In Support of Your Work

Dear SUHSD Staff, Students, Parents, and Community Members,

In support of your work and continued effort to provide our students with quality learning experiences, the Siskiyou Union High School District Board of Trustees adopted Resolution 11-18 at the December 14th board meeting. This is a statement of support for your work and a recognition that you are at the forefront of an effort to prepare our students for the 21st century. This efforts takes time, learning, leadership, creativity, collaboration, and risk. 

The Board of Trustees appreciates and stands firmly behind your work and as stated in the resolution:

"The Siskiyou Union High School District commends its teaching and support staff for their learning and efforts, and urges the administration, the teaching and support staff, and the communities to continue in their efforts to provide all students with relevant and engaging learning experiences that prepare them for success in the 21st century."

SISKIYOU UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT

RESOLUTION NO. 11-18

The Siskiyou Union High School District recognizes that the process of preparing students for careers, college, and citizenship in the 21st century requires our schools to be interactive and supportive learning environments that provide all students with learning experiences that are relevant, engaging, and lead to the development of identified academic standards and interpersonal skills.   To bring all students to a level of proficiency with these identified standards and skills, each school must develop projects and experiences that are intentionally planned, provide specific instruction and opportunity to use and develop a variety of skills, and provide students with direct interaction with their communities.

The Board of Education and District Administration recognizes the learning and change that this direction requires of the teaching and support staff. The Board of Education and Administration unequivocally support their learning and development of these important Project Based Learning experiences that will prepare our students for success in the 21st century.

The Siskiyou Union High School District declares:

WHEREAS, all of our students need to be proficient with identified academic standards and identified 21st century skills; and

WHEREAS, students desire to be involved with engaging and relevant projects and activities that allow them to use and develop their talents and interests; and

WHEREAS, Project Based Learning is a proven method and instructional strategy of developing identified standards and identified 21st century skills; and

WHEREAS, teachers need to collaborate with each other and with community members to develop these types of projects and learning experiences; and

WHEREAS, teachers need to learn, innovate, develop new skills, and develop community partnerships in support of the learning experiences for students, and

WHEREAS, in a variety of ways, efforts will be made to identify and enlist the support of community members for community-school partnerships, and  

WHEREAS, the Board of Education will provide teachers the autonomy, support, and encouragement necessary to develop these types of experiences for all students; and

WHEREAS, this effort involves a fundamental shift in our structural, cultural, and educational expectations; and

WHEREAS, the future of our high schools and rural communities depends on the preparation, involvement, and success of our schools and students,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Siskiyou Union High School District has adopted this Resolution in support of a Project Based Curricular focus, in support of the learning and implementation efforts of our teaching and support staff, in support of the development of community partners to support the learning experiences of our students, and in support of the future of our students and rural communities.

The Siskiyou Union High School District commends its teaching and support staff for their learning and efforts, and urges the administration, the teaching and support staff, and the communities to continue in their efforts to provide all students with relevant and engaging learning experiences that prepare them for success in the 21st century.

PASSED AND ADOPTED this 14th day of December, 2011, by unanimous vote.

Teaching 21st Century Skills

Image from http://pathubert.wikispaces.com/21st+Century+Skills

Based on our work during our opening staff development at our Magnet Schools - Magnet Communities Educational Summit, and continued research in the area of what our students will need to have  in order to be successful after their high school experience, I have assembled a first draft of the Profile of a Siskiyou Union High School Graduate. This first draft includes the 21st Century Skills portion of the profile. Still to come will be the academic content standards, and a section of specific experiences that we want all students to have during their high school years.

The Profile opens with the statement:

To succeed in college, career, and be a productive citizen in the 21st century, students must be supported in mastering both content and skills. In addition to core subject proficiency, we must provide all students with experiences that ensure they are:

• Critical Thinkers
• Problem Solvers
• Researchers
• Communicators
• Collaborators
• Information and technology users
• Innovators
• Leaders
• Creative
• Motivated and persistent
• Resilient
• Self-aware and Self-disciplined
• Honest
• Reliable
• Civic-minded

The specific standards and skills can be viewed here:
Siskiyou Union High School District Graduate Profile - Draft 1.1

I will be going to staff, students, parents, and community to seek their input regarding this first draft of identified skills and start the process of identifying the experiences that we want all students to have. As the state makes the shift to the Common Core Academic Standards and related assessments, we will work to develop the academic portion of our Graduate Profile.

The identified 21st century skills need to be consolidated and written in a format that is user friendly. I also want to provide a reference or resource section for each of the skills that will help staff develop places and methods within their content focus that provide students with the ability to become proficient at these skills.

As we continue to develop projects and experiences for our students that will ensure they are proficient with these skills, we will build our own expertise and community resources that support the process. We must also look at what others are doing and saying about the teaching and learning of 21st century skills. This post in the Harvard Educational Letter by Nancy Walser is an example of such a resource.

• How can we weave 21st century skills into our projects, lessons and experiences? 
• How can we most effectively teach these skills? 
• What types of experiences help students become proficient collaborators, problem solvers, researchers, communicators, creative thinkers, time managers, citizens?
• How do we balance the importance of these skills with the importance of our content standards?
• How do we assess that our students are proficient at these skills?
• What support do we need from our communities?

What are your thoughts about the first draft of our Graduate Profile? How are you teaching these skills or providing students with the opportunity to become proficient with them?