Alice in Wonderland

Last night and tonight (at 7:00PM) students of F.S.G. performed "Alice in Wonderland".  I attended the performance last night and I was very impressed by the performances of the students.  I am also impressed by the hard work that Mr. Phipps and the parent volunteers put into creating the custumes and the stage.  the highlight was the "black light" that made characters glow in the dark.  These pictures only catch a small portion of the visual effect.  Very well done!

NHLA Lumber Grading "Short Course"

This week, the school district sponsored a lumber grading "short course" for students of Ridgway and Johnsonburg along with adults from the community.  Overall, 23 people participated in the course.  The "short course" is a four day course that helps prepare students to take the longer, full-fledged lumber grading course.  Students spend the first day reviewing basic math skills.  Things like adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions are stressed.  The students then move on to actually learning how to grade lumber.  Barry Kibbe from the National Hardwoods Lumber Association teaches the class.  This is the third year the school district has run the class.  I am very excited about this class and I believe it gives our students real life experiences that can help them as they look for employment in our community.

From My Favorite Philosopher

Yesterday, my favorite philosopher (my 6 year old son) came up with another saying that really made me think.  Last night as we were preparing supper my son looked at me and said “Dad, I don’t like it when you have that look on your face.  You look unhappy”.  Generally I don’t mind fixing supper, but I must have had an “unhappy” look at that time.  My son went on to say, “When you look like that it makes me ‘wild up’”.  I asked him what “wild up” meant.  He then told me that the unhappy look on my face made him want to act bad and yell.  Can you imagine how a simple facial expression has such a powerful affect on a young child?  Better yet, imagine being a teacher who is constantly on stage with little ones always looking at you for guidance and hints on how to act.  This is a powerful lesson for educators.  Students are constantly taking their cues from us.  More than the content that we teach, the way in which we act and interact with students and other adults will have an everlasting effect on the students.   I probably tend to make too much of these little occurrences with my son, but I can’t help but think that little kids are more profound than some of us adults!

Enrichment Field Trip

I have posted a letter from Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Cortina discussing the field trip that the high school and middle school gifted students took last month.  There is also a picture collage of the trip.  Enjoy!

2010 PSSA Results

The 2010 PSSA results are in and they show that the school district is making progress toward meeting the NCLB goal of 100% proficiency.  Students at RASD are achieving at all time high levels.  In Math, 83% of the students are proficient.  In Reading 70% of the students are proficient.  The district leadership team and teachers have analyzed the data further and have identified area of concentration.  First, the school district is focusing efforts on Literacy Training at all grade levels.  Literacy is a “gatekeeper” skill and the district must assure that students have the highest literacy capabilities.  Second, the school district is focusing on making sure special education students are exposed to the same rigorous curriculum as the rest of the students. Finally, the school district is pleased with the progress in math scores.  The increase can be attributed to a focus on researched based instructional strategies, formative assessment, and a collaborative culture utilizing professional learning communities.  These activities will be further expanded to continue RASD’s rise in test scores.  You can view a presentation that I gave to the school board about the PSSA results here.  The presentation gives much more detail about the PSSA scores and shows comparisons to other schools in the region.

Walking Backward

Yesterday my favorite philosopher (my 6 year old son) helped me realize something very profound. Now, he does not mean to be a philosopher, but readers of the blog know that he has had at least one very profound statement about education and “learning”. Yesterday, I watched him get off the bus and start walking backward down the street. I wondered why he would want to walk backward all of that way. I thought about it for a little bit and I finally realized the answer. He was walking backward because it was fun and he just wanted to do it. When is the last time you walked down the street backward just because it was fun? Better yet, when was the last time you did something just because it was fun and was going to make you happy?

Lately, as I think about the direction of education and all of the “speed bumps” school district must maneuver around, I am afraid that all of us in education may forget to "walk backward". We forget that we are dealing with kids that just want to “walk backward” sometime. Let’s keep education simple. Teach the kids things that are useful to them in life in a way that is interesting and engaging. Period…and then we can all go outside and walk backward!!

