Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Enrollment and Attendance for Cabell County Schools


            Over the past decade the Cabell County Board of Education (BOE) has strived to not only keep enrollment stable but also keep students in school. With a 24%* drop out rate it’s important to keep students interested in school and lead them on a path to success.
            Since the 2003-2004 school year and the implementation of Pre-Kindergarten to schools, enrollment has steadily increased with only a drop in 2007-2008 (To see timeline of Cabell County total enrollment trend click here).  The state of West Virginia funds Cabell County schools per student based on these figures.
Assistant Superintendent Gerry Sawrey said they are more concerned with keeping enrollment stable. For the administration, enrollment affects staffing which means having so many teachers per students. The BOE has to find other funding other than from the state to pay for schools if enrollment decreases, so it’s better to be stable and increase their numbers if possible.  Sawrey said there is some competition with private schools such as St. Joe.
"I guess we have a little bit of competition, but really I think in our area it's healthy competition,” Sawrey said.  “I personally believe in parents having choices for their children.”
Sawrey also said that people in public schools believe everyone in an area belongs in public school and can be critical but overall choices are a good thing. The BOE works together with those entities to ensure the best education for the community possible.  Sawrey said they try to keep all the schools updated so parents can see they’re children are receiving the best quality education.
“To get people to see the quality of what we have we’ve also tried to update our schools with more technology and places to get things done,” Sawrey said.
            While enrollment is defined as a student who is “in the books,” the trouble the BOE has are the students who chose not to attend school on a regular basis. In the last five years the administration followed an entire initiative on high school restructuring. In order to keep students in school the BOE has to make what and how the students are learning relevant and interesting.  Sawrey said the 21st century high school looks a lot like it did years and years ago.
            "If Rip Van Winkle fell asleep in an American high school and woke up 100 years later in 2013, he'd still be comfortable because it looks a lot similar.” Sawrey said.
            Life has changed and so has the way students learn, therefore to be relevant to the kids and their future as well as the future of society, the BOE has to make sure the high schools are up to date. Sherri Woods is the attendance director and works with principals, teachers, parents and sometimes even the court system to keep students in school.
            One of the branches of the restructuring that's only three years old includes graduation coaches that are counselors who identify kids in high school who are at risk for not graduating.
            "We have an early warning system, it's at the state level now, but before Cabell County was the only county with a system to target children who have problems with attendance and course completion," Woods said.
            The coaches start in middle school and find the target group of kids who have had trouble. Then the coaches team up with the students once they reach high school and work together towards graduation. The BOE works with community agencies such as United Way's Education Matters Dropout Prevention Center, the school principals and teachers, attendance officers, parents and the court system, when necessary, to make sure students keep attending school and keep their work up. Sawrey compared the connection of schoolwork and attendance to the chicken and egg theory.
            "We don't know if attendance drops and then school work goes down or if schoolwork goes down then attendance drops, but when kids get discouraged they are likely to stop attending school.” Sawrey said.
            The focus of the graduation coaches is to make sure the students are keeping up with their peers and let students know there’s an adult that cares about them and their future.
"The goal is to paint a picture for students of what their future could be like if they don't have their own support elsewhere,” Sawyer said.
            Another newer option for students is doing recovery work. Instead of repeating a grade in middle school or repeating a course in high school, students can do a cumulative package of coursework online and once they've mastered a sufficient amount of material, the teacher will change their grade to pass the class. Sawrey said offering the recovery work is another way for students to keep up with their peers and lessen the feeling of discouragement if they are close to failing.
“Research shows that if kids get behind their peers in terms of courses and credits, it's a red flag for dropping out, so trying to help them keep up with those credits is really important,” Sawrey said.
            Another program implemented about four years ago has a multitude of branches and are called Career Academies. They are offered at the high schools and instead of having a student be on a pathway for college or a two-year school, they can take advantage of their interests to help their education become more relevant. The students take courses that are geared toward their interests. Teachers of other subjects know which students are in the academy and try to weave those interests into their courses.  By the end of their senior year the student will earn some type of  certificate, depending on what field they’re in, that will allow them to be able to say “I’ve got this skill.”
            Next year Huntington High School is implementing a health and fitness academy.  So instead of just taking normal physical education courses, kids can take courses on nutrition and more relevant physical education courses such as spinning.  Mountwest Technical and Community College works with the BOE to teach the students in the academies so in the end the students be certified to teach spinning at their local recreation center.  Sawrey said using outside sources are beneficial to the schools and help students in the long run.
“It’s important to not only focus on restructuring in the high school but to work with agencies to partner with us to push the students,” Sawrey said. The credits will count not only for graduation but also for Mountwest.  Mountwest also partners with the high schools Junior Reserves Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) to earn credit and experience in the military.
             Huntington High has an engineering and innovation academy, a business academy, the newly planned health and fitness academy and soon to come journalism academy.  Cabell Midland has a childcare academy, arts academy, law and legal academy and a soon to be medical academy.  Sawrey said the academies let students focus on what interests them the most.
“It helps kids who have an interest in a particular thing delve into that interest and find other opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise known about,” Sawyer.
            A rare program is the ELO program.  Leo’s are Extended Learning Opportunities.  Each course a student takes has content objectives and standards they have to master to pass. Now a student who has a passion or interest in something but hates sitting in class for long amounts of time can do outside work with people in the community or on their own in order to demonstrate they know the content objectives and standards to receive the credit. 135 hours of class time equals one credit and teachers oversee the student’s progress. Sawrey said Leo’s are better for students who need a hands-on learning environment.
“Students can learn so much more doing what they want to be doing and something they’re passionate about rather than sitting in class,” Sawrey said. For example, students who have taken piano lessons all their lives can demonstrate their skills with a small concert for teachers of music and earn credit for music courses.
            These are just a few of the programs implemented in the past few years to keep students interested in school and help them graduate. The board is also trying to change the traditional school calendar to a balanced calendar so that students can retain more of the material and not have to review so much after the summer months (See Charts B and C). The state has yet to decide whether to change the academic calendar.
Chart B&C: Traditional versus Balanced Calendar

