|
Opening Day provides challenges and glimpse of the
future
 When
HFM BOCES Board President Robert Townsend kicked off the 2008-09
Opening Day program, he told the nearly 400 employees in
attendance that he is looking to the future with great
expectations.
Mr.
Townsend spoke of the privilege of welcoming the BOCES “family”
back to a new school year, and said he looks ahead to a
challenging and rewarding year, outlining three key goals set by
the board for the organization.
“We
need to be fiscally responsible, provide progressive growth,
and,” he emphasized, “deliver the best possible education to our
students.”
HFM
BOCES provides shared educational services to 15 school
districts in Fulton, Montgomery and Hamilton counties. Local
high school students receive career and technical training at
the campus, while the Special Education division provides
educational services based at area schools.
BOCES also provides an alternative educational program for
students whose needs are not met in traditional secondary
schools, along with adult literacy and GED instruction.
 District
Superintendent Dr. Geoffrey H. Davis believes that BOCES across
the state are in a period of resurgence.
“Last year, both New York State commission reports cited BOCES
as a good example of shared services, consolidated services and
cost efficiencies,” he said.
At
a time when all school districts and BOCES face unprecedented
fiscal accountability, the opportunity still exists to provide the
highest quality service possible, Dr. Davis told the audience of
teachers and staff.
“It
means being focused every day,” he said. “With our children of
such high need and all school services under such scrutiny, we
can’t be distracted.”
Dr.
Davis singled out Mr. Townsend and his colleagues on the HFM
BOCES Board of Education for
their hard work and dedication, then thanked staff members for
coming to work every day and investing themselves in the lives
of the students.
“BOCES lives in the territories where the work is most
challenging,” Dr. Davis said, reminding staff members that they
might be the most stable influence in the lives of some
students.
21st century skills important for student success
Mr.
Townsend’s opening remarks on “looking to the future” and
“providing the best possible education” resonates with the HFM
BOCES’ Professional Development Plan for 2008-09.
 The
“best possible education” means more than teaching just the
basic core subjects of reading, writing and arithmetic to
students in the 21st century. Thanks to the rapid development of
technology, the world confronting young people is vastly
different than it was even five years ago.
The
staff development portion of HFM's opening day activities
was an eye opener for many in attendance, as Associate
Superintendent Dr. Lorraine Hohenforst shared some startling
facts about today’s world:
• Every eight seconds, 34 babies
are born, adding to a global population of 6.6 billion people.
• The average teen spends more than
six hours a day outside of school with some form of media, such
as TV, radio, Internet, text messaging, or telephones.
• The fastest growing age group of
Internet users is children ages 2-5.
• More new information will be
generated this year than in the previous 5,000 years.
The
staff watched a video called “Did You Know” that highlights the
dramatic global shifts brought about by the exponential growth
in technology and the impact on every aspect of business,
government, education and society.
In
addition, the presentation revealed that students growing up
immersed in technology think differently from their teachers.
According to educational consultant and author Mark Prensky,
students “develop hypertext minds… they leap around… their
cognitive structures are parallel, not sequential."
Prensky claims that “linear thought processes that dominate
educational systems now can actually retard learning for brains
developed through game and Web-surfing processes on the
computer.”
Educators face the challenge of preparing tech-savvy students
for a rapidly-evolving world dominated by technology. Teaching
21st century skills that students need to deal with massive
amounts of information and succeed in a global society doesn’t
mean backing away from traditional basics such as reading, math
and science.
Rather, the emphasis lies on infusing technology into the
classroom to develop information literacy, while nurturing critical
and creative thinking skills, and instilling self-direction and
cross-cultural awareness in students.
 The
BOCES staff was asked to reflect on how the information in the
video would affect their work with students or how they would
accommodate the changing world in their jobs and life.
The
presentation’s theme of 21st century learning continues the
dialog started by HFM’s professional development planning team.
“We want to spread awareness among the staff and emphasize the
real need for educational change in the region,” said team
member Stacy Ward, HFM’s coordinator of instructional services.
The
professional development plan is part of a regional Call to
Action initiative, a partnership between HFM BOCES and three
other area BOCES to develop resources and programs designed to
help area students prepare for the educational and employment
demands of the 21st century. Click
here to
read more about the Call to Action. Click
here to
learn more about HFM’s 2008-09 Professional Development Plan. |
