Dear Superintendents,
Leaders are teachers, and teachers are leaders. As district superintendents, you lead the charge of both, our school leaders and our school teachers – no small task. You must teach our leaders and lead our teachers, again no small task. The expectations are high, your responsibilities are enormous, which is utterly lost sometimes on much of the community.
It should not, however, be lost on the Wyoming Department of Education. We will be committed therefore to be as conscious as possible to not increase your already heavy 24/7 load – in fact, we hope to begin finding ways to reduce it. For starters, this will mean at least two things: (1) regular and consistent communication with you as district superintendents, and (2) leadership training and development as a long-term priority. Regarding the latter, we have begun taking some preliminary steps in that direction, and we will keep you posted as this new leadership initiative unfolds.
Vision & Focus
As already stated, the purpose of education in regards to our students can be summed up in four words: to learn, to think. In addition, the purpose of education in regards to our schools is determined by how our schools are positioned, or how they should be positioned.
According to the vision of our founding fathers and early Americans, the local community schoolhouse was uniquely positioned to be an extension of and support for the home as well as an incubator for and bridge to society. This two-fold vision clarifies our dual focus: working for our homes and working for our society. May we continue to serve both well. More next time …
The Primary Priority
Looking back, the Wyoming Teacher Apprenticeship Initiative got underway just this past April. Now, a short four months later, we have the WTA Pilot orientation taking place this last week of July, along with the third meeting of the WTA Advisory Group. We were told on several occasions that it could take up to two years to be where we are going into the fall. I guess they didn’t take into account our Wyoming grit.
Side note – we are grateful that these dedicated individuals are taking time out during CFD week to be sure our work continues to progress.
In the Spotlight
The 13th annual Native American Education Conference is set for August 2-4 at Central Wyoming College in Riverton (there’s still time to register here). Our WDE teammate Rob Black heads up the planning and preparation for this very well-received event, which is one of the largest conferences the WDE sponsors.
Rob is the WDE’s social studies, P.E., and health consultant on the Standards Team, and serves as the agency’s Native American Liaison. In that role, he is the WDE lead for outreach and communication with the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes and with the Wind River Indian Reservation school administrators and education stakeholders. He serves on the Indigenous Education State Leaders Network with his Indian Education counterparts from other states.
Rob’s dedication to detail, as well as his strong ties to Wyoming’s Native American community, puts him “In The Spotlight” this week.
Mark Your Calendars
Mark your calendars: The 2022 Early Childhood Cowboy State Conference is set for October 21-22, 2022. Join WY Quality Counts on one or both days to learn more about the recently updated Early Learning Standards, watch inspiring keynote speakers, interact with other Wyoming educators, and more. More information can be found here.
Monday memos:
Sincerely,