            There are still students who slip through the cracks and never participate in any of the programs and are still at risk for failing or dropping out. In order to stop this the dropout age for students has changed from 17 to 18.  Students cannot drop out of school in Cabell County until they’re 18 years old and up until then, they have to deal with attending school.
            Mentors are also hired and funded by the state to check on at-risk kids at least once a week to make sure they’re keeping up with their schoolwork and giving them support.
It’s important to keep students in school so they can graduate and have a career instead of being supported by society.  Woods also said nearly 80% of drop out students end up in the court system.
            “We don’t want our kids to have to go through that so we want to keep them in school,” Woods said. “It’s not just the knowledge you take away from a course but it’s the skills as well.”
The BOE asks businesses regularly what skills they’re looking for when hiring employees, and the surprise was that the most wanted skills seemed basic, such as the ability to work with others, being on time and especially being drug free. By teaming students with mentors, coaches and people in the community they hope to teach them the skills they need for future careers and overall success. 
See my Enrollment Wordle and create your own!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Huntington City Council 3/25/2013

The Huntington City Council meeting of March 25 was filled with emotions.
Proud moments and heated ones compromised the 1 hour 20 minute meeting at City Hall.
The meeting began with the honoring of a Huntington High senior, Kelsi Burns, for her amazing academic achievement and her acceptance into West Point college. Mayor Williams said in honor of Burns Tuesday, March 26 would be Kelsi Burns Day in the city of Huntington.
As the general and wellness part of the meeting opened, ex-council member McCallister shared his concerns for the cleanliness of the city and the welfare of children when mosquitos return for the season. The administration said they would do their best.
Another concerned citizen brought up an idea for Cabell County's Most Wanted - an issue he had brought to a previous city council meeting - and how it would be a "useful tool" for the city of Huntington in catching fugitives.
The council approved the mayor's plan to contract with a cleaning company and clean up the community of Huntington, beginning in July. However, citizen McCallister felt the wrong parts of Huntington will be focused on, when the interstates running through Huntington are the real problem.
In the end of the meeting council members approved the building of a skateboard park near the Riverfront, though some council members had questions about the building in phases. Also the Second Chance Prom was promoted once again for anyone in the area.

