Shelbyville Unites School and Community Leaders to Launch New Tech

Shelbyville Central Schools is bringing together education, community and business leaders to open the district’s first New Technology High School in 2009. The group is strategically planning and analyzing the needs of its students to prepare for the New Tech launch. Members of the planning group recently came together to discuss their unique approach to implementation.

Conversation participants included David Adams, superintendent of Shelbyville Central Schools; school board members Gayle Wiley and Wade Lewis; Tom Zobel, Shelbyville High School principal; David Phares II, City Council member and president of the Shelbyville branch of Irwin Union Bank; and Stu Kaplan, president of Makuta Technics.

How did you initially hear about New Technology High School?

Zobel: We attended a CELL conference and sat in on a presentation conducted by Decatur Central as they were moving toward New Tech High. Their presentation piqued our interest—especially the discussion about 21st century skills, project-based learning and real-world application in the classroom. When I saw the model, I knew it was something we wanted to do.

When you look at several reinvention designs, you have to think about what will fit within your school, within your budget, what’s really doable, and what will fit within your school community. As we looked at the New Tech model, we felt it would fit within our community, was something our community could embrace and would really be good for our kids.

How does New Tech fit within the profile of the community?

Adams: Shelbyville has developed a high-tech park on the northern part of town near the interstate. In addition, a few years ago, our school board made a commitment to upgrade our technology, the infrastructure, to the point that our technology is second to none. When most school districts look at New Tech, they feel they will have to make major investments, especially in technology and infrastructure, just to get started. We already had all of that in place. We also have a very good working relationship with our city council, mayor and business community. This initiative requires a lot of collaboration, and we felt we could get that collaboration here.

Kaplan: Our factory, Makuta Technics, is in Tech Park. This fits in for us because if someone thinks, stereotypically, manufacturing in this community is people standing at machines, being told what to do and what buttons to push, well, that’s wrong. In this community, we need people who have initiative, who are creative, and who are able to think. There is a great manufacturing base in this community, and it is critically important that the people in the community who work with us are able to be part of the decision-making process and have technical knowledge. That can only happen if they develop those skills that are a part of the culture of New Tech—critical thinking, project-based learning and collaborative learning—so that they are able to take on the projects in our place and succeed.

Wiley: As an educator, those are skills that we always strive for as teachers. This was a way to engage students in those processes Stu was mentioning and help them be better critical thinkers, collaborative and good communicators—all the things that we want out of education. New Tech plays to different strengths. We all learn in different ways. That is what impressed me, because it played to the different intelligences that the traditional classroom does not always meet.
 
Zobel: So many students do enough to get by and sometimes fall through the cracks, but they definitely are not reaching their potential. I feel New Tech will provide challenges and give them opportunities to do more things.

Adams: We are always in the continuous improvement mode, as is any good business trying to do better. When I was a school principal walking through the hallways, evaluating classrooms—and this is not a knock on any teacher, it’s just our culture and climate—it is hard to keep students engaged. You look around and you see how many kids are really engaged and how many are just going through the motions. When we went to New Tech, the kids were up and engaged. Even when I thought kids were fooling around, I would go up and ask them a question, and they were right on target. They were just more engaged.

Kaplan: The one thing that really struck me during the presentations was if you took a teacher from 1900 and put him in a typical classroom today, what he would be teaching might have changed, but the system for teaching is still basically the same. If we took Henry Ford from River Rouge and tried to put him in our robotic plant, that worker today could not walk in the door. It goes to the heart of our conversation. The whole manner in which we function in the world as manufacturers has changed. The stereotypical methods of teaching, where it is teacher-centered, have not changed.

I own our factory. I am the least important guy in the place. The most important people are those folks out on the floor. They direct and I become a resource to them. What really excited me was when I heard the presenter say the teacher was not the focus any more and that the teacher becomes a resource.

What is your vision of New Tech?

Zobel: We will launch an academy in 2009 with a group of ninth-graders. We have students who go through our school and do very well, so to pull all of the students and place them in a single environment would not meet their needs. We are going to target a third, about 100 students, in the incoming ninth-grade class. It is a choice program. We will do a lot of work next year with the eighth-graders and their families through parent meetings explaining the New Tech program and giving concrete examples regarding the educational program.

