LUTHERAN QUILTERS – Members of the Quilts for Comfort Group stand between pews draped with some of the 205 quilts they made, in the Sitka Lutheran Church Tuesday. The group made the quilts for five local non-profits and one in Anchorage. The remaining quilts are sent to Lutheran World Relief which  distributes them to places around the world in need, such as Ukraine, as part of Personal Care Kits. Pictured are, from left, Helen Cunningham, Kathleen Brandt,Vicki Swanson, Paulla Hardy, Kim Hunter, Linda Swanson and Sue Fleming.  (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

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Daily Sitka Sentinel

Communication Is Key, Says Sitka School Board

KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Sitka School Board met Tuesday evening to discuss how to better communicate with their peers, students, parents, and public partners through all media platforms.
    Board president Jennifer McNichol said the meeting was a long-awaited work session on communication.
    “Communication is a theme that we keep coming up with,” McNichol said. “In our board self-evaluation and our goal setting and also even in our superintendent self-evaluation process it is a reoccurring theme and we all can do better at it all the time in all of our facets of life.”
    School Superintendent Mary Wagoner led the discussion by presenting the board with a document the school principals felt were highlights in their buildings, including:
    – student achievement levels above state averages
    – commitment to cultural responsiveness and place-based education
    – robust career and technical education program
    – leadership in social emotional learning and alternative education
    – strong community partnerships that enrich the learning experience
    – a technology-rich learning environment to prepare students for success in life
    – integration of the arts into our schools to provide a well-rounded education
    – and Wooch.een Yes Jigaxtoonei Preschool in partnership with Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the Tlingit & Haida Central Council.
    Wegner said the school district’s goals are to close the achievement gap for each demographic, and improve the positive response rates on the School Climate and Connectedness Survey in the areas of respectful climate, school safety, student involvement, and parent involvement.
    “We always want to do the best we can with the resources we have,” Wegner said. “And what we have is us.”
    She joined board member Elias Erickson in a power-point presentation on a communication plan with common themes gathered from internet research and webinars.
    “We thought this was a reasonable attempt at a process given that we are not communication experts but just dedicated people looking to help communicate and be transparent in our actions,” Wegner said.
    The board hoped to establish a road map to provide clear and meaningful information to shareholders and collectively work to achieve common goals. Initial discussion was to evaluate the districts current situation and needs.
    “The first thing that came to my mind was consistency,” Erickson said. “I thought that in order to be really truly effective I think it is important to be consistent in producing content for our stakeholders to observe.”
    Mentioned were content drivers such as the superintendent “spotlight,” that highlights staff or events happening in the schools; motivating staff by sharing TED Talks links; simplicity in communication; utilizing multiple media platforms; using media to address misconceptions; and using media to solicit feedback and comments in two-way communication.
    “As far as communication and consistency in our social and emotional learning, I was thinking we focus a lot on the students but not on the staff and how to motivate them,” board Vice-President Cass Pook said. “I think our staff and our teachers need that motivation and that positive input that how do we make our schools more social-emotional, more emotional positive, instead of focusing on the negative, that there is positive and there is a lot of good things that you can learn from TED talks.”
    The district’s key audiences were identified as concerned community members, staff, students and families, community partners and organizations, local Assembly and city staff, state government, alumni, and tribal councils.
    “I was just thinking about our Persons to be Heard at our meetings,” Pook said. “We don’t comment when they come to us and bring things to our attention, we don’t comment back because it’s not our place or time to do that. It would be nice to have the follow-up: are their questions being answered, are their concerns being answered. I’m sure they are, we just don’t always hear it. It would be nice, as a board member, to know that what is being done with their concerns and is there anything we can do at a board level in the future to address the concerns coming up.”
    The board discussed how to measure their communication efforts and objectives by using media traffic and utilizing all possible platforms, and updating the community on the progress of school board goals and performance.
    “It may be something incredibly simple as yes and no,” board clerk Eric Van Cise said. “Did this program work for your child? Yes, no. Sometimes with families, if there is something going on with any of their kids, maybe even the simplest one or two choice survey type thing.”
    To ease the expected time burden on board members and district administrators across communication platforms Wegner suggested dividing expertise.
    “If we map out the year with the entire admin team, the principals and the district staff, what could be those data points we actually get,” Wegner said. “And then each of you pick a platform that works for you to communicate and so you all wouldn’t have to do everything. So if Elias tweets, he could tweet out the information we are naturally collecting, so it is not too much of a burden for any one of us.”
    Added board member Dionne Brady-Howard, “Maybe when we do our elections for board positions that is also something we look at. We figure who is going to be vice chair and all that, we figure out our liaison spots, and then this might also be that we all have different communication responsibilities.”
    Brady-Howard also stated the need for a clearinghouse or shared document that expressed the same message among all platforms before being released.
    The board discussed what makes Sitka School District unique, and came up with:
    – community partnerships in the arts and sciences
    – staff retention
    – engaged media
    – vocational training and workforce preparedness
    – Pacific High School
    – the Performing Arts Center
    – partnership with Mt. Edgecumbe High School
    – homegrown teachers
    – cultural diversity
    – Discover Your Potential week
    – and the campus’ accessibility to the surrounding environment.
    “We are working to make sure every student has a viable future,” Wegner said. “That every student has academic achievement and there is no achievement gap and our schools are welcoming and that families are part of that. We need to be telling our story and why does it matter…. what distinguishes us from others providing the same service.”
    The board looked at making better use of social media platforms such as Facebook, email, Twitter, a new school district website, Instagram and Snapchat, and traditional media such as local radio, newspaper and television.
    “We’re the board, we are not going to dictate to teachers and individual schools what they have to do but we can certainly lead by example,” McNichol said. “Communicate succinctly but consistently.”
    McNichol said board members need to expand their brains a little and think outside the box.
    They hope to assign social media responsibilities among themselves at a November special meeting, and create an outline for implementing a two- to three-year communication plan.
    They plan a goal setting session for Oct. 5 and 6 that may also include communication components. The next board meeting is Aug. 29, and on Sept. 13 the State Board of Education and the State Commissioner of Education will be in Sitka for an informal sit-down with the school board over lunch.

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Advertisement: Tea-Licious Tea House & Bakery 315 Lincoln Street Grand Opening! Freshly Baked Scones, Cakes & Pastries Innovative Salads, Soups & Sandwiches Harney & Sons Tea. Lunch * Afternoon Tea * Supper.

50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Photo caption: National Republican Chairman George Bush takes a drink of water offered by Jan Craddick, Sitka delegate, during the Republican convention held here. Mrs. Craddick explained to Bush that the water was from Indian River, which means, according to local legend, that he will return.

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