Warren school committee hopefuls sound off on 21st century workplace

By Ted Hayes
Posted 10/29/20

In their final weekly question before the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election, the four Warren residents campaigning for two spots on the Bristol Warren Regional School Committee were asked: Do you believe the …

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Warren school committee hopefuls sound off on 21st century workplace

Posted

In their final weekly question before the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election, the four Warren residents campaigning for two spots on the Bristol Warren Regional School Committee were asked: Do you believe the district is successfully preparing its students for the 21st-century workplace? Why or why not?

David Matheson
My short answer is that they could do more.

To me, when I hear '21st century workplace,' that translates to me into a focus on computer science. I think there's a general consensus that kids will need some form of computer science or STEM instruction in general. Currently it's not mandatory to take a computer science class. I think it would be great if that changed, to have something as a prerequisite to graduation. And I think it needs to be more robust than just something like an introduction to Excel or word processing.

If there were a way of accessing that instruction remotely, maybe through pre-recorded lesson platforms, that would be great. We have the infrastructure in place for remote learning. After the pandemic, we could keep using that so we could ensure that kids are getting the level of instruction they need.

I also think the district's approach to Diversity & Inclusion can be a key component in getting students ready for the modern-day workplace. Many workplaces, including mine, have D&I groups which are engaging their workforce in difficult discussions, reexamining hiring practices, and working to eliminate pay gaps. Students should be prepared for this kind of work culture, and I think the district's work on diversity as part of their focus on culture is well-placed.

Daryl Gould
Obviously, given the pandemic, the level of learning in our district has dropped. However, even before the pandemic hit, I would say that we are missing the mark for many of our students. On average, Approximately a quarter of our students are proficient in math and a third are proficient in language arts. In order for us to say that we are preparing students, those numbers have to increase significantly.

As the high school curriculum is very much focused on college prep, students that are seeking careers in the trades are also leaving our district unprepared. Students across the board would also benefit from more robust internship programming to give them exposure and experience in real world environments. It my hope that this changes, but it’s not going to happen overnight.

There needs to be people on our school committee and administration to see the efforts through, so that they develop beyond the idea stage.

Tara Thibaudeau

We can do better.

We have 50 percent college graduates and 50 percent that go into the workplace. We need to change the negative stigma that is associated with seeking an occupation in the trades industries. Opportunities, classes, and exposure need to be shared in our curriculum, to mirror our graduates.
We should not be favoring one student over another. Giving our children to opportunity to be ready for the workplace regardless of the track they choose.

Regardless of which track you choose, one of the things we seem to forget these days is work ethic. A lot of (young people) don't have it. That's a huge piece of training — it's huge in my book. And it's a learned behavior. But holding their feet to the fire and trying to make them more responsible is something. Sometimes the best way to learn is to make mistakes, and high school is a good place to make them. There are people looking out for you, and the teachers care. They need to be exposed to what is out there and be allowed to make mistakes and explore.

Nicky Piper

I do not think we're there yet, but I happen to know more than most that we have a template in place to get there.

I was part of the MHHS core team for the XQ+RI program; it was a year-long statewide grant application process to allow high schools to redesign to better prepare their students for the 21st century workplace.
We worked with hundreds of stakeholders in our district, as well as over 30 high schools across the state to analyze where our high school is now, and to design what it should look like. It was a huge team effort, and an awesome learning experience.

The winning schools got a quarter of a million dollars to execute their design. We weren't successful in winning this time, but what we were left with was a blueprint to guide us, and a smaller grant to start implementing our plan.

I know that the leadership at Mt. Hope is committed to executing the plan. The lack of the grant funding will just mean it will take longer. It is critical to expose our students to all of the opportunities available to them, and then support them in the choices they make, and in meeting their full-potential after graduation. A large part of the design that we built was around project and problem-based learning, and other real-world learning opportunities. The workplace our children will enter looks very different than the one we entered, and so their high school experience should also.
We have the plan, the infrastructure and the momentum, so now we just need a leadership team committed to dreaming big and moving forward.

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