RASD Receives $5,000 Grant

Mr. Oknefski researched grant opportunities to restart the robotics program at Ridgway.  He was fortunate to find funding from the Elk County Community Foundation.  The following is a statement from Mr. Oknefski.

Ridgway Area School District needed an alternative way to teach robotics which is becoming a huge field not only in the surrounding area but around the country. Robotics has proven itself not only fun but extremely educational because robotics has the ability to integrate science, technology, engineering, and math seamlessly all while keeping students engaged. Robotics is also not a cookie cutter curriculum because it allows each student to creatively think of solutions to problems and then build a robot to solve the problem. When the robot is built, students have the option to manually operate the robot using a remote control, or they can program it using software to repeat steps over and over just like a robot in production.



Last year, Mr. Oknefski wrote a grant explaining all the benefits that robotics can have on education and explained how Ridgway could be a model program. Excitement and publicity in the program could cause other schools in the area to peruse education using robots enhancing an entire community as well as the counties educational experience. It does just stop in the school. After school, students who have been taught using robots will be able to take their knowledge into the workforce, college, or the military and succeed and expand from there.


The Elk County Community Foundation graciously agreed to give our school district a $5,000 grant towards the purchase of the robots. With that money, plus some given by our school, we will be able to purchase four Vex robots and two computers that will have the appropriate curriculum and software downloaded onto it. The robots will be used in the pre-engineering II class to accommodate 8 students (working in pairs) this year and could possibly be expanded into a class of its own in the future. We also anticipate students competing in events using vex robots. I hope to see an excitement and knowledge gained from the use of these robots. If it is as big as a success as I anticipate, I hope others will see its importance and choose to push the program further. It would be a real accomplishment to see the education in this field to continue with a large amount of students using their brains to find creative solutions to problems they are faced with.

RASD Receives Grant for a Mobile Agriculture Lab

Through the hard work of Mrs. Raubenstrauch, the students at the elementary school will be able to enjoy a different learning experience. The "mobile ag. lab" is a mobile science lab designed for students in grades K-8. The lab will allow the school district to offer an enriched learning experience for our students. The mobile lab will blend in well with the work that the school district is doing to raise awareness of the importance of agriculture to our society. In addition, both the Middle School and the Elementary School had student run gardens this year. This is a great opportunity for our students. Mrs. Raubenstrauch received a grant for $2,000 which will cover the cost (except for $300.00) for having the lab here for one week. To learn more about the mobile lab, please click here. Be patient while the link loads, it may take awhile.

Farmer's Market Day

Today the elementary school celebrated the second annual farmer’s market day.  This is a day when students learn about local foods and discuss farming with local farmers.  The food that children ate came from local sources, with some of the food originating in the school garden.  The school district was happy to have three local farmers (Cliff and Jeanetter Stump and Ron McMinn) come to the school to talk about different vegetables and other farming related activities.  In addition, the farmers stayed and helped serve the children.  The students ate hamburgers cooked on the grill by Cliff Stump and me.  It was fun cooking over 400 hamburgers!  The school district hopes to raise awareness in the students on the importance of healthy, locally grown food.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the day.  A special thanks goes out to Mrs. Urmann for organizing the day for the students.

Communication System

The school district will be using a new communication tool this year. In an effort to meet one of the school board's non-negotiable goals, the school district is using a company called Global Connect to increase the quality of our communication with parents. This system will be used to help the schools and the district office "get the message out" to parents on issues and concerns of the school district. The one use that immediately comes to mind for this system is for late starts and school closings in the winter. One call from me can be sent within seconds to everyone that is signed up in the system. Beyond this obvious use, each school can send reminders and important announcements to parents of children in their school. For example, if a principal wants to remind parents that a school play will take place, a message can be sent reminding parents to attend the event. You may have seen the signup sheets for this system come home from school within the past week. Please return the required information so the school can help you stay informed!

