To the families, to staff, and especially to our students of this district, thank you. You are the reason why I served. You are the reason why I fought. You are the reason I leave here fulfilled. Dr. Okay. You are the right person. Yes. You are the right leader. Keep going. Thank you. And to my fellow board members, it's been an honor to serve beside you. It's been an honor. May you continue to lead with wisdom, compassion, and boldness. To my family, my wife, my son, mom, you stood by me through some tough tough moments, co to now. Thank you. And finally to the one who ordered my steps from the very beginning. I have to give all glory to God. This journey was never about me. It was always about his purpose. Thank you for allowing me to serve. [Applause] Okay. Um, Simon Synynic wrote a book start with why.
So they're always living documents. They're not sort of there and that we just use them year after year. It's they're something things that we really work on. Our next area I wanted to touch on is looking at student voice and choice and making sure that they're available in all of our learning experiences. I think they can be very challenging for teachers. We're so used to sort of having the control over our classrooms, but when they let go and really trust that process, they're almost always very happy with the results of what's going on and what the kids are are truly able to do when we let them go. some of the examples that we currently have that we will continue to work with. Again, the new science curriculum, the students are running science circles, the civics projects in social studies, the poetry and the ELA program, project invention, our career days.
Both of those things are not accurate. you know, literally pulled in the Anson Carter, uh, right? Like I guess so. I don't know. But I think there's a guy with the same last name who was a hockey coach, former player, uh, black guy in Canada who started this, you know, program for, uh, African-American kids and I guess African Canadian kids in, uh, Canada. Canada is a North America. Yeah, I guess North America. But um so is I mean the point is like you really have to know the content to pump in the best. Yeah. But like how like be a great time saver if you know what you're doing or it's a great it's a great tool to polish what's already there and what right but like remember when calculators were like exactly people didn't trust calculator. You have to know, you have to have an idea of what the answer is before you go plugging it in and just taking it at face value, whatever it gives you.
Also you can see just lack of interest or lack of motivation from our students. Um that came across in both surveys. So we do know that there is a student population um both at North and South that while they have the opportunity to they've just indicated like they're just not interested. Um so you can see at the very bottom do you feel a sense of belonging? So, of the 515 students that uh we interviewed at North, 29 of them felt like they did not uh feel a sense of belonging at North while the other students overwhelmingly did. So, that is something for us to dig into next year when uh some of us were in high school. Um that that was the biggest sense of belonging that you got was the club or the sport that you were involved in. and most of us um may have had all of our friend groups tied to that things clearly have started shifting.
And the premise of the book was people don't care what you do, they care why you do it. And the reason I ran for school board and the reason I serve these four years and the reason I took on the presidency when I didn't want to um is because I believe that students are the earth's greatest resource and to whom much is given much is required of those entrusted with their care. We are privileged to sit in these seats and it's imperative that we seek under to understand who's not benefiting from the way things are and to govern to remove the barriers that make it so. We sit in trust for an entire community and we have the potential to positively or negatively affect learning experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for generations of students. So leading this group of exceptional individuals who set the standard for an entire district has been my honor.
They're all areas where kids really are taking lead based on their own interests. In the science circle, sometimes kids will make a wrong hypothesis, but we don't correct them because so do real scientists, and they'll go through that whole process and be like, "Huh?" So, it it's really important that you you let the kids do the learning. um the civics projects and I think this year in particular we're really proud of the work that the kids did because we really took the time to let them do the research and pick what they wanted to pick um which is required. the Massachusetts standards do not want the teachers to tell the kids what the topics are and and they really ran with it and they they really took it to another level this year which was a great thing to see. I think evaluation season is as stressful for us as administrators as it is for the teachers.
Or 20 years ago, there was kind of know what you're what you're expecting. This woman, Carol Loots, was the reading guru at Dodd Middle School like 20 years ago. She since passed, bless her. But um I was a young kid, you know, assistant principal and I made the mistake of saying to her, "Do you think that like digital devices will ever replace real textbooks?" You would have thought like I like I ripped her soul out. She was going to stab me. But like you know that's that that's kind of happening to a degree you know that that digital and so there is an evolution to this stuff and we have to we're not going to shun our our kids from it but we have to figure out what's the best way to best max leverage it for our kids maximize what they get out of it.
