May 20, 2004

Shaping the future
Leland High School visioning retreat looks ahead to 2009

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

In an effort to revisit the transformation process started five years ago by the Leland Foundation, students, teachers, school administrators and community members gathered in the Leland technology center last Saturday for an all-day brainstorming session with one goal in mind—to stay ahead of the curve and pave the way for a smoother transition for students into high school, college and beyond.

The “visioning retreat” was orchestrated by Beth Brown, vice president of planning and facilitation for BTW Consultants, a firm that works with nonprofits and charitable foundations to help create a shared vision and provide priorities for action that will help mold their future. Using discussions and exercises to create scenarios that will form the framework for the next five years, Brown’s focus centered on helping Leland look to the year 2009 and the characteristics that that may play a role in influencing its future.

“The challenge is going to be on what we want 2009 to look like,” explained Brown. “What we’ll have is a vision of priorities for the next five years—to which this group will be ambassadors to students, other teachers, and the community, with a role and a responsibility in being communicators.”

The history of the transformation project dates back to the inception of the Leland Foundation five years ago. Out of that came a plan, with a focus on technology, followed by the installation of the new technology center. “They wanted to come back and look at the vision for the next five years,” said Brown. “They want to see how they can better prepare a student for life as a graduate of Leland, and how the changing environment and world in definition of what it means to live the American dream impacts that.”

“Five years ago, we had a similar process that went for two-and-a-half days in really trying to create a vision for Leland that would take it from a very good high school to a great high school—a world leader in terms of what our high school preparation ought to look like in the 21st century,” admitted Superintendent Dr. Linda Murray. “This is an extension of that. I’ve watched this high school change dramatically. We’re on the cutting edge in thinking about what high school ought to be and how we prepare students for the next part of their career.”

“It’s about looking at different ways in how they want to start to change their vision or restructure some of their studies here,” said SJUSD spokesperson Karen Fuqua. “So they can see how they want to further integrate it into their curriculum with their kids.”

Also in attendance were Superintendent-elect Don Iglesias, school board member Gary Rummelhoff, Leland Principal Susan Votaw, and Castillero Principal Sandy Engel, along with parents, teachers, current and former students, school administrators and community business representatives—all eager to discuss methods by which they can narrow in and concentrate on ways to keep Leland on the cutting edge of education.

Concerns centered on “kids in the middle,” diversity, science, art, writing, and continued technology, with student stress levels a priority. “Let’s stop getting kids to define themselves by their grades,” Brown said. “Rather what really makes them a whole person by putting together all of their strengths and interests.”

The retreat kicked off the night before with a video presentation on the transformation project and the difference it has made at Leland, followed with a panel discussion, moderated by former Leland student body president Omar Shakir, with NBC-11 Vice President Jim Sanders, parent Alex Stuart, and college board representative Betsy James as the panelists who targeted issues such as critical thinking, communications and technology, getting into college, and motivating kids “in the middle” through a new program called C.A.R.T.

“It was a good diversity of opinions,” admitted Shakir. “We came away with a bunch of different perspectives that got us all thinking and motivated. This is a really good system to get students, teachers and faculty working together to improve the school and life at Leland.”

During a recent visit to Clovis, Stuart, along with a group of teachers and administrators looked at the C.A.R.T. program offered by the Center for Advanced Research and Technology. The program partners with various businesses to create lab systems in biomedicine, forensics, environmental sciences, and multi-media that allow intermediate level kids to do core integrated studies around those themes. “It also involves English and social science,” added Fuqua. “But with a concentration in those fields. It’s really an exciting program—something that they’re considering for programs with their students here.”

“What was striking to me was that this was a pretty tough place,” admitted Stuart. “There is no discipline problem there. These kids are on task and are getting meaning in having something tangible to work on. They have mentoring with businesses that give them the opportunity to go out into the field and actually interact with the businesses. They really focus on the kids.”

“I’m real interested in the ‘caught in the middle kid’,” claimed Leland Principal Susan Votaw. “I see a whole lot of stress with the way upper kids think if they don’t have the highest ‘A’ possible, they are no good. If we could develop something that gave them such a good experience—allowed them to develop and love that passion for what they’re doing—then they wouldn’t be worried that they weren’t necessarily a 4.0.”

“Bottom line, this was about focusing on the whole student, with more attention on the middle tier kids who are not necessarily the ones excelling at the highest level, but are still doing very well,” Rummelhoff said.

Additional input regarding deficiencies in the science and arts programs were also addressed. “A couple of areas came through loud and clear, but there is still work to be done,” said Rummelhoff. “Clearly we need to do a better job communicating with the community in pulling them together around Leland. We think there are more partnerships we can create around the school.”

The success of the transformation is now starting to ripple down to the middle school level as well. Castillero Middle School Principal Sandy Engel remembers being at Leland five years ago when the foundation was born and was responsible for writing the digital high school grant that started the process. “I saw this come to fruition,” she replied. “When I arrived [at Castillero] two years ago, teachers couldn’t even open an attachment e-mail. Now I want to see what I can take back to Castillero technology-wise. I want to take this type of exercise to our staff and to our parents in August to make our plan for our next steps.”

The final report will be presented to the transformation board and the Leland Foundation as a guideline for the future. The Leland foundation will then decide which projects will warrant implementation and future fund-raising campaigns.

“I think Leland has a leg up because of this foundation,” observed incoming Superintendent Don Iglesias. “It’s five years later and they know you can’t stay still. You have to continually look at your practices and your priorities and shift. In that way, I think they’re ahead of the curve in what they’re doing. It’s a wonderful process and it’s absolutely critical right now for every one of our schools and the district as a whole to really look at external and internal factors that can affect the quality of the programs we’re going to be able to deliver—to help our kids understand what’s heading their way.”