A Work in Progress

"An artist never really finishes his work; he merely abandons it." -Paul Valéry

This past Wednesday night, we held our second District 107 Future Planning Committee meeting.  The focus of this meeting was on setting priorities as we develop a guiding plan for our district that will sustain us the next several years.  In order to do this, we had to contemplate what we hope our "portrait of an eighth grader" would look like, meaning our picture-perfect eighth-grade Pleasantdale graduate.  This, as you can imagine, was a daunting task!

There were so many components to consider as we tried to paint the picture of our ideal graduate.  Do we consider the specific academic skills learned and the experiences that should be had by all students along their journey from kindergarten through eighth grade?  Do we articulate what we hope the students will be able to do upon entering into high school due to our thoughtful efforts and preparations?  Ultimately, groups within the committee came up with a list of 7-10 adjectives to describe the characteristics we would like our eighth-grade students to possess upon graduation.

The group of parents and community members I observed prioritized the following:

8th Graders "Voting" in Our Mock Election

• Accountable
• Fulfilled
• Responsible
• Compassionate
• Resilient (see Mr. Glimco's post)
• Proactive
• Articulate
• Driven
• Curious

In reflecting on this one group's list, what strikes me most is that these are characteristics that I (and many other adults) continue to strive to exhibit on a regular basis.  Although we may cultivate these characteristics in our students as they travel through our school district, living a life where these attributes define who the student is as a person will require diligence and mindfulness.  It will take commitment and vigilance.

As French poet and philosopher Paul Valery said, "An artist never really finishes his work; he merely abandons it."  District 107 hopes to not only cultivate these characteristics in our students as they grown from kindergarten through eighth grade but also inspire our students to continue their quest to fill the great canvas of their lives with the colors and images of their efforts as they grow into happy, successful adults.