. There have been [00:03:00] four followup sessions at the school with the group leaders from camp.
The whole group program concluded concludes with a . Celebration and ceremony with friends, family, and guests to attend the Phoenix program. Graduation is this Thursday, February 13th at 6:00 PM in the Kiva. You are welcome to attend the school. You are welcome to attend to learn more about the Phoenix program and our school and to celebrate the students' accomplishments.
We hope to see you there next Thursday, February 20th our entire school. All students and teachers are going to visit the Oregon state university and Lynn Lynn Benton community college campus for tours, information sessions, and opportunities to meet current college students. We are taking this trip as a part of our school wide college and career readiness work.
We all, we want students to have many experiences at college while in high school to learn about the program and opportunities at these schools. [00:04:00] And about the college going experience as a whole from learn, from learning about the application and financial aid process to getting comfortable with the feeling of being at an on a college campus.
As you know, school attendance is crucial in order for students to learn and move towards success or it moved towards graduation. Sadly, there are many obstacles that keeps students from attending school. As a school, we are working on increasing student attendance in several ways, including in  incentive for students to arrive on clot in class on time every day and attendance team comprised of specialists and teachers who collaborate to support students and families so that students can get to school every day, next week.
Artists in residence, medallion. Men [00:05:00] Mendell my Mesa will be leading a writing and performance workshop at a group with a group of ATHS students. The purpose of this workshop is to support students' interest in writing poetry and performance. Well, on a teacher, Laura bicho will be working with Mendell to work or to support students in developing spoken word poetry and writing that will be performed at school.
In a special community meeting school events. The ATHS parents group is sponsoring a game night in the Kiva Friday, February 21st all students are welcome to attend and parents are welcome to chaperone. Pizza will be served at this free event. Our parents and family group and academic success coordinator, Kate, are working together to offer three common group dinners.
On March 3rd, fourth and fifth. The purpose of these dinners is to increase family involvement in our school and to build a stronger community [00:06:00] for each dinner. A group of students will prepare for their families as well as preparing for the common ground dinner conversation. We want to bring together families from diverse areas of our school through these dinners.
As we mentioned last month, we're anticipating our first ever ATHS prompt. On Saturday, April 25th students have selected black and white, 2020 for the theme. Students and teachers are working. Parents and teachers are working with students to create decorations, plants, refreshments, and public. Publicize the event.
The Wesson Wilsonville district art show will be at ATHS again this year. Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 18 this year's theme is envision. Adult transition students are in the fifth week of work of winter term. Students are taking classes, including digital art tools, jewelry, weight training, digital music care and care and [00:07:00] prevention of supports, injuries.
Students are also participating in work experiences on campus and various department offices and campus student services. The students are also taking TriMet public transportation as part of their route to CCC. We are proud of the hardworking hard work R a T S students, teachers and staff are showing on the CCC campus.
I'm glad to have been here tonight and hope that you will join us in our events. Thank you.
thank you so much, Courtney. We appreciate you being here this evening. Uh, next, we have a Westland high school and Avery files.
Ooh, almost lost a shoe. Okay. We're starting off. Great. Uh, good evening. Dr Ludwig and school board members. I'm back again. And January was [00:08:00] incredibly, incredibly busy, um, yet really successful. So, um, buckle up. This is going to be a lot. Um, but in advance. Thank you for your patience and your open ears. Um, so let's just dive in.
So, um, it was a really successful, like I said, but admittedly challenging month for everyone here at Wesleyn. Um, and our students really enjoyed our finals gifts, um, including the coveted Dixon Ticonderoga pencil, as mentioned before. Um, and successfully completed finals week with stress. Greatly reduced thanks to our half day schedule, tutoring available and study sessions after school.
Um, Saturday the 25th right after finals week was winter ball and was an amazing way to blow off steam as well as celebrate a week of really hard work. A record of 766 students from all grades came together at the melody ballroom for truly magical night. Filled with dancing Italian sodas. My favorite.
And the community building. It was really successful and really amazing. Uh, as of right now, our seniors, myself included, are [00:09:00] currently in the process of applying for position on Western high school century may court, um, submitting portfolios to be graded tomorrow, as well as presenting to a panel of community members and students on Wednesday.
Our leadership ASB class has already started to create and conceptualize the transformation that the main gym we'll see soon undergo for the century Mayday. And if you've been before, you know, it's a stark difference. Basketball hoops are nowhere to be seen. It's always a beautiful transformation, and it's so fun to be a part of.