Monday, March 11, 2013

City Council 3/11/13

Heads turned at the bi-monthly City Coucil meeting with disgruntled citizens, Mayor Steve Williams declaring a high school wrestling coach honorary mayor and honoring Marshall's own swimming and diving team.
As the meeting opened citizens of Huntington had a chance to let their voice be heard and raise awareness of any issues unbeknownst to the council. This included the questioning of an officer still on duty, parking signs disappearing in the West End of Huntington and an ex-council member who refuses to give up. Tom McCallister continues to attend city council meetings in hopes of making positive changes for the city of Huntington to this day.
Some of the issues brought to council by citizens were not able to be addressed as there was a different authority who could help with the problem.
In a scramble of events the agenda was altered to honor Marshall University's Swimming and Diving team. Seniors from Marshall's swimming and diving team came to represent the school.
Huntington High's Wrestling team was also honored but none received a higher honor than Coach Rob Archer. Mayer Steve Williams honored Coach Archer as honorary mayor March 11-15, 2013.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

2013 SOTU Prediction Review

The five topics I predicted Obama would discuss at this year's SOTU were job creation, immigration law, protecting the middle class, reducing the deficit and debt and gun control.
Obama discussed job creation and how since the recession there have been six billion new jobs created.  He also talked about a new immigration reform as well as improving lives for the middle class as they're the backbone the America.  The end of the speech was focused on gun control, which everyone was waiting for.  Obama gave a powerful message about how there will be stricter laws when it comes to buying and selling guns.
The topics of surprise involved raising minimum wage, womens rights, and cyber hacking.  These topics were the highlight of discussion for those on Twitter discussing the SOTU as they were completely unexpected.
Overall I feel I predicted well what Obama would say in his speech, though my predictions of his plans were off.  Now is the time to watch and see what the president can do.

Monday, February 11, 2013

State of the Union Predictions

President Obama will use this year’s State of the Union address to build on topics he has previously discussed in his re-election campaign.  The annual speech before Congress will focus on an equal economy and other difficult issues the president as spoken of.

House Speaker John Boehner, Republican from Ohio, said in a letter inviting Obama to the State of the Union address the people are waiting to see that Congress and Obama can come together to solve America’s problems and make us a greater nation.

“Our nation continues to face immense challenges, and the American people expect us to work together in the new year to find meaningful solutions," Boehner said.

Potential topics being covered in this year’s SOTU include:
  • Job creation
  • Immigration law
  • Protecting the middle class
  • Reducing the deficit and debt
  • Gun control
  •  
The president has brought these issues to attention in his attempt to revive the economy since the recession.  Job growth is a top priority to continue during his next term though it has been quite successful already.  This is particularly seen in professional services, health care and manufacturing according to a study by CNN, which found the Labor Department had recovered about 4 million jobs overall during Obama’s first term.

Immigration law is also a top priority because it focuses on the businesses hiring undocumented workers and those who are in American illegally as well.

We have to deal with the 11 million individuals who are here illegally. We all agree that these men and women should have to earn their way to citizenship. But for comprehensive immigration reform to work, it must be clear from the outset that there is a pathway to citizenship,” Obama said on his website BarackObama.com.

            While immigration law is part of the equal rights fight in America, so is the fight for the middle class in the nation.  In protecting the middle class Obama plans to revamp the tax code, reform schools and reduce health care.  Middle-income families have already been protected since the Bush tax cuts have been restored but he may introduce other measure to protect them.

            Obama may also bring up protecting those depending on Social Security and Medicare by finding other ways to reduce the deficit and debt.  According to WhiteHouse.Gov Obama’s plan to “Reduce the Deficit and Win the Future” includes:
  • Domestic spending cuts
    • Build on bipartisan budget agreement, with the largest government reduction in government spending ever.
    • Cut non-security spending levels consistent with the bipartisan deficit commission.
  • Security spending cuts
    • Hold growth in base security spending below inflation, while further improving efficiency and effectiveness.
  • Health care costs
    • Bend the long-term cost curve for Medicare.
    • Make Medicaid more flexible, efficient and accountable.
  • Tax reform
    • Close loopholes and produce a tax system that is simpler, fairer and not rigged in favor of those who can game it.
    • Reduce tax expenditures enough to lower rates and lower the deficit.
    •  
Another top priority Obama may focus on is reducing gun violence and protecting children and communities by implementing stricter gun control.

Every step we intend to take will preserve the tradition of responsible gun ownership in our country and uphold the Second Amendment. And while we'll never end gun violence entirely, if we can save the life of even one child, then we have a responsibility to act,” Obama said.

According to BarackObama.com, Obama has “called on Congress to act on four specific legislative measures: losing background check loopholes, banning military-style assault weapons and limiting high-capacity ammunition magazines, making our schools safer, and increasing access to mental health services.”

