Principally Speaking Network

Leadership That Creates Positive Effects with Dr. Todd Whitaker

Principally Speaking Network (PSN) is a model of professional development designed to strengthen leadership skills and to build a sustainable network of professional support among principals. Through a series of meetings designed to enhance leadership skills, principals focus on leadership practices that increase academic achievement for students. PSN provides the opportunity to examine student achievement data and discuss successful approaches to improvement in a collegial, peer environment. Bill Kennedy of the Public Education Foundation of Chattanooga serves as the Program Lead Facilitator.

Participants include more than 180- educational leaders from public school in the following Alabama school systems: Madison, Madison County, Huntsville, Limestone County, Athens City, Etowah, Attalla, Gadsden, Jackson County, Scottsboro City.

In 2010, the program received the endorsement of District 8 State School Board Representative Mary Scott Hunter. The expansion of PSN to all public school systems in District Eight (8) begins January 19, 2012, with a program delivered by author and nationally known education leader, Dr. Todd Whitaker.

"Leadership That Creates Positive Classroom Effects" focuses on Todd Whitaker's books and materials that are directly related to the topic with practical application by each participant. Dr. Whitaker will present a 5-hour session on January 19, 2012, 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The presentation will address his recent book, Shifting the Monkey as well as Motivating and Inspiring Teachers. Both books will be available for sale to participants at a discounted rate. Two follow-up sessions will provide participants the opportunity to meet the requirements for a PLU.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Junior League of Huntsville will hold its next meeting on Monday, August 29, 2011 at the Huntsville Museum of Art from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  The focus will be education as they welcome Dr. E.Casey Wardynski, Huntsville City Schools Superintendent, to the community. The Junior League will present an award to the Schools Foundation, Inc. in order to support their new Free 2 Teach initiative to help teachers in the community.  The JL Operation Education committee will be presenting an update on their programs including one to collect teacher school supplies, which will go to teachers throughout Madison County.  The Free 2 Teach initiative will provide all public school teachers throughout Madison County free teaching supplies.  Education is one of the Junior League's community focus areas, and it is thrilled to support The Schools Foundation as it launches Free 2 Teach.

What is Junior League of Huntsville?

Junior League of Huntsville is a diverse group of women dedicated to improving our local community through volunteering and developing women into future leaders. JLH members provide 25,000 hours a year of volunteer service in the Huntsville/Madison County area. In addition, the group awards numerous local grants annually. Originally founded as the Grace Club Auxiliary in 1949, the organization became a Junior League in 1975 and has been serving this community for more than 60 years.

About The Schools Foundation

The Schools Foundation is a not-for-profit local education foundation in Huntsville, Alabama.  The Foundation supports all three public school systems in Madison County, Alabama: Huntsville City Schools, Madison County Schools and Madison City Schools.  The Foundation solicits corporate contributions, individual donations and grant funds to support a variety of programs including student scholarships, teacher grants, staff development, technology deployment, and other programs that directly benefit students and enhance educational opportunities in the community's three public school systems.  Foundations funds are distributed equitably to the three school districts based on student enrollment.

The Junior League of Huntsville presents Dr. Wardynski and The Schools Foundation a donation in support of Free 2 Teach (l-r) Lady Smith; Junior League Huntsville President; Dr. Casey Wardynski, Huntsville City Schools Superintendent; Eula Battle, Free 2 Teach co-chair; Ranae Bartlett, Junior League Huntsville member and Madison City Board of Education member; Nancy Jones, Free 2 Teach co-chair; Amy Boyd, Junior League Huntsville Education co-chair

Shuttered Huntsville school may house non-profit supply shop for teachers

West Huntsville Elementary, pictured, was closed in May 2009. Free 2 Teach, a venture of The Schools Foundation, may use the school to house a free school supply store for area teachers. (The Huntsville Times)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- West Huntsville Elementary might soon see some new life.

The school, which was closed in May 2009, may become the home for Free 2 Teach, a venture of the nonprofit The Schools Foundation that aims to help teachers stock their supply cabinets. Foundation board members Eula Battle, Nancy Jones and Walker McGinnis launched the effort in January.

The program's mission is to support public education by supplying teachers with donations from the community. In essence, it would give teachers in the Huntsville, Madison and Madison County systems a place to shop for much-needed supplies at no cost.

Jones said she first got the idea on a trip to Disney World with her grandchildren, when she got the chance to visit a store run by a similar program, A Gift for Teaching. The Florida program runs three stores in Orlando, Kissimmee and Sanford.

The Huntsville store would always be stocked with seven core items, including pens, No. 2 pencils, crayons, markers, glue sticks, loose leaf paper and copier paper, said Jones and Battle. Other items like construction paper, books and backpacks will be available as they are donated.

Donated items have already started rolling in.

Cash donations are also a great need, Jones said. The program, which will be run solely by volunteers, is expected to cost about $63,000 per year.