A Fascinating Discussion about Education

I recently came across this talk about the power of facilitating children's interest and education. The video is about 17 minutes long but it is well worth the time spent to watch it. My "takeaway" from this video is that educators, parents and communities cannot underestimate the intellect and drive of children. Teachers will always be necessary, but, as the speaker says, "If the children have interest, education happens". I hope you enjoy the video.

School Gardens

Today you are viewing the results of the two school gardens in the school district. This year the school gardens received a big boost from Natalie Aiello from PSU Cooperative extension and the Master Gardener program. In the schools, Mrs. Peterson in the high school/middle school and Mrs. Raubenstrauch in the elementary school spearheaded the efforts for the students. The experience for the students was very good. According to Mrs. Raubenstrauch, “this was a great learning opportunity for the children. They were involved from the beginning and we incorporated many different lessons into the garden. The children even got to eat a purple carrot!” I am a firm believer in the power of “hands on” learning and any time a student is getting their hands dirty working in dirt (I feel) is a good thing. Natalie Aiello has been an outstanding proponent of the gardens and has helped the teachers and students immeasurably. In the elementary school some of the extra vegetables will be given to the cafeteria and will be used in student lunches. Enjoy the pictures!

FSG Garden

Student Internet Access at Home

RASD is in the beginning stages of attempting to increase the ease and amount of community and parent involvement in the school. The foundation for this effort is a new school web site. The web site will allow easy access for parents to have conversations with teachers and administrators while at the same time monitoring their children’s class. One question that must be answered is this: how many students/parents are without internet access? In an attempt to get a ballpark figure of internet access of our community, the district conducted a survey of students asking, “Do you have internet access at home?” Granted this is unscientific, but it will show a ballpark figure of internet access. The overall figures show that about 12% of our student/parents do not have internet access at home (125 students in grades 1 through 12). The highest percentage of students WITHOUT internet access at home is in the elementary school, while the high school has the largest percentage of students WITH internet access. This raises some interesting points.



1. Most of our students have internet access at home.

2. The student body is well positioned for online learning opportunities.

3. How can the school district help make facilities available after school for those students that do not have internet access?


I thought that these figures would be interesting for you. Let me know what you think.

Student Enrollment at RASD

The student enrollment for RASD now stands at 1002. This figure is up from the 984 students that the district ended the year with in June and also an increase compared to the 989 that the district started with last school year. I hope that the trend toward higher enrollment continues. RASD has several initiatives that will improve education and hopefully increase enrollment. First, the district has started our own virtual academy to make our curriculum and teachers more accessible. The school district also sent seven teachers to be retrained in Advanced Placement classes in an effort to increase the rigor in those classes. Finally, RASD is "mapping" its curriculum this year. What this means is that at the end of the year the teachers and administrators will be able to sit down and see a map of all areas taught in every class. We can then look for redundancies and "holes" in the curriculum. This will assure that the students are getting the best curriculum possible. RASD is moving forward!

Teachers Are Back!

Yesterday was the day that I always look forward to every summer…the first day of school for teachers. I look forward to this day because the teachers come into the new school year with enthusiasm for the upcoming school year. The teachers have three days of school before the first students arrive. The district’s professional development committee builds the professional learning for the entire school year including the first three days. My opening day power point is here. The first day (August 23rd) was dedicated to a guest speaker. Dr. James Manley (The 2009 Pennsylvania Superintendent of The Year) spoke to the staff about his experiences as a superintendent for 27 years. Dr. Manley also worked with the teachers to start to form a vision of what education will look like in the future for RASD. I will have more about the results in a later blog post.



Today, the teachers are in training all day. They will be learning about data analysis, team teaching techniques, questioning strategies in the classroom, and they will learn how to set up their personal profile and classroom pages on Echalk (the school district’s new web site). Tomorrow the teachers will be in their respective schools doing any last minute preparation for the return of the students.

