Our core values are beliefs our staff and students strive to meet daily. Last week’s blog was focused on the core value of Caring and Belonging. This week we are going to look at what Educational Excellence looks like at Benton Community Schools and how this ties to our district goal.
Our district goal is for 100% of students to make one year’s growth based on state and district assessments in reading comprehension. In order to attain this goal, Benton has identified an instructional framework, utilizes a data team process, and makes collaborative learning a priority. Benton has adopted the Characteristics of Effective Instruction (START model) as our instructional framework. We see this framework as a model for what great teaching should look like in all classrooms in our district. We strive to center our instruction, data teams, and collaboration around this model in order to keep students as our primary focus. The START model consists of 5 characteristics: Student Centered Classrooms Teaching for Understanding Assessment for Learning Rigorous and Relevant Curriculum Teaching for Learner Differences Last year, our coaches and administrators had the opportunity to attend the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) Training at Grant Wood AEA focused around providing meaningful feedback. This training led our administration and coaches to have goal-based conversations with all full-time teaching staff. Triad meetings may have looked different in each building, but they focused around the teachers choosing a goal. These triad conversations also allowed us to narrow our goals in order to create personalized Individual Professional Development Plans to fit the needs of each teacher. Another way Benton strives for Educational Excellence is through our data team cycles and collaborative learning time. Benton has made collaboration and teamwork a priority, and it has been a movement that has changed the way we do business! We all believe that collaboration is critical to the way we serve our students. Through the data team process, teams are using common formative assessments, charting data, analyzing student work, and monitoring student and teacher behaviors to offer the best learning experiences for all students. We continue to build knowledge in the data team process and refine this process in order to grow as educators and teammates. Through professional development, we have taken time to learn how to be more efficient, use research-based strategies, and think through the lens of OUR students. We continue to strengthen the data team process, while building the capacity of collective efficacy within teams. Of course, all of this intentionality is so we can provide the best possible educational experience for our students at BC.
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One of my favorite questions to ask in an interview is… “What is your unfair advantage?”. So, when I sat down to write this post I had to ask myself… What is Benton Community’s unfair advantage? The answer seems simple, but it really isn’t. Benton Community’s unfair advantage is that it truly is A Place to Belong. We are a school district spanning across 330 square miles, 7 communities, and 3 counties. And even though it would be easy for us to be divided, we continue to pull our communities together to form one district, one community, one family. Our mission statement is depicted as a wheel. Our core values are on the rim of our wheel: Continuous Growth Teamwork Educational Excellence Caring / Belonging The spokes of the wheel show the actionable steps: Creative Problem Solvers Cooperative Contributors Self-Directed Learners Responsible Citizens Effective Communicators This is what we expect from our students, our families, our staff, and our community. WE ARE BENTON! One of the core values on the Benton Wheel is Caring/Belonging. It is something that is embedded in everything we do, everything we produce, and how we act. This past week you could have witnessed this great community at its finest. Homecoming is such a special time of year for all Bobcats, past and present. It is a time to celebrate, remember, connect, and relish in the amount of pride within this community. Our week started with dress-up days that coordinate with the homecoming theme. This year’s theme was “Dressing Up Homecoming 2018.” You could have seen preschoolers dressed as cowboys and seniors dressed in full luau gear. Everyone was invited to participate! The highlight of the week came on Friday when the entire district was transported, in their blue and gold gear, to the HS/MS for the annual parade and pep rally. Community members joined in on the fun and could be found right along side of the student body chanting B-O-B-C-A-T-S as the band kicked off the parade. The parking lot was full and so were our hearts. After the parade everyone filed into the gymnasium for the pep rally. The cheerleaders burst through a banner while the band erupted into a hearty rendition of “The Benton Fight Song.” The elementary kids rumbled their feet, and the MCs announced the entertainment line-up. First out of the shoot this year was the staff dance. This year the staff dance was structured as a Fortnite Battle Royale. This challenged each attendance center to give their best attempts at a handful of the popular video game inspired dance moves. It was awesome to look up and see kids K-12 doing the dances in the stands while the staff were rocking it on the floor. It is always amazing to see adults being willing to put 100% into activities to excite our kids. The pep rally continued with Kiss the Pig where Ms. Brown got the opportunity to do just that...kiss the pig. This is an annual fundraiser for the FFA (Future Farmers of America). This year’s funds were donated to the Crawford family to help with Myra’s battle against leukemia, which is a great example of Bobcats rallying around their own. Before the elementary buildings needed to head back to their attendance centers, the cheerleaders led the “GO BIG BLUE” competition. They invited each class to stand up and yell “GO BIG BLUE” to determine who earns bragging rights for being the loudest grade. The pep rally ended with an open invitation for the kids, staff, and community to come to the football game later that night. The pep rally must have done its job because Bobcat Stadium was packed Friday night with Bobcats both young and old. Thank you Student Council for your hours of planning and preparation for this year’s homecoming festivities. Benton Community is truly a place to belong because our unfair advantage is we are one big family. **Picture credit: Andrea Townsley, Laurie Donald, Margo Redlinger, and Gary Zittergruen** |
Blog Posts Written By:Larry Carlson Archives
August 2022
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