Before the economy crashed, the state education budget gave local teachers money to buy supplies for their classrooms, from pencils to computers. The state has eliminated that money for the past several years.

"Unless you've got an active PTA, generous parents or someone willing to open their checkbooks, you do without," Jones said.

The three districts in Madison County have about 3,500 teachers in 84 public schools, serving more than 50,000 children.

All three systems have signed on to participate with the program. Dr. Casey Wardynski, Huntsville's new superintendent, has offered to lease the program about 23 percent of West Huntsville's building, including the cafetorium, the main office, the library and a classroom.

The cost of the lease would be $1 per year for two years.

"The next step is for the board to come up with a lease agreement," said McGinnis, a retired principal and former school board candidate.

The school board is expected to vote on the proposal later this month. Pending approval, the lease would begin about Oct. 1.

The store is anticipated to open on Jan. 10.

If the board approves the plan, volunteers will begin cleaning up and furnishing the areas to be used. The Huntsville school system will handle security for the building.

The Schools Foundation will run the program and pay for the utilities used by the program, estimated at just over $800 a month.

The Madison and Madison County systems will handle the transport of supplies.

Wardynski last week called the program a "win-win-win" for the three school districts. Board members also gave it a thumbs-up during their monthly work session.

"This is great, fantastic," school board member David Blair said. "This is also one of those things we always talk about, cooperation between the three systems. The Schools Foundation has obviously been a huge influence in the community, and we really appreciate that."

Battle, wife of Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, said she has been storing donations in her garage. She said it was wonderful to see the program on the verge of fruition.

"It's really exciting, but a little scary, taking on such a large venture," Battle said.

Published: Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 6:00 AM

By Kim Chandler, The Birmingham News

MONTGOMERY -- In their first days in Susan Dial's AP biology class at Gardendale High School, students learned a date in addition to scientific processes such as mitosis and meiosis -- May 14, 2012.

That's the date of the upcoming Advanced Placement biology exam, in which the students can qualify for college credit.

"I tell them, 'Guys, May 14 is what we are striving for,'" Dial said.

The first year Dial taught biology, she had 25 students and one made a passing score on the AP exam. After participating in a program to boost AP participation and scores, she had 52 AP students and 12 passing scores -- including one score of five, the highest possible a student can make on the test.

The A+ College Ready program has resulted in a 108 percent jump in passing scores on the AP tests in math, science and English, among schools that use the program statewide. The program provides training and support for teachers, special Saturday study sessions for students, incentives to teachers and a $100 bonus to students if they pass the AP exam at the end of the year.

"Amazing. We are astounded by the results," A+ College Ready President Mary Boehm said.

"We have proven that, when kids are willing to step up to the rigor with teachers that are willing to support them, they can absolutely succeed at AP," Boehm said.

AP classes are college-caliber classes that students take in high school. An exam taken at the end of the year gives students the opportunity to earn college credit. Students can earn a score of 1 to 5 on the exam and typically can earn college credit, depending upon the university they attend, if they score a 3 or above.

There are 43 high schools in 17 school districts participating in the program, which Dial said has been immensely helpful when trying to teach college-level material to high school students.

"She's very good at breaking things down on different levels so we understand what is going on and it's in terms that we can understand it," said Wayne House, a former student of Dial's who earned a 5 on the AP biology test. House, who thinks he might major in biomedical engineering or biochemistry, will be the first in his family to go to college.

At Buckhorn High School in New Market, teacher Matt Massey has 49 students in his AP calculus class and another 14 that study through distance learning. Massey said he has a personal goal that most of his students can pass the AP calculus exam at the end of the year.

"It's a really rigorous class. We hit the ground running with some of the hardest content in the class," Massey said.

As part of the program, Buckhorn has opened up calculus to more students, allowing them to transfer directly in if they made an A in algebra II.

"We had to kind of think out of the box a little bit," Massey said.

Massey has recruited kids who were taking elective classes to take calculus, instead -- selling them and their parents on what it could do for them academically and assuring them he will do everything in his power to not let them fail.

"We kind of advertise it as, you are already a success just by enrolling in the class," Massey said.

One facet of the program is that students are enrolled automatically in the AP exam at the end of the year. The program pays the $87 exam fee for the students.

"Everybody takes it no matter what. It makes the kids be on the hook for something when they know they have to take that test," Massey said.

The program also provides financial incentives to students and teachers for passing the AP test. Students and teachers each get a $100 bonus for each passing score, and teachers get other incentives for exceeding goals.

Buckhorn senior Taylor Jones, 17, said that, when she was a freshman, few students at Buckhorn took calculus. Now, she said, it's almost expected if you are on the college path.

"A+ College Ready is a proven investment that is preparing our students for college and the jobs of tomorrow," Gov. Robert Bentley said in a prepared statement about the test scores.

The program is funded with $1.3 million a year from the Alabama Legislature, a $13.2 million grant from the National Math and Science Initiative, a $1.3 million federal grant awarded to Alabama from the U.S. Department of Education and additional matching funds from corporate donors.