Tim Dettwiller

Providing a clear vison to our staff was one of the first steps I took to move our school from good to great. Without vision, a clear mission and how we will meet both leads to a school that is simply a diploma factory. If the staff know where we are headed and have clear guidance on how to get there then they can focus on their students. teachers focused on students are teachers who are engaged. Engaged teachers lead to engaged students. We have also provided clear expectations for all students K-12 in discipline and academic areas. We are… >>>

Leadership action steps: 

1. Create time in schedules to allow collaboration amongst CTE and Gen Ed teachers.
2. Hi lite successes noted in CTE and gen Ed teachers' collaborations to all staff, the board and community.
3. Establish expectations among administrative team to support efforts of collaboration.
4. All PD days should include sessions on how to incorporate CTE into the Gen Ed classroom

Our school culture is distinguished by the open dialogue and feedback between the staff and administration. TalkSup allows for staff to express concerns directly to the Superintendent without fear of reprisal as no names are used only the issues are addressed. We can do a better job of implementing stretch learning and are in the early phases of making this change.  Our Ag classes have joint lessons with our Chemistry and Biology departments. Our English instructors work with our business department to aide students with resume writing. However, we need to place more expectations on all our core courses to… >>>

CTE integrated courses in my opinion can be the single most important motivating factor for students when completing their graduation plans. Instead of the district telling the students what courses they should, the student is informed by their real world experiences and can make academic decisions based on those experiences. The student is motivated, the scheduling Counselor is excited that students are coming to  them knowing what courses they need and parents are excited their child has a clear, informed academic plan.  

If the vision is to change culture from a purely academic based environment to one that is also career prep in nature then all teachers will start to incorporate career tech approaches to incentivize students taking their core courses. The student who does not like Chemistry and is avoiding Chem III may realize from a guest speaker or an internship that they need the course for their future career goals thus motivating them to take Chem III.

It is critical have the ability to really listen to your staff. Often times we are focused on what we want to say instead of listening to them. I once told a fellow admin who talked over everyone that "you listen best when you are talking". He got the point. 

Knowing how to get buy-in from everyone is critical. Listening to their points is the first step

Our school focus in the past has been on ensuring students graduate, and have an academic plan for post graduation. Celebrating scholarships attained at graduation and cords for academic achievement are examples of the praise for academic achievement. Providing cords at graduation for work experiences while in high school would be an example of easily incorporating a change in culture for students staff and community. 

Our schools need to develop a clear vision for each high school in regards to what a career ready student looks like. How can we get the train moving if we do not have the tracks (vison) laid yet. Once the vision is clear all other work will align and needed support like additional staff and outside support for experience opportunities will follow.