Um, and. Coincidentally, the Mayday celebration appropriately falls on May 1st this year. Um, so it's going to be extra special. We love how that worked out. Um, applications, uh, are also starting to roll in for our highly anticipated annual amazing race competition and have also been made available, um, for all of our seniors.
This year's competition will run from February 26th through March 4th with nine teams of seniors each playing for charity of their choice. Backed by community sponsors. [00:10:00] So we find that that's a really great way to get our community involved. Um, raise some money for some great causes and, um, celebrate our seniors and all the hard work that they do.
Uh, as for activities and sports, a lot went on in January and we'll continue to go on in the coming months. Westland speech and debate team had great success at several of their tournaments. Our annual poetry out loud competition is this Thursday morning, and we're super excited to host in collaboration with the Westland public library.
Newbery award winning author Matt de LA Pena on February 19th. All students involved in ISF. Um, the science program will also be participating in the crest, Jane Goodall science symposium on March 10th presenting projects that they began at the start of the year. Um, I've done an ICF project before and I know how much it takes.
And so it's always super cool to see, um, the opportunities that these students have to show off. They're genius. It's amazing. Our third state ranked girls basketball and seventh rank boys basketball teams are nearing the [00:11:00] end of the regular seasons and unified basketball has had some great games and tournaments.
The equestrian team has had their first competition this weekend. Our wrestling and swim teams will be at districts pretty soon. Um, this weekend actually, and our skiers and snowboarders are pushing through through the regular seasons with their state level competitions coming up at the end of the month.
The devs are continuing to compete with their Island state. And this past week pretty exciting. Our cheerleader or cheerleaders competed at nationals placing ninth overall, um, out of tons of teams. That was super exciting for all of them and they will be continuing to compete at state this upcoming weekend.
We are always so extremely proud of all of our athletes and the hard work that they consistently put into. Um, perform to the best of their abilities. I'm personally not an athlete, but it is so amazing what they're able to do. Um, I'm more of a cheerleader on the sidelines, not in a ninth and nation one, but, you know, I do the best I can.
Uh, last month, several of our students [00:12:00] participated in all States. Wire. Our thespians took 35 performance entries to the regional competition coming home with 11 regional finalists and three acts qualifying for the state competition in April. Performances of our winter plays these shining lives and to a number run March 5th through the 14th with 7:00 PM shows on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Both weekends. Orchestra band inquire also have upcoming concerts in that order on March 16th 17th and 18th at 7:00 PM and as always, we invite you to join us for some music on any or all of those evenings. I'll see you there. Also ahead. March Westland's century celebration will be taking place on the afternoon of Saturday, the 28th and this event is brand new.
Obviously we've only had one century year and it's this one, and it will serve as a time of reunion for alumni staff and the greater community. As their lead on building tours, enjoy musical performances as well as time spent together. A hundred years of lion pride is [00:13:00] something we at Westland are extremely proud of and we cannot wait for the opportunity to celebrate and bring the community together and we'll hope to see you there.
Well, that was a lot. Thank you for listening. Uh, that's all we've got this month at Westland and I look forward to seeing you next month.
Thank you Avery. And we next have a Wilsonville high school and Lindsey Hartford.
Hmm. Good evening, dr Ludwick and school board, and it's my pleasure to be back this week and this month to discuss all the amazing things going on in Wilsonville. January was a fantastic start to 2020 and we're planning to keep on going strong through February. In January, we nominated our SpringFest court and the seniors are getting their dancing shoes on to prepare for the show.
In may. Also at the end of January, we ended the semester with [00:14:00] finals, which I know students are happy to have over with. And to celebrate the start of the second semester and the mostly the end of finals, a students attended winter formal, which was a very fun night in our own gym. And the senior class raised a lot of money for putting on this event.
February has many events. The Wildcats are looking forward to involving academics, athletics, arts and activities. So students have had opportunities. Seniors have had opportunities to visit many college campuses to prepare them for a direction they may go next year. While cats have already visited Oregon state, Portland state and a trip to PCC is coming up tomorrow, so the future is looking bright for our seniors.
Students are looking ahead to next year already, including the eighth graders who will be attending will civil high school as freshmen. As for the current students, AP forecasting has just begun this week. And the counselors have been great, helping hands coming into classrooms and answering questions and we really appreciate them for all that they've been doing.