So of the uninvolved students, many of them still feel like they belong at North and um you know we will look forward to uh adding that question at South so we can try to figure out where that sense of belonging comes from so that for the students who aren't involved we can help them get to that same spot that the other students have indicated. So, at this point, I'm going to turn it over to the activities and athletics team um so that they can talk about now that they've gone through that data, what are they doing with it, what are they currently working on, and what are they looking uh to do for next year. So, before we start our formal presentation, we thought it would be nice to introduce ourselves. So, I'm Jennifer Martinez and I'm the director of student activities at South High.
Our district is changing. Our community is starting to see that our district are starting to see our district in a different light. You can feel it at the grocery store, when you're walking the dog, or at a sporting event. We are starting to build back trust. People are listening. We're changing minds and delivering results thanks to your partnership. Dr. Kelgatti Jen, do you remember the exuberance when we knew that he was the one? We were holding hands and jumping up and down like we were on the prayer. You've assembled an outstanding team that has performed at an exceptional level. They are respected and supported by this board and I look forward to experience the next chapter in our story. To the current board, we experienced success because our focus was on the growth of students and their well-being and we empowered the superintendent to manage the district.
Um but there is a piece of it that I enjoy. Um and it because every time I do an evaluation I learn something new from our teachers. you it it's hard to be in the classroom every single for every single lesson, but when a the teachers excited about something that goes really well. Last week, uh, one of the special ed teachers was telling me about a lesson that she put together that each kid got to pick their own recipe. Could be anything they wanted, but then they had to scale it up in math so that they could feed the whole classroom. And the kids loved it. Um, another one they were telling me today she was working with uh in one of the world language classes she was working on a short story and the kids weren't engaged and the kids decided to turn it into a play and they each played a role and they loved it and they were engaged and they did beautifully.
And so we're in that process of trying to figure that out now. Yeah. Well, we're working with the adults first because until they really know and and help them understand the power of it and break down that fear of it that it's just a cheating tool. Well, it could be. Um, I mean, I run into this with teaching foreign language. Yeah. You know, because they're using translator tools. Sure. Up the yin-yang. And there are good times to use a translator tool, right? But if you're doing all your homework assignments by trying guess what the answer is in English and then running it through a translator tool, you're you're not learning the language because you're not picking up. They don't understand. But that's part of it now. It's teaching them to respond. But you cannot come down and say can't use the translator tool ever. number one because they they do use it.
Thanks for having us here tonight. Uh Dave Rose, the associate principal for athletics at Downers Grove North. Good evening everyone. I am Mark Mandola, director of student activities at North and uh Brandon Murphy, associate principal for athletics at Downs Grove South. Um as we get going through our slide presentation, we're kind of going to bounce back and forth. So, you're going to see a lot of us kind of randomly going up to the mic, but uh uh first right off the bat as Ryan tries to sneak out of the room if we really want to be show some it's like magic. That's exactly what he did where us this whole time. So, you're going to hear a lot of this as about about the process of what we did. This is the first time we've ever taken this big of a dive into the data specifically on that second portion um where we we got to find the answer of why students maybe weren't involved.
Our partnership has changed culture, improved student learning and organizational effectiveness. Our growth around student voice has been personally rewarding for me as this is as this is the district work that I led before taking the seat on the board. To see student voice take on taken to the next level has brought me much joy and satisfaction. Hope and Cali, you have made us a better board with your maturity, your brilliant observations, insights, and work on the SSAC. Continue using your voice to call the board to action. to the to the new board. Stay the course. The last few few years have been rediscovering who we are and charting a new path toward our north star. A learning community that serves as a beacon of rightful presence, wellness, and academic success for every student, staff, and family we touch. And to my family and friends, thank you for your unwavering support.
So it as hard as it is as hard as it is as and challenging as it can be I think um that's that's the good part of it. And lastly, um, just wanted to talk a little bit about trying to make sure that we we target our professional development for our middle school educators. We as a team feel the most important thing is to get the input from our staff in order for that PD to be successful. If we just sort of tell them what we think, it's not going to work. We also recognize that we have a lot of experts in our building and we tap into them as much as we possibly can. This year we had the math teachers teaching um the staff that needed it on pair assessment, also known as Edgelastic. We use it for all of our common assessments.
