It’s Groundhog Day! Each year in Worthington the Worthington Chamber of Commerce holds a Groundhog Day Event where leaders from the City of Worthington, The Worthington Libraries, and the Worthington Schools forecast what is to come for the future. This year the format was a panel discussion in which I was fortunate to participate in. The format for the event was a question and answer format.
Each member of the panel was asked to make an opening statement, and in my statement, this is what I said:
Worthington Schools is a mission driven organization. Our mission is to empower a community of learners who will change the world. We want to empower our students. Empower is to give authority to the students. Our community has almost 11,000 students in our school district in 20 different schools. Our district has 1,325 staff partners and almost 68,000 residents of our community. Our students will change the world. They’ll be the next generation of teachers, small business leaders, and chamber members. They leave Worthington ready for college or the workforce. Our community supports Worthington Schools, and that was evident at the ballot box in November. We’re very thankful for that community support, and we take that support very seriously and are committed to making sure each child in Worthington Schools has the best possible experience and education.
What is the biggest challenge facing Worthington in the next year/10 years? How is your organization working to address these challenges?
Immediately navigating Phase Two of our Master Facilities Plan in rebuilding Thomas Worthington High School, renovating Worthington Kilbourne High School, and rebuilding the Natatorium are significant and exciting projects. These projects need to happen on time and within the budget while working with our community through the inevitable disruption and change. But, quickly we need to pivot and work with the community to create a plan to deal with our aging infrastructure at the elementary level for Phase Three. These needs are still real and we want to be able to provide a better environment for our youngest learners. Finally, we’re poised to continue to see enrollment growth, and we are working hard to create life-ready graduates with the necessary self-regulation skills and are driven to succeed.
What are the two or three most important factors on which you are providing personal leadership to improve the quality of life in the City of Worthington, to improve the quality of education in the Worthington Public Schools and to improve the quality of services provided by our libraries?
Worthington Schools is committed to strengthening our community partnerships. We’re continuing our strong partnerships with the City of Worthington and the Library system but also community organizations like Swiminc, WYB, and the Worthington Education Foundation. Recently, Perry Township has partnered with us in a Safe Routes to School plan and they continue to be an excellent partner for our schools.
What is the most innovative thing your organization has done in the last three years?
For this school year, we changed all school start times so high school students can better meet the research based sleep guidelines for students in grades 6-12. Thus far, this change has been wildly successful, and we see more engaged learners and less discipline issues at the high schools. Two years ago we rebuilt and moved to 6-8 grade middle schools. This change has been great. Academically we have totally invested in and revamped how we teach reading to our students with the Science of Reading.
How can average citizens get involved and make a positive impact in your organization?
Soon we will kick off a community process to determine the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that all Worthington graduates should possess. We’ll want our community to participate in this Portrait of Learner engagement process. Worthington Schools is always looking for volunteers for our elementary Ready for Reading initiative, and we’re continually looking for mentors for our older students. Overall, we want our community to continue to engage in community meetings and coffees. These are our communities’ schools and thus, we constantly want your constructive input.
What final thoughts or announcements would you like to leave us with?
Worthington Schools are in a really good spot! These are incredibly exciting times with the development of new high schools – really a once-in-a-generation kind of project. Our dedicated staff is working hard everyday to help students rebound from pandemic challenges and make sure Worthington remains a district of choice in the competitive Central Ohio education market. We want every child to feel seen, heard, valued, and challenged. Everyday we strive to make this happen.
-Trent Bowers, Superintendent