The Board of Education recognized the impact of many programs in the school system and approved a major conference trip during the board meeting on April 18.
During the beginning of the meeting, it was announced that the Putnam County Charter System earned the 2022 Best Communities in Music Education Recognition Award. This is the sixth consecutive year that the system has received this award. The program has recognized 738 school districts and 80 schools across 44 states for their outstanding efforts to support music education.
To win this recognition, the winners are chosen through an application process and a long list of requirements that can be found on the Best Communities for Music Education website. Receiving this award acknowledges that the Putnam County Charter System puts grand effort into their music education and ensures that every student is offered a wellrounded education in music with opportunities to get involved.
“We thank y’all for your continued support of music and the schools recognize what their music teachers, chorus teachers and band teachers are doing to support music education,” said Laura Melton, director of special programs.
The Putnam County High School JROTC gave a presentation to the board to highlight the JROTC program. The program has been offered at the high school for 16 years. Four cadets, each from a different grade, gave speeches on what JROTC means to them and how it has helped them grow as individuals. The cadets highlighted the discipline, leadership opportunities, army values and friendships that have been offered to them by the program.
“I am really proud of the cadets. They have worked hard. These are their words and their experiences and they have worked hard on their public speaking skills to be here,” said Lieutenant Colonel Frank Atkinson, senior army instructor.
Dr. Christopher Lawton, the director of experiential learning, presented to the board an update on experiential learning. The schools have now received a second grant from Spencer Foundation that allows the teams of teachers working on community-based teaching to expand. This team of teachers is currently working together on a model for teaching that will allow students to have experiences outside of the classroom that are both purposeful and educational. As of now, the model is centered on a product with a purpose with outlier contributors of inquiry-based learning, place based learning, reflection and collaboration.
“The Spencer Foundation grant is about transforming education,” said Eric Arena, superintendent. “They are looking to invest in a transformative process of public education, and I think that is what got us noticed and what the school system is trying to do.”
Through experiential learning, the school system is developing partnership programs with universities such as Albany State, Piedmont University and George Mason University. These partnerships offer interactive programs for students and educational experiences that will prepare them down the road for college and adult life. In addition, experiential
In addition, experiential learning has allowed a variety of students the opportunity to visit many different locations to work on their public speaking and represent their schools. From 2015 through 2019, high school students were a part of many different conference and university talks that they not only attended but presented at.
During COVID-19, the high school was invited to two very large conferences, the National Humanities Conference in Los Angeles and the International Federation for Public History conference in Berlin, Germany, that were canceled due to the pandemic. Invitations to either of these conferences is a large honor for the school system and a unique opportunity for students to be involved in.
“It was just an honor to be invited,” said Dr. Lawson. “This is not about one kid doing one project but years of a team of dedicated teachers that put their best into something that they are trying to build a model around. That model being built is starting to get recognition and bear fruit.”
Once more, four students from the high school have been invited to the four day International Federation for Public History conference in Berlin, Germany. During the board meeting, Dr. Lawson asked the board for permission to start the process of accepting this honor and moving forward with talking with parents, getting passports, flights and more.
One out of five board members declined permission. However, through majority rule and thorough discussion of the risks related to COVID and the ongoing war, it was decided that the school could move forward with the acceptance. There was an added agreement made, though, that the high school would have to figure out a way to extend the impact to more students than the four attending. However, it was noted that up to the point that the decision could be withdrawn, the board has the ability to withdraw permission on the priority of student safety.
“I will personally support it if we can impact more students than the four who go. If there is a way to broaden the impact with a reasonable plan, then I can personally support it,” said Dr. Steve Weiner, chairman.
Board member Eugene Smith agreed saying, “I don’t think you can turn something like this down. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
The board meeting closed with unanimous agreement in renewing the Illuminate Education Software agreement, purchasing several e-rate technologies and the purchasing of the classroom furniture discussed at the last board meeting.