Innovation and inspiration

COEUR d'ALENE — Lake City High School junior Seth Lucker explained to a crowded room Wednesday evening how the Outdoor Studies Program has impacted his academic journey.

"OSP has changed my whole mentality about school," he said. "For the first time in my whole school career, I’m excited to go to the classroom and learn."

OSP teaches students both inside and outside the classroom while connecting them to the environment and history of their community. Lucker said he loves it because it places him in real-life situations where he and his peers have hands-on learning experiences where they learn and grow together.

"The many things we learn are directly affecting our environment," he said. "It makes everything we learn feel that much more important."

LCHS' OSP program was one of the main highlights of the fourth annual Coeur d'Alene School District 271 State of the District, which was held in the community room of the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

The State of the District, titled "Highlighting Innovative Approaches in Education," included presentations from students, teachers and Superintendent Matt Handelman to update the public about what programs, issues and new processes are happening in SD271. These included changing the way teachers grade at Lakes Magnet Middle School, igniting the passion for technology at Bryan Elementary School, improving facilities at the high schools and preparing for expected continued growth throughout the district.

Handelman discussed updating attendance zones and managing growth issues, which will require more elementary schools.

"First and foremost, we need two more elementary schools," he said. "If we were to shut down every portable classroom we have at our elementary schools tomorrow, we would need a new elementary school tomorrow also. We have that many students who are in portable classrooms."

He said the Long Range Planning Committee recommended a facility plan that includes the elementary schools, more efficiently utilizing middle school space, adding classrooms to high schools, selling or trading SD271 sites in Hayden Lake and on Thomas Lane and purchasing property for the new elementary schools in the northwest corner of the district.

"We do have some schools that are bulging at the seams," Handelman said.

Bryan Elementary advanced learning teacher Jim Windisch shared his enthusiasm for what his students are learning and doing, which includes exploring education with Google Chromebooks, learning about 3-D printing and writing about books they've read on the Bryan Book Blog.

He shared a quote by philosopher John Dewey.

"'If we teach today's students as we taught yesterday, we rob them of tomorrow,' and at Bryan, we've taken this very seriously," he said. "We have thought about how we need to continue changing, how we need to continue experimenting and refining to make the experience for our students better."

Windisch discussed the school's focus on a "growth mindset," which he explained as being "the idea that you see a challenge where other people may see an obstacle."

"We have shared this vision with students through teaching them that they can become smarter through hard work," he said. "You aren't stuck with how smart you are today."

The growth mindset philosophy has caught on at Lakes as well, where some teachers have begun grading for learning to promote students' mastery of concepts. Seventh-grade math teacher Amber Miller referenced "The Grade Doctor" Ken O'Connor's book, "How to Grade for Learning," which rethinks the grading game.

"We had to think about what really is a grade," she said. "He talked about (how) grades are limited to achievement, should not be used as punishment for poor attendance, inappropriate behavior or lack of punctuality."

Part of this new mindset on grading includes allowing for more attempts at assessments, placing less emphasis on homework and more weight on tests and helping students understand that mistakes help them learn.

"We do need to start teaching this way because it is a true reflection of their learning," Miller said.

The State of the District was presented by Coeur d'Alene Education Partnership.

Info: www.cdaep.org or www.facebook.com/cdaep