Introduction
Dr. Rick Black
Thanks to everyone for being here today. We invited 95 of you and 91 showed up; that’s a great turnout. We appreciate you taking the time to come here and participate.
Our theme is creating greatness. As a staff we’re good, in fact, we’re darn good. But that’s not good enough. We need to be great. I would put the education of students in our system against any educational experience in the state, but we can be better. This is the focus of today. How can we take the quality that we currently have and adapt it into the fast changing world that we’re moving into? How can we have students graduate with the skills they need regardless of what direction they go? We want our students to be successful and we want the education we provide them to help them thrive in 2020. We have the bricks and mortar piece down and we have a roadmap but we need to look at what happens within those buildings and time.
I’d like to introduce a few people with the caveat that you are all dignitaries and very important. We have a whole range of people here, students, educators, and community members. We are happy to have representatives from the governor’s office, the senator’s office, the police force, and higher education. This connection between community and higher ed is so important and we are striving to further them.
We also want to thank Rich Katt who has been so supportive. He is the one who brought in InnovationLabs and brought in a grant so we could have this session today. I appreciate Rich and the rest of the NDE who have been very visible in helping us launch the academy and have always been leaders in innovation in education.
I would like to introduce Dr. Ron Hansen and he has really been the brains behind this effort. Thanks Ron for your dream and getting us to this point.
Dr. Ron Hansen
Thank you Dr. Black. I would like to thank everyone for showing up here today. Rich Katt has done a great job in leading the state of Nebraska to excel in education and we want to follow his lead. I’m currently reading a book called 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times.
“In this era of rapid change, the social contract prevalent for a good part of the
last century doesn’t exist anymore. Doing well in school no longer guarantees a
lifelong job or single career, as it did for previous generations of Americans.
Today, people can expect to have at least seven to 10 careers in multiple fields,
as industrial industries contract and service industries expand. The new social
contract is different: Only people who have the knowledge and skills to negotiate
constant change and reinvent themselves for new situations will succeed.
Competency in 21st century skills gives people the ability to keep learning and
adjusting to change. Twenty-first century skills are the coin of the realm for
moving up the economic ladder. Without 21st century skills, people are
relegated to low-wage, low-skill jobs. Proficiency in 21st century is the new civil
right for our times.”
The writer Malcolm Gladwell describes how social change happens when we arrive at a tipping point. Scientists, economists, and sociologists use this term as "the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable." Gladwell defines a tipping point as a sociological term: "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point."
According to Ken Kay he says “I believe we are on the threshold of a tipping point in public education. The moment is at hand for a 21st century model for education that will better prepare students for the demands of citizenship, college, and careers.” (click here for Ken Kay's paper on 21st education .pdf)
A child born today could live until the 22nd century. It’s hard to imagine what will transpire in that time. We want to prepare all the students of Papillion La Vista school district for all the phases of life that will unfold in front of them. We want to ensure that they are ready to thrive in whatever path they choose.
Beginning in kindergarten through 12th grade, we know they need to be innovators, risk takers, collaborators, critical thinkers and more. They need to be aware and competent in multiple disciplines.
Over the next two days, we want to capitalize on the tipping point of education and we want to make sure that we can meet the demands of the 21st century.
Scribing