In terms of [00:15:00] athletics, the, there's a lot going on. Um, the boys basketball team is dominating and is undefeated and leads so far and they're hoping to continue that winning streak. The girl's basketball team is also doing well in league and we're very excited for their upcoming games. The wrestling team has a match coming up versus Parker's on Thursday, and we're very excited to be hosting the district wrestling tournament this year on February 21st and Saturday the 22nd the Wilsonville swim team is also swimming their way to park Rose this weekend in order to compete in districts and where wishing them the best of luck.
In addition, competing this weekend at state is our chair cheer team. We are already very proud of it. Cannot wait to see how they perform on Saturday. Saturday's a very busy day because the dance seems also competing and they will be in tiger dancing the day away. In addition to snowboarding and the questioning teams are also going strong and students really enjoy participating in all of these athletic activities [00:16:00] at the end of this month.
The winter theater performances opening Wilsonville is proud to present the imaginary invalid and students have been working extremely hard to put on a fantastic show. I know it's going to be a great production and I will definitely be attending. Opening night is February 27th at seven o'clock and the show continues February 28 29 I know what you're thinking, but February 29th is a real day this year and into the first week of March.
In addition, the robotics team is gearing up for a competition next month. We love seeing you at all these events and as always, invite you to come out and join us for an exciting evening. An event that I personally am very excited about is the canned food drive, which is starting this month. The cans are being donated to Oregon food bank and our goal is to collect five large bins from February 24th through March 13th to make a real difference in the lives of Oregonians, students, staff, and everybody at Wilson.
Wilsonville high, we'll be [00:17:00] participating in this and there is a little class competition going on. I'll have more on this next month, but I have very high hopes that this food drive will be the best one yet. Mostly because I'm the one organizing it. So thank you so much for your time tonight. I know that was a lot, but there are so many great things going on at Wilsonville.
I can't wait to see you next month and hopefully before then around my school.
Thank you, and thank you to all three of our high school speakers. You guys had a lot of content to deliver, but we loved hearing about it, so thank you. Um, next we will move on to recognitions and Dr. Spencer IMEs. Um. Do you introduce this? And then I read the proclamation. Okay. Thank you.
[00:18:00] There are so many parts of my role in the district that I feel incredibly lucky that I think in many ways I have the very best job and role because I get to support so many amazing professionals that are supporting our children and families. And interacting with our community, um, every day in such positive ways.
And it is absolutely my pleasure tonight to take a moment to recognize one of those groups of professionals. And those are our school counselors. Uh, we are incredibly proud that we have a school counselor. Um, licensed school counselors in all of our school buildings and more than one in several. And the work that those counselors do is really tremendous.
And that this year's national, or the American society for school counselors has a [00:19:00] theme for school counselor appreciation week. And that is school counselors building better humans. And I think that is so apropos from the work that we see our folks doing all the time. Okay. Um, I have just grabbed a few pictures here to give a little bit of overview on a couple of the things that folks do as school counselors.
Up in the left corner, you can see Deanna Johnson from Cedar Oak primary school, and this was at the beginning of the year. Really helping to set the tone around culture and climate in the school. So talking about all the things that our school counselors do to help all students feel welcome, safe, um, supported, connected and belonging.
Right here she's talking about circles and restorative practices, which is one of the things our counselors are helping support and all of our classrooms. Um. Below that, you can see Tammy Lewis and Cheryl Wilson who are counselors. I'm Cheryl, [00:20:00] also has a dual hat, have also been a social worker at arts and technology high school.
And they help with many of those things like the Phoenix program that you just heard about so beautifully from our students. Um, all kinds of resource connections. Um, but also Tammy has really done a fabulous job in that college and career planning and really helping our students leave. A high school with plans for their next steps and success in life.
And that is so much of a part of the role of school counselors as well. You can see down in the bottom right corner. Um, that was a little snippet that I took at Westland high school, walking through the halls when they were having a kindness campaign and our school counselors are constantly doing what are those positive things that can really change that conversation to helping our students feel connected and empowered to do good things and create a community that they want to be in every day.
Um, you can see in the middle, uh, Andre Abraham from Wilsonville high [00:21:00] school, and he at that picture was right here in the boardroom. You can probably see from the people behind, um, our counselors are incredibly dedicated to their professional development and learning, and they have really stepped up and helps lead a lot of the learning, um, themselves taken different.