Cost Savings at RASD

Today I would like to discuss some of the cost cutting measures the school district has taken this summer and the consequences of those cost cutting measures. If you have followed this blog for awhile, you may remember a discussion about the school district’s five year budget model. Based on the budget model (which includes less governmental funding and increased pension costs), even if the district raises property taxes one mill a year the district would still be over two million dollars in debt in five years. Obviously cost savings is in order. The administration will present a rough draft of a cost savings plan to the board in September. In the meantime, the district has not replaced three teachers that have resigned this summer. The savings to the school district is close to $150,000. This has resulted in increased class sizes in the elementary school. Even though class sizes are larger than in the past, the Kindergarten and First grade class sizes are still below twenty per class, and the largest class sizes are only 24 students per class. The district will provide added supports in these classes and I am confident that there will be no detrimental effect on education.

You may also hear some talk in the national news about how the federal government is providing funds to the States to “save teacher jobs”. This sounds very good in theory but the devil is in the details. I anticipate that the school district will receive no new funds to “save” teachers jobs. Rather, I suspect that the State will simply substitute this money with funds the school district is already going to receive. In other words, the State will simply use the “new” money to replace money that is already budgeted for education. I could be wrong about this, but based on past practice this is what I anticipate occurring. I will keep you updated on any changes.

Summer Reading Program

The Ridgway Area School District conducted a summer reading program this year. The district received "stimulus" finds to operate the program so there were no "local dollars" used in the operation of the program. The program consisted of three separate weeks of instruction for students of Ridgway Area School District. The ability to read is so important in a global society. Reading is a "gatekeeper" skill that can either open up doors for advancement for students who can read well or keep the door closed to new opportunities if you cannot read well. Ridgway Area School District wants to make sure our student’s will be able to read well. The school board at Ridgway has made a commitment to literacy training for our students by making literacy instruction a nonnegotiable goal. The program has had an attendance of approximately 130 students during the three weeks with about 80 students being served (some students attended multiple weeks). I am proud of the work that the elementary staff has done to make sure the summer reading program was a huge success. The school district will be able to continue the reading program one more year with the stimulus funding available. In the future, the school board will have to make a decision about how to fund the program with local dollars.

The Final Numbers for the Summer Food Program

I apologize for not updating this blog recently. I have been away from a computer and I still have not figured out "mobile blogging". The school district completed the first summer of offering hot lunches to the summer parks program. It was a successful endeavor. During the last week the school district served 150 lunches on each of the three days the summer parks program ran. Overall, the school district served 1,542 lunches over 18 days. I want to thank the cafeteria staff for working very hard to make this program a success....good job!

Rough Draft of the School District's New Web Page

I am very excited about some of the initiatives that the school district will have in place for the upcoming school year. The one I will discuss today revolves around the school district's efforts to better communicate with the community. To step back a little bit, one of the five year non-negotiable goals that the school Board created during the last school year was to "better communicate achievement progress with all stakeholders". In an effort to meet this goal, the school district has identified its web page as one area of needed improvement. There are many times when the school district has received feedback that the web page needs to be more robust and have more information. With that in mind, I am pleased to give you a "sneak peak" into a very rough draft of what the new web site will look like. This web page will not be active for another month (until then the old web site will be used), but I wanted to share with you the new look of the web page. The rough draft of the page does not have some of the parts the final product will have; for instance, the final page will have a scrolling banner and many more links for information. However, I thought that you may like to see the general overview of the new page.

An Interesting talk

I suggest you follow this link and listen to a talk about education by Roger Schank.  I am on the road this week and will not be able to elaborate too much.  I will spend some time at Vanderbilt University where I hope to learn from superintendents from all over the United States.  I also hope that I will be able to learn a little bit more about the "Southern Agrarians" while at Vanderbilt...an interesting group indeed.