District: Dayton Board of Education Business MeetingDate: October 14, 2014
Description of Meeting:
The meeting started at 6:00 p.m. and lasted about two hours. Following the roll call as well as the Pledge of Allegiance, Gerri Pegues rendered a special presentation about the Montgomery County Human Services Levy. The organization is made up of community volunteers, business leaders, as well as local service and financial experts. According to Gerri Pegues, the organization caters to human services such as giving protection to children from neglect and abuse and helping them prepare for school; giving early diagnosis as well as treatment for children with physical and mental disabilities; immunizing people against illnesses, getting ready for disasters, and inspecting the cleanliness of the restaurants. The organization also helps to ensure that the elderly with frailties are able to acquire healthcare, assistance, and meals. Moreover, the organization assists adults who have developmental disabilities in finding jobs and living independently as they age; treating substance abuse and mental health illness to assist local families and making the community safer; and teaching adults who are unemployed to seek jobs and trainings to support their needs. Following this presentation, Lisa Minor, the chief of school improvement, introduced Nina Lapitan who presented “Creating a Bird Friendly Community through Place Based Association”. Hindy Gruber, on the other hand, talked about Gifted Services. Lapitan discussed the water quality monitoring in Wolf Creek in which the students conducted monthly evaluations of the flyway in Wolf Creek. The data were collected and analyzed. The students were also taught how to add fertilizers. Moreover, Lapitan presented the different activities including the Avian Art Contest and the establishment of the Edison Land Laboratory. Initially, the students did not find science interesting. This was mainly attributed to the fact that students were not completely exposed to the science hands-on activities. Instead, the students were kept in the four walls of the classroom. However, after experiencing exposure in various science fair activities, the students started to enjoy science. This is apparent in the result of the survey conducted towards the end of the science fair. More than 90% of the students found science so much interesting. Lapitan further stated that one of the advocacies of Creating a Bird Friendly Community is empowering and training educators to teach activities related to science. Lapitan said that students are reading science but lack hands-on experiences. This is evident in the low science test scores obtained. Subjects were also integrated. For instance, Science collaborated with Reading and Arts.
At around 7 P.M., Les Weller headed Dayton Education Council. This was followed by the hearing of the public and the bargaining units. The group appreciated the program of Lapitan which involved training the teachers in various disciplines. Lori Ward, superintendent, outlined some recommendations to the education board. It was suggested that an engineering program shall be established or certain projects will be created that would incorporate the different subject areas including science, reading, and mathematics. The students must not just be intellectual. It was suggested that students must be gifted and this will only be possible by concentrating the curriculum into strengthening the students’ knowledge and skills. The group is working with Cincinnati to come up with a commitment of understanding that would help the educational curriculum at Dayton. The meeting adjourned at 7:50 P.M.
Reflection
One thing that truly captivated my attention while watching the video was the way teachers and academic officials gather together, share experiences, and discuss the positive and negative aspects of certain curriculum and eventually come up with proposals to implement in various schools to better improve children’s learning. I can sense the seriousness and professionalism rendered by these officials and their sincerity in promoting education and learning to students.
References
Dpstv.pegcentral.com,. (2015). DPS TV On Demand - Powered by LEIGHTRONIX PEG Central ®. Retrieved 19 April 2015, from http://dpstv.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=30fffa395e5642048663471613967a00
Togethergreen.org,. (2015). Nenita Lapitan | Toyota TogetherGreen. Retrieved 19 April 2015, from http://www.togethergreen.org/fellows/fellow/nenita-lapitan
