Public Education and Community Support

By Jan Vickers

Thank You Community!

Thank you, again and again, is in order to all of you who voted to pass the bond in 2001. Last week we held the dedication of the new classrooms, modernized classrooms, and fields at Top of the World School and Thurston Middle School. The students attended along with teachers, staff, representatives from the city, the PTA, the architect, the construction company, citizens oversight committee, administrators and the board of education. There were lots of us there and it was a joyous Thanking celebration at each school. The Thurston chorus and band played and they were outstanding. Thanks to the support of Schoolpower contributors that allow us to fund extra music. The TOW children sang two marvelous songs with a grand finale of bubbles, again thanks to extra music programs they were accomplished in performing.

Teachers at both schools are thankful their years of teaching in spite of construction is over and they finally enjoy the finished rooms to make their classroom environments richer. There was nothing but gratitude from all topped off with wonderful feasts for all the guests at both schools. We are so proud of our students and teachers. Students took part in both programs with presentations at the microphone. What maturity and pose they demonstrated.

This is a reflection of all we help our children accomplish in addition to the curriculum of language arts, math, social studies, science, physical education, foreign language, art and other electives. The students in Laguna Beach Unified with the support of parents and community are reaching the goals that prepare them for life.

We are grateful that parents help with homework, stay in contact with the teachers, read the newsletters we send home, come to school events and volunteering for everything.! We are grateful for our community members who serve on committees, tutor and enrich students experience even when their children are grown and gone or they have no children.

We have a practice of including board of education members, administrators and teachers on the myriad committees that meet regularly. We have a wealth of expertise and knowledge among our ranks. It is not always easy to move forward with committee work but the premise of respectfully disagreeing and listening to someone else's view is working. Be sure to read the Quest for Excellence newsletters and note the dates of future meetings. These are all open to anyone and we welcome your participation.

This year the Academic Depth sub committee will be focusing on Writing and Professional Learning Community which includes the Individual Education Plan for each student. Writing, particularly at the middle school and the high school, is a priority. We have the objective to increase the amount of writing for students. The challenge in this is the amount of time it takes teachers to grade each piece of writing. Our teachers want to give each student the feedback that is necessary for their writing to improve. Imagine you are a teacher with 5 class periods and each period has 30 students. If you assign a two page short essay and your student total is 150, assuming it takes 5 minutes per essay to grade, the time to grade this one assignment is 12 and 1/2 hours! We need to find a way to provide the time and assistance to reach this objective.

As an active member of the Board of Education I ask for your vote so I can continue to serve on the board representing this community as I have done with integrity and commitment. Thank you for your support. Jan