So you've got to say, "So here's where it go steers you wrong. Here's when it's really useful, right?" Yeah. Just having They bring it up all the time of being uh anasticized on the anesthetized on the surgery table and hearing the doctor go, "Hey Google, how do I remove an appendix? This is checking out." Something terrible. Something like that. Like this is not a time for AI. Check it out. Anyway, all right. So, all that being said, we've taken several looks at this uh policy and had it on pause while we did surveys and um I'll certainly entertain question New Yorker cartoon. Exactly. So, uh and I think we discussed this at the last meeting. I think you and your staff because that's how we ended up with the slides. At least how I ended up with the slides. you guys are looking at an AI specific policy for next year or a cadence or we're working on that.
Not just the first data, which we do I think every two years. This last one was the first time we've uh we started this process. So really grateful for the uh for Ryan uh for leading us in this journey. And uh you'll see as we go through the slide, there's a lot more involved than just us us four up here as well. So involvement is really important to district 99. So whether we're talking about activities or athletics, our goal is always that students are involved in two or more activities so that they're prepared for college and career readiness, but also we want them to have that sense of belonging that Ryan was talking about earlier. And so that involvement piece is just important to get kids connected and we know that when they're involved they're also going to do better academically. So we're always looking at how can we improve those things.
To my parents who always told me with an education I could be anything. When contemplating the decision to run for school board, it meant relinquishing my role with the district. My son's my son Miles's advice was to jump, mommy. and my husband provided the wind beneath my wings so I could soar. I am confident that I have left this district better than I found it. [Applause] Hey, we're moving on to agenda item 4.1. How about the business? All right. If we could ask our new board members if they could take a place in the center and bring your cheats with you. Do you have them? Do you have your [Applause] testing. Testing. All right. Ready? Okay. I Mhm. Do come on let's read it together. Do solemnly swear that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of the member of the board of the education with the constitution of the United States, the constitution of the state of Illinois and the laws of the state of Illinois to the best of my ability.
So everybody's at least familiar with it, but it's a platform that can do so many different things that people had didn't weren't aware of. So we took some time and we had them work on that. That was a very successful one. Another the special ed teachers um part two of our special ed teachers that had gone above and beyond and really done a lot of the PD training took that training and taught the rest of our staff and really helped them learn about the new IEP. That's been quite a process. our another one that we worked with the teachers, the AIPD, we had a social studies teacher, a special ed teacher, and our tech teacher, tech coach helping people to learn about the new platforms and the responsibilities and and trying new things. Um, and we find that we get a lot more out of it when you it's peer-to-peer and they can uh learn from each other.
Um like I said, you know, we've done a lot we've done more focus on PD for staff, but we have um a strategic planning group of teachers and um Marlene facilitates that AI piece of it. We're focused on um you know, what does this ultimately look like for our classrooms and for our kids. So yeah, we are working on that. Great. So we're going to send this for a third and final reading and vote on it. Yep. But the idea is going to be with all things tech technology, we're going to be re It'll probably evolve. Yeah. It'll probably evolve. Yeah. But the general theme is personal responsibility for the most part at the sec at the high school level. Yes. Yeah. And and outside of the classroom really? Yeah. you know, in the classroom, put it away. Outside of the classroom, you know, we're trying to teach kids to use, you know, socially acceptable like, can you still do the hoodie earbud thing out in the hallway?
Uh and it was really exciting for us to get a hold of this data. Um in previous years a lot of it was anecdotal. Some of it was assumptions that we were making about students and their involvement. Some of it might have just been from very, you know, casual conversations that we've had with students, parents about the reasons they're involved, they're involved or perhaps not involved. Um, but this was the first time that we were able to really get some comprehensive data to really drive our decisions and to, you know, for us to have a lot of conversations about what we're doing and certainly the things that we could be doing better. Yep. So, what we're going to get into in the next couple of slides is, uh, what what the data actually, um, led us to and the action steps that we were able to take and we're in the process of taking, um, and, uh, kind of our our approach here as we continue through, um, data collection and and getting kids involved and having those conversations.