Opportunities. Our next counselor's meeting next week is going to be focusing on collaborative problem solving and Carmen Ryan is going to be helping facilitate that learning that day. Um, you can see over in the bottom right hand corner, Tammy Brester from Bolton primary school, and as she was leaving.
Well assembly, oftentimes our school counselors are doing that kind of learning as well, where she was talking about self-talk and how do we, um, train our brains to talk positively to ourselves, which is a basis for positive mental health. And, um, of course, we often see our counselors in classrooms teaching lessons about, um.
Social, emotional learning, [00:22:00] self-regulation, how to solve problems, um, and how to plan for their future. Um, I do have one counselor that's here today. She's came to do part of the next presentation, but Molly Heiman is here from sunset primary school. So Molly, thank you. But we wanted to make sure we recognized everyone.
So we just put one more slide on there that just has everyone's name in at who are our school counselors here in Westland, Wilsonville. And um. I just want to take a moment and read their names. So Pam Campbell at Beckman Creek is in her first year joining us. Um, tremendous. Katie flaker, Tammy Brester, Deanna Johnson, Harmon, Ryan, Megan Pryor, Molly Hyman, Catherine Ramos, Rita McClellan, Tony snap, Jen Jolley, Amy Kozlowski, Alison GAM Purley Aaron block.
Tammy [00:23:00] Lewis, Cheryl Wilson, Andre Abraham, Alison Leatherman, Christine Moon, Lucia Meza, Greg bean, Kim Gwyn, Carly Halvorson, Michelle Olsen, and crystal Todrick. So please join me in thanking our amazing school counselors for the incredible work that they do every day.
And in that same vein, uh, we have a proclamation for national school counseling week, um, that I will read. And it says, whereas school counselors employed in public and private schools to help students reach their full potential. And whereas school counselors are actively committed to helping students explore their abilities, strengths, interests, and talents as these traits relate to career awareness and development.
And whereas school counselors help parents focus on ways to further the educational, [00:24:00] personal, and social growth for their children. And whereas school counselors work with teachers and other educators to help students explore their potential and set realistic goals for themselves. And whereas school counselors seek to identify and utilize.
Community resources that can enhance and compliment comprehensive school counseling programs and help students become productive members of society. And whereas comprehensive developmental school counseling programs are considered an integral part of the educational process that enables all students to achieve success in schools.
They're both for, I do hereby proclaim. February 3rd through seventh of 2020 as national school counseling week.
all [00:25:00] right. Is there something further away? Yeah. All right. Just gonna mention that. Um, we did fix the typo on the date there, so we did have it also chair monitors, um, a proclamation that you will sign. So we made that little edit in case you noticed that up there. Yeah. Thank you.
Oh, all right. We will now move on to board reports. And Chelsea, would you like to start us off? Would, wow, that's loud. Does that mean hi everyone? Just a few highlights from my past month, uh, attending events around the district. Um, a couple of them were, um, athletic events. I was able to go up to the mountain and watch.
The Westland snowboard team and the Wilsonville snowboard team compete. That is a very difficult sport to spectate. You get like a two second shot of the athlete, but it was fun to be up there and see all the kiddos with their jerseys [00:26:00] and really representing our school district and making us proud. And I was fortunate enough to be in the audience when Wilsonville high school varsity girls defeated LaSalle.
It was a very exciting game. So that was a fun one. My highlight. I always love listening to student voices, and I had the opportunity to go into a sixth grade dual language class at wood middle school and listen to the students present in Espanol about the changes that they would like to see in their school.
Uh, there was a lot of talk about block schedule. So that was a big topic with the students as well as many of you probably know that we started a policy where middle schoolers can't have their phones. Um, and so it's going to be something that, as I understand, correct me if I'm wrong, it will, it will be rolled up with this cohort as they move through the upper grades, whereas implementing a policy like this is what the, uh, you know, a ninth grade or a 10th grader would be much more difficult.
And so they're starting it with the middle [00:27:00] school. Am I getting that right. Right. More or less. Okay. So the students were lobbying the principal and I said, please let them have their phones. And so we got to hear some about that as well. And they did giggle at my Spanish. I did speak in Spanish the whole time, and it did elicit some giggling from the students.
And the teacher came to my rescue and explained that my Spanish was actually very good for her. How little time I've been studying. I did not tell them how many years I have actually been studying. But, um, you know, it's difficult to learn a language as an adult. And so these kiddos that have started at kindergarten, they just really have such a great advantage.
