Visit to Neff Elementary

I visited our kindergarten and early childhood center at Neff Elementary this morning. I saw Mr. Austin in action, singing a jolly hello song with our early childhood students.

Okemos vs. Grand Ledge Volleyball

Grand Ledge played Okemos tonight in volleyball.

New and Old Learning Tools

I was at a workshop today on school funding. The learning tools available to me were some old favorites - coffee, pen, and paper. But I also received a clicker where electronically I could respond to questions asked by the presenter. The presenter then could give a sense in real time if those listening were learning or if he needed to reteach. It led me to wonder how can Grand Ledge begin to harness technology to ensure that students will learn? This particular technology is not new but it is not prevalent (yet) in schools. It did make me think about how we can and should integrate and use technology to help students learn.

Grand Ledge vs. Holt

Grand Ledge played Holt in volleyball tonight. It came down to a fifth set. GL played great.

Willow Ridge visit

Waverly vs. Grand Ledge

Grand Ledge vs. Waverly on Fallen Heroes Night.

Are We Doing Our Job?

In 1973 there were 91 million people in the workforce.  Of those 91 million people, 32% were high school dropouts and 40% were high school graduates.  Over 70% of the workforce in 1973 had only a high school diploma or less.

By 2018, the workforce will be 166 million and 10% will be high school dropouts and 28% will be high school graduates.

By 2018, 62% of the jobs will require at least some college.

To put that another way, of the 162 million jobs available in 2018, 103 million of them will require education beyond high school.

Some may argue that a high school diploma or less would still get you a job.  But of those jobs available with a high school diploma or less, only 68% are full-time, full-year jobs.

Who is the workforce in 2018?  This year's 5th graders are the graduating class of 2018.  The high school graduating class of 2018 needs to understand that they will need an education beyond high school to be competitive and to be successful.

Put another way, in 1970 60% of high school graduates and 46% of high school dropouts could look forward to living a middle class lifestyle.  In 2007, only 45% of high school graduates and 33% of high school dropouts could look forward to living a middle class lifestyle.  The percentages in the years to come of people with a high school diploma or less who will live a middle class lifestyle will continue to decline.

Are we preparing the students in our school district to be competitive and successful?

(This information came from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University.)