As a lifelong teacher, I have always believed strongly in the power of our youth and their ability to impact the future of Wisconsin. As WCA President, one of my top priorities and longtime dreams has been to create a program that will bring together county government and schools.
On February 22, this dream took its first step toward reality as the "WCA County-School Partnership Program Committee" met for the first time in Eau Claire. Chaired by Kerry Jacobson, Superintendent of the Osseo-Fairchild School District, committee members included Candy Lund, CESA 10 Representative; Jeff Stoick, Osseo-Fairchild School District Teacher; Mike Perkl, UW-Extension Representative; Supervisor Joe Maehl, Winnebago County Board; Craig Thompson, WCA Legislative Director and myself.
The creation of this program is no small undertaking, but working with this incredibly sharp group of people, I could not be any more confident. Led by Chairman Jacobson, we discussed the creation of a pilot program where students will have an opportunity to learn about and interact with county government up close.
Because each area of the state is so different, we believe the WCA County-School Partnership Program will be the most successful when we give counties and school districts the tools to create a program that is specific to them.
For instance, in Jackson County, Highway B is slated to undergo a major renovation. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach, schools participating in the program could follow this project from start to finish and involve science classes for environmental impact, math classes for grading and sloping and social studies classes to discuss the benefits of a strong infrastructure system.
We also discussed the benefits of students working directly with county employees to job shadow for a day. What better way to learn than to have a student sitting alongside a judge or highway commissioner for a day?
It is our hope to have pilot counties and school districts, as well as project ideas, ready to go by the WCA Conference in October. Then, these projects would be implemented in the 2007-2008 school year, with follow-up reports at the 2008 WCA Conference.
As the committee continues to work to both create and implement a program that will bring together counties and schools, rest assured you will be kept up-to-date through Wisconsin Counties magazine, as well as WCA eNews and other correspondence from the Association. I encourage you to contact me with any questions or suggestions to make this program the best it can be.
Counties in Wisconsin have so much to share with our youth and I believe this project will be the bridge that brings us together. Working in the field of education, I can tell you that teaching by example is always a worthwhile endeavor and I look forward to making the WCA County-School Partnership Program a resounding success.
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