And, um, the board work that I've done is worked on the superintendent's evaluation process as the vice chair, and that's one of the main things I do is run that on behalf of the board. And so I had an opportunity to collaborate with the chair and we were intended just to make sure we have all the dates lined up so that that process goes smoothly.
As you know, those [00:28:00] States kind of. Barrel toward us. And um, yeah, I think those are the main things. I haven't been doing some work with the Wilsonville lions for inclusive communities. It's relevant to district goal number three and some of the partnering that this community group is doing with the school district has been really meaningful.
And so it's not board work, but it is definitely related to the work that we're doing in the district.
I am part of the Wilsonville park tasks force, which allows me an opportunity to hear what our community in Wilsonville is thinking about. Um. Proposing to the Wilsonville city council in terms of expanding perks or development and a potential bond. And a certainly would welcome any feedback from anyone about how, um, parks impact our students and our families in Wilsonville and thoughts you might [00:29:00] have about, um, where we can add, um, or improve to parks in Wilsonville.
Um. And I appreciate, uh, the city of Olsson Velux extending a request for a board member to participate in that. I was able to, uh. Go to a couple things that were especially meaningful to me and one was the anxiety. I'm going to call it one Oh one maybe, and that's put on by our social workers and had been waiting for that time where I could participate.
Seeing those announcements pops up and if people haven't gone, I'd encourage them to go. It was really, you could see on the faces of parents. Some relief, um, that they were getting some practical help and that they weren't alone in, in these issues. And I just, um, am reflecting in my time as a board member that, that.
[00:30:00] Is one area that with dr Ludwig's leadership and Dr. Spencer items, just feel like we are providing a vital resources to our families and our students through the social workers and, um, great job, which makes me think I've forgotten. The other thing I purchased. Oh. Um.
I'm a, I'm a local attorney and I, and parents and children who live in our communities and may attend our student or schools a matter co may come before the board. That materially benefits one of my clients. If it does, I will abstain from participating in discussions or decisions on the matter without disclosing the identity of my client.
Christie.
[00:31:00] Um, I just want to start off by thanking, um, our administrators, our teachers, our parents, um, and our students. Um, just for a wide variety of learning opportunities that we offer our students, not only during the day, but also outside the school. Gold day. Um, and also just those fun school events that pulled together our community.
So I want to start by that, um, and then tell you about all those great activities that I was able to observe and be a part of. So, um, in my attempt to make it to a PTA, PTSA PTO meeting, they're all called something different. Um, so I'm trying to make it to each one of those meetings that each one of our schools.
Um, this year just to introduce myself, um, to thank the members that are there and that spend a lot of volunteer hours. Um, but a lot of people don't see creating these great events. Um, and just let them know that, you know, the board is [00:32:00] accessible and available to them. So, uh, I was at would middle school's PTA sunset primaries.
PTO. Is that correct, Michelle? It's a call. Yours is called a PTO. And then Cedar Oak primary, I think their PTA as well. So just got to hear about all the great things happening, um, at all of those schools. Um, I attended some drama events as well. Meridian Creek, middle school drama production. I had the opportunity to see, um, board chair wallets, fours son, um, participate.
And then the next night went to a Wilson ball high-schools night on Broadway. Wow. Okay. I was blown away, um, there, and correct me because you're, I also got to see, um, board chairs, daughter perform as well. And is that was it, they're kind of practicing and putting something on for the regionals that they participate in?
They were participating in that Saturday, so they had two nights where they were opening it up to the public so that they could kind of [00:33:00] practice and then prepare. Um, I was blown away. And it was phenomenal. So, um, just amazing. Um, and then we'll, I'm at primary's Northwest children's theater's production of Annie, where I got to see director Hyde's daughter perform.
So, um, some great drama this month. Um, I attended last Wednesday, the career fair at Rosemont Ridge middle school. Such a neat, um, such a neat event and again, much put on by their PTSA and some parents, um, you walk into a room and there are career, I would say call it a career fair. There's a members of a community, they're set up at a table.
Um, you know, with all of the information about their careers and what they do. I, I know students have directed, I had been directed I think to visit at least six of them. And they have questions they ask. Each student also goes through mock interviews. So it gives them that opportunity, that real world experience.