In a few years, if we are as popular as we expect to be, we may partner with some of our county friends and establish an off-campus standalone school. However, we will start out as an academy within Shelbyville High School. We do hope that some of the concepts and instructional strategies inherent in New Tech will filter out into our regular building. Education is moving in the direction of providing options to students. At this point, New Tech will create a different culture and will be one of those options.

Phares, II: Eventually, I could see it evolving to all project-based learning. If it is successful, and we see that kids are growing and doing much better, I anticipate that we would expand it throughout the whole school and K–12.

Adams: It is a financial commitment, but we think a positive one. We like that it gives our students an opportunity to remain within the Shelbyville High School community, including athletic programs, music programs, et cetera.

When we looked at Napa and Sacramento, we found that students had to make choices regarding programs. “Do I want to be in the band program? Do I want to play athletics?” Sometimes the student population then becomes a certain type of child. I don’t want it to be a gifted program. I don’t want it to be a middle-of-the-road program. I don’t want it to be a special education program. I want it to be open to any type of child who really thinks they can learn this way. I want all students to have an opportunity to learn in a manner that will help prepare them and meet their learning needs. Every community is different, and we think we have to do what is right for us.

What kind of questions are you fielding from parents, staff, businesses, and others in the community?

Zobel: Questions are all over the place. “What will grades look like? What will diplomas look like? How are they different from those of the other students? If students get into the program, how do they get out? Where in the building will the program be housed?” Obviously, questions about funding and money. “What will the ISTEP scores look like?”

Wiley: Beside the specific questions, they have to explain what New Tech means, its purpose and why we think it is a good idea.

Zobel: That’s why the public meetings are so important.

Kaplan: People want to know what project-based learning is and what “my kid” is going to look like and be able to do when they come out. Over the years, there have been many new educational programs that I, and others like me, have sort of fallen asleep to, but New Tech is a culture. It is different.

Adams: You asked about community involvement. Well, these guys did it. We invited them to go to California, and we did not have to drag people to go along. We have been having meetings together for a long time. I serve on the Economic Development Council and the Chamber and have been a part of their vision and goal setting. It has been easy for us because business has recognized that they will not grow unless they get educational people onboard, and we recognize that we will not grow without them.

Kaplan: We [Makuta Technics] just moved here a year and a half ago. There were several site selections. It was the inclusiveness of this community in gathering people together to make decisions like this that made a difference. In some communities, the state may come in and say, “You have to do this.” In this community, the people get together and say, “Let’s do this.”

Adams: We are not trying to look like we are better than anyone or trying to keep up with the Joneses. We are implementing a New Technology High School because we have a need, and we believe it will help our students learn better. It is driven based upon what we think will be educational best practice for our kids.

What are some of the hurdles you are anticipating, and how do you plan to overcome them?

Adams: Finances. The amount just to join the New Tech Foundation is a half-million dollars. If I had to try to come up with that on my own, I could not have done it. As a superintendent, it would have been one heck of a risk.

Beyond finances, it is getting your teachers onboard. Many times, they have seen things come and go. Naturally, they wonder how this is going to affect them. “Will you hire new teachers and cut me? What exactly are you going to do?” We have asked teachers to volunteer and have had more than 20 teachers step forward. Already several groups have visited Decatur School of IDEAS. We know that teachers will be heavily involved in decision-making in this initiative.

What impact do you expect New Tech will have on the Shelbyville community?

Kaplan: It will allow us to have students stay in this community after high school for work, school, et cetera. Because of project-based learning, they will be prepared to come into the workplace and continue that learning within our companies. That will have a tremendous impact on keeping people within the community.

 

CELL upcoming events

September 11, 2008
Indiana New Tech High School Network Meeting

September 18, 2008
Indiana Early College High School Network Meeting

November 17-18, 2008
Indiana Education Transformation Conference:
Responding to Tomorrow's World -
Breaking the Mold of Today's High Schools

For more events...
 

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