Reflection On School Board Meeting

On November 9, Mead School District held the fifth school board meeting of this academic year. Running the meeting was Superintendent Tom Rockefeller, President Board Director Ron Farley, Vice President Board Director Denny Denholm, and Board Directors, Maureen O’Connor, Robert Olson, and Carmen Green. All of the directors were recently re-elected, excluding Maureen O’Connor who isn’t up for re-election until next year. Due to this, there was an almost celebratory feel to the meeting, with many of the Directors, especially Vice-President Denholm, making jokes and being conversational with the small audience. At the meeting, I was the only person attending that was not giving a presentation to the board. The rest of the audience was made up

Even after the bell rings, there is constant work happening to keep the school district running. The Council of Learning definitely hit this point home for me. In their twenty page document on student progress, they not only explained the importance of academic progress but the importance of pushing for a safer school climate for their students. Outside of the report they addressed the difficulty of excessive testing requirements and how it is putting down students. Only having had the perspective of a student, it was reassuring to see educators seeing a problem and actively seeking a way to fix the problem. Though testing is necessary with the current structure of evaluating students, there is a conscience effort to improve schooling for students. Hoping to stay teaching in Eastern Washington, I am excited to see teachers setting the foundation for change. I hope that I have the opportunity to not only help my students inside the classroom but also in a more political way that will help students that I am not teaching. Like many things that I’ve experienced in these last ten weeks of class, my thoughts on education have definitely been