For most of them, it's the first time they've ever [00:34:00] had or been involved in an interview. And then. The third part of it is in another room, and I would call it a life simulation. All of them have drawn out of a hat, a career, and get been given a salary, and then they go from station to station and they have to decide how much they're going to spend on their rent, how much they're going to spend on their clothing, how much they're going to spend on Starbucks, Dutch, whatever you want to put in that category, how much they're going to spend on their clothing.
Sure, et cetera, et cetera. So again, kind of giving them that opportunity to see how quickly it goes. Right. So, um. Anyway, another great event. Um, uh, last Thursday night I had the privilege of being at Westland high school. I went into their Latin X parent night. That was the first time they had hosted one of those.
And just really trying to make sure that those parents feel a part of that community there. And, um. Boy, there were a lot of, they had a lot of staff there [00:35:00] just to welcome those parents and ask answer questions. And as well as some interpreters there, Maria was here from the district office and some others just to make sure that those parents felt like they could communicate.
Um, I also attended the wrestling match that night, which really was the first wrestling I think I've ever seen. Um, I'm kind of a fan now. So anyway, if you haven't attended wrestling, um, it was. It was good. Um, and then Friday night, um, I spent my night at wood middle school with a bunch of middle schoolers at their winter Fest, which is a carnival for, um, the middle schoolers.
And just thinking back to when I was a kid and that those were the nights I got so excited about. I mean, just little things like cotton candy and. Bring tosses to the pot machines and whatever. So that was fun. And then, you know, just had the opportunity this last month to have a lot of coffee. I drink a lot of coffee, um, meeting with citizens and such, just [00:36:00] hearing what's on their heart.
So that's it.
Um, so one thing I forgot to mention, the last meetings I had in December, I had a chance to go to the Lego robotics tournament at the mentor graphics campus in Wilsonville. I, that's something that I have know nothing about. And so it was an eye opening experience. It's great to see the kids, um, uh, competing and, uh, uh.
To, you know, develop skills that I still don't have at 41 years of age. Um, I saw the production of Annie at Atlanta primary with director Thompson, and it was an amazing production, especially when you consider the fact that all the kids there are 11 or younger and they produced the entire thing in five days.
And so that was an impressive feat. Um, so last week, presentation on CTE sparked a lot of. Conversations in the community. So the last four weeks I've had a lot of conversations with people who were happy, had a lot of questions about it. So that's great. And then, um, I had a chance to speak with Pat McGough in the operations office about pesticides and, and really that was a really productive conversation.
And so I [00:37:00] want to give the community kind of an update as to where we are since we last talked about pesticides. So this, I know, so people have questions about that. So let me provide a brief summary of what I've learned since our last meeting. Um. 2010, 2011 was our peak usage for pesticides in the district.
We use about 40 gallons of 'em, mostly Roundup to take care of weeds. Um, by 20, uh, 16, 17, you'd read, reduce that to 15 gallons. Um, and then in 2019, we reduce it to 5.6 gallons. So that's where we are right now. Um, the reductions in the last three years have come mostly from. Just having a higher tolerance for weeds, not things don't have to be perfect.
And also volunteers from the community and our staff pulling weeds by hand. Um, we've been trying to implement something called fabric guard, so a lot of the pesticides we're using are along fence lines where we have to, uh, D get rid of weeds. And this is super expensive. We have about 12 miles of fencing in the district, and this is $4 and 50 cents per linear foot.
So it would cost about $170,000. Plus labor [00:38:00] to install, um, the fence, the fabric art in the district. We're not going to do it all at once for two reasons. First, there's no money that's been budgeted for it for this fiscal year. So it's something we want to keep in mind when budget rolls around. But secondly, this has a shelf life, so it's gonna wear out.
And so you don't want to put it all in at once because then it's all gonna fail at once where if you put it in piece by piece, you do a little bit each year and that's just never going to be an overwhelming problem either from a financial perspective or from a labor perspective. Um. And then we also talked about that even when fabric isle guard is fully installed, we'll still need Roundup for some applications.
So for example, there are some places like along curb lines and sidewalks where we have to eliminate weeds for structural purposes cause it can damage the sidewalks and the roads and the curves. But we can do that with somewhere between 1.1 and 1.7 gallons district-wide. And so, so that's the eventual goal.
And that would be, it. I think if we get 96% reduction from where we were in 2010, 2011 and we're also going to continue to look at new ways of dealing with this. So if we can find non a chemical [00:39:00] way to reduce weeds at, uh, uh, curbs and sidewalks, we'll look into that. But right now that's the goal. Um, if I manage questions about that, they can reach out to myself or Pat McGough.
