Project Based Learning & Innovation

Please check out the following video shared with me by Mr. O'Brien: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HQT2uwDXcF0

The school district in this video in many ways resembles Central.  Like many rural Iowa school districts our enrollment has dropped, specially during the floods of 2008.  As I have stated many times during my public forums, blogs, newsletters, etc., we can continue to do the same thing as everyone else and we will continue to get the same results as everyone else.  Or, as I proposed with a new calendar, we can think outside the box and offer something different for our children.

June 3-5, Central teachers and associates will be trained in Project Based Learning through the Buck Institute for Education.  As seen in the video above, this is not a simple change in teaching.  Instead, this is asking our teachers to totally transform their practices.  Project based learning puts the student and their interest first and allows learning through hands on trial and error experimentation.  The results of project based learning seem stunning at Walton, but schools in Iowa already doing this are experiencing similar results.

As you have gotten to know me over the past year I hope that you have learned I refuse to lead a school district stuck in 20th Century practices.  In order to fully pull off a true project based school district, I will need your support.  I need the support of business leaders willing to come and work with our students, as well as parents & grandparents willing to share their many talents.  Together we can provide a much different education than what we received and what many Iowa school districts are still providing.

Please contact Central if your business would like to partner with the school district or if you personally have a talent you want to share and teach our students.  I am looking forward to the exciting changes coming to Central in the 2014/15 school year and welcome all of you to be a part of these changes!