These issues have been looked over many times, and this year America hopes to see progress within them.  All of these initiatives will be difficult to pass but America expects to hear Obama’s plan and solutions for them, as well as become a team with Congress.  The SOTU will be held on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12 at 9 p.m. EST.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

MLK Day - Still Significant?




Martin Luther King Jr. had a message he wished to spread across the U.S. about nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement. He helped to successfully protest racial discrimination in federal and state law. Unfortunately, his message is no longer heard loud and clear.  In this generation, students said what MLK stood for is less important than what it used to mean.

Christina Stradwick, a sophomore, said she took the time on Martin Luther King Day to discuss with friends how nice it is that they can all be friends and go to the same school thanks to the civil rights movement. Stradwick said they also discussed how sad it is more people are using the holiday as an excuse to have a free day, rather than appreciate the rights they have now.
"I think that sometimes people don't realize how important it actually is. People get excited for [the holiday] because everyone gets a day off work or school, but they don't realize how important it is or how important he was," said Stradwick.
Not only is it important to look at what MLK stood for when he was alive, but also to focus on the holiday itself and what people had to go through to make it happen.
It took 15 years to create the federal holiday in MLK’s memory. U.S. Representative John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, and U.S. State Senator Edward Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts, first introduced legislation for the commemorative holiday just four days after MLK was assassinated in 1968.
After the bill was stalled, petitions in support of the holiday with six million names were submitted to Congress. In a 2006 article in The Nation it was deemed "the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history."
Conyers and Representative Shirley Chisholm, a Democrat from New York, resubmitted the MLK holiday legislation each legislative session. Public pressure for the holiday also increased during the 1982 and 1983 civil rights marches in Washington.
Congress finally passed the holiday legislation in 1983, which was then signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.
         To overcome opposition to the holiday, a compromise was formed that instead of holding the holiday on Jan. 15, MLK's birthday, it would be held the third Monday in January - to move it farther from Christmas and New Year's.
         Some states resisted celebrating the holiday - some opponents said that MLK didn't deserve his own holiday because the entire civil rights movement should be celebrated, rather than an individual. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.
While his message is becoming harder to hear, there are those who still take the time to remember MLK's dream and what he stood for. Students said this could be tied to this year’s re-election of Obama and his inauguration on Jan. 21. Holding the nation's first African-American president's second inauguration on MLK Day gave citizens another reason to celebrate. The question is, will they feel the same way next year?
Sophomore Ethan Bartlett said he used his free day on Jan. 21 to look back on important moments in MLK history as well as pay attention to the history going on today.
"I spent most of the day watching some of the inauguration ceremonies. I read a lot of things on MLK just to see different speeches, I read the "I Have a Dream" speech and I reflected on it a lot," said Bartlett.
I personally tracked the inauguration via Twitter. Attendees continually tweeted updates giving quotes from President Obama’s and others’ speeches as well as other events throughout the day. I found this extremely convenient being in a car for nine hours from North Carolina with no access to television (the mountains do not typically offer good service to watch clips on a smartphone). I was still informed of what was happening and enjoyed being able to see how my friends reacted to the president’s speech as it was being posted and sharing my reactions as well.
Other things that could be seen on social media, such as Facebook, were pictures of MLK with memorable quotes, showing support for the man who helped changed many lives.
For those in older generations, they will hold MLK's dream firm in their mind for the rest of their lives. They lived through it and watched history happen. However, what of the younger generations that do not understand the hardships they did not have to face?
The new generation experiences difficult times via social media by posting pictures of those that have passed, asking for prayers or likes for a cause and other such things all done with a keyboard and a click of a mouse.
The fear the people are looking at now is that activism will no longer be as active if it means going beyond a screen. The younger generations are losing empathy by seeing crucial events happen online all the time. They need more to care for and especially to care for longer than a week until the next major event occurs.
I find myself pushing away from politics and important events because everyone pushes them into my life via social media.  It may connect everyone to the world and what’s happening around them, but it also weakens our compassion and our desire to be more active with the world itself.
MLK fought and struggled for years to make his dream come true and it led to his death. Others in the civil rights movement fought, struggled and hoped for a better nation for themselves and their children. Now that the people have achieved this to some level the fear now is that the dream will eventually fade, lose its significance and die.