Thanks.
All right. Um, I'm just going to focus on two things and one kind of piggybacks off of the student voice I component that Chelsea talked about that she loves to participate in for me too. It's one of the more rewarding aspects. Specs of this job is to be able to connect and interact with our students.
And, um, as the end of the semester rolled around, it seemed like there was a variety of classroom type activities and projects where, um, students are writing to their, their school board. And so I had the joy of being able to respond to those on, on behalf of the board. And I tried to share those with . The board as well, just so that everyone got it.
And I also received one, and I'm just gonna read this cause it's so distinct and cute. Um, that came handwritten no, from, from someone. So if you haven't seen it [00:40:00] yet, but, um, I'm not gonna read the student's name, but it says I am writing to you because we wake up too early for school. We need to get rest.
So we could think in school. When I wake up, I get in a bad mood. It is dark outside to get the bus, and it is scary. So can we please start school at eight 30? Um, and this is from a third grader at one of our schools. And I will definitely respond to this, but I just wanted to share that. Um, and I know also today we've actually have a student who's going to come speak to us during the public comment, the same sort of thing.
And I love that our students are learning their advocacy. Keys, advocacy skills. Um, it's interesting because ginger, Dylan and I as lawyers, you know, have a career that we've made out of advocacy. And so I love seeing. Are there individuals in our students start to express themselves and advocate not just for themselves, but their peers and what they'd like to see in their schools.
So, [00:41:00] um, and then the second topic has to do with our very own dr Ludwig, who is a little bit, um. She's exceptionally humble, and I think if she had her way, she would keep this little news all to herself. But last Saturday at the Ohlala conference, which is the Oregon association of Latino administrators, dr Ludwig received this very distinguished award.
Um, and it is the Tom rural ally of Ohlala award, and it's for exhibiting leadership in the areas of equity and cultural competence. And the reason I found that it's very important not just to promote the good work of dr Ludwick and everything she does, but it is, and she'll be the first to want to point out that it is, um, an achievement that is.
Reached by this entire district, and that dr Ludwig has a lot of very [00:42:00] important individuals working alongside of her to make this work possible as well as we have a school board and our school and our district goal number one, that allows us to grow student achievement through use of high leverage instructional engagement strategies to raise rigor.
Disrupt systems of racism and generate equitable outcomes for all students while eliminating opportunity achievement gets you the work that lends itself to receiving this sort of honor, um, can be linked back to our district valuing that goal. Um, it's also worth noting that dr Edgar, uh, Solaris and miss Amelia are both on the board of this association and that this year, um, this event sold out, which for the first time ever with more than a 400 attendees and there is available on our website, a [00:43:00] more detailed.
Uh, information that talks about the organization and its goals and, um, how dr Ludwig's leadership in that work has helped, uh, establish our district as an ally. So thank you.
to Kelly. Somehow she snuck that thing down here for you without noticing just going to put some cookies on it, I think, and we'll just call it good. So it, it really is. Um, it's really a recognition of this school board and this school district that has long had, um, you know, [00:44:00] superintendents before me, this idea of the greatest thinkers and most thoughtful people for the world.
And so it's just continuing that good work is my responsibility and continue to respond to our community in the ways that move the work forward. And give voice to often those who have felt marginalized. I will say in the couple of moments that they gave me a microphone. Um, I talked about our board goal and when I mentioned that you as a board had courageously added those four words into our board goal this year, the entire auditorium erupted in cheers and claps.
Um, and it's such a significant reminder that. Um, for members of the dominant culture, we sometimes do things pretty easily and it's very easy to add forwards and just to be on our way. And there are members of our community for whom those four words are incredibly significant, and [00:45:00] it represents for them a notion of feeling safe in our community that, um.
Children have every opportunity and that we're making strides forward. And that conference, which is predominantly attended by our Latin X community staff and administrators to get that kind of response or a goal that you've created, I think exemplifies why we as a district have been appreciated for our work and supporting.
Um, our community in particularly our lat, Latin X community. So thank you. I was very proud to represent you on Saturday. And again, dr Solares and principal Maya are on the board and, um, city that will be the president of a wallet that's coming years. So I'm not sure if she's in the audience yet tonight.
I know she wants to be here to hear a student speak, so when she's here, we can recognize that as well. So thank you. We'll just put some cookies on that plate and they'll be really yummy. Thank you, doctor. [00:46:00] Thank you.