Upper Coastal Plains Learning Council
Education Summit
April 16, 2009, Rocky Mount, NC
Summary Report
Sponsored by Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
Contents
Introduction...... 3
Objectives ...... 3
Summit Participants ...... 3
Opening Remarks and Priority Areas...... 4
Higher Education Response to Priority Areas...... 5
Featured Speakers ...... 5, 6
Presentations/ areas After-School Programs...... 6, 7
Conclusions...... 8
List of Participants...... 9, 10
Introduction
This report is designed to summarize the Upper Coastal Plains Learning Council Education Summit held on April 16, 2009. The report describes the activities, comments, and recorded ideas as well as focus areas, priorities, and results.
The Upper Coastal Plains Learning Council is comprised of Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson, Northampton, and Halifax counties. The summit included information presentations and group discussions designed to highlight school system priority issues and evaluate potential solutions. The session concluded with a set of potential ideas where higher education institutions could partner with school systems.
The major headings of this report correspond to the key activities and discussions that took place at the summit.
Objectives
The objective was to identify one or two ideas/programs that the K-12 school systems represented in the Upper Coastal Plains Learning council and regional higher education institutions can jointly pursue as grants or state funding opportunities.
Participants
Participants included guest speakers, school superintendents, and representatives from higher education institutions, foundations, local program providers, and UNC General Administration. A list of participants can be found at the end of this document
Opening Remarks and Priority Areas
Mr. Fred Turnage, former mayor of Rocky Mount, and Dr. Jim Leutze, Chancellor Emeritus, UNC-Wilmington opened the summit by discussing the history of the Upper Coastal Plains Learning Council (UCPLC), its charge and the work that led to this summit.
As part of the UNC Tomorrow initiative, President Erskine Bowles appointed Dr. Leutze to serve as acting director of the UCPLC to identify potential areas for collaboration between the university system, community college system and the local school systems. A preliminary discussion among superintendents identified several areas and this summit was designed to explore these areas further.
In the opening session, the K-12 school system superintendents and representatives were asked to identify priority areas where they felt higher education institutions could assist them in achieving their goals. Following are the top priority areas identified:
- Evaluating Progress/Success
- Enhancing Learning Environment
- Professional Development
- Drop Out/After School Programs
- Content Literacy Skills
- Maintain and Add to Infrastrucutre
- Lateral Entry
- A Common vision for Success
- Child Assessment – Health
- Parental Education and Engagement
- Gangs
- Increasing Quality and Number of Prepared Teachers
Higher Education Response to Priority Areas
After specific priority areas were identified, representatives from higher education institutions, including East Carolina University, Elizabeth City State University and North Carolina State University, were asked to respond and express ways they felt their institutions could be of assistance.
The Universities:
-Have the expertise to evaluate the effectiveness of the numerous after-school programs in the area
-Can help develop an IAE-LEA consortium to identify problems and develop strategies targeted and research / informed solutions
-Can consider reforming teacher education programs to emphasize the special needs of students in rural areas
-Can provide leadership training for administrators and staff
-Can involve other university departments such as social work and criminal justice in addressing school problems.
-Can specifically involve nursing schools in developing school-based health clinics
-Can consider ways in which to educate and involve parents
Featured Luncheon Speaker
Dr. Bill Harrison, North Carolina CEO and Chair, State Board of Education
Dr. Harrison welcomed the participation of the universities and addressed the specific challenges faced by the students in the area. Students, he said, need the skill sets either to leave high school and go on to college, or to go into the work place in the 21st Century.
He said that from working in a low-wealth county, he is well aware of the problems the UCPLC counties are facing. He emphasized the importance of involving the total communities in making the schools a place where kids want to be. The ideal school, he said, would let the kids know what they are there for, it would be meaningful and engaging, it would give kids an opportunity to be successful, it would give them the love of learning, andit would give them the ability to dream and then show them how to obtain success.
Featured Speaker
Dr. Doris Williams, Director of Capacity Building Program, Rural School and
Community Trust
Dr. Williams began her presentation by stating that the problems of schools are intertwined with those of the community. Using a Power Point slide presentation she talked about various school programs that she has been involved with throughout the country and how, by engaging students with innovative projects, communities were changed as well as students. She stressed that students need to be able to see the possibility and hope in the community framework and it may be time to have an alternative view of school and not focus so much on a standard course of study. She has been involved in a variety of successful programs, including the Halifax County Fatherhood program that includes people from age 14 – 44 and the Molly Starks Family School Center in Bennington Vermont that offers onsite pediatric, dental and pre-school care.
Presentations / Area’s After-School Programs
One of the most, and apparently effective programs was the Communities in Schools. The director of the Rocky Mount Communities in Schools, Linda Harrill, was willing and eager to help start other Communities in Schools efforts in other school districts, but she had not met with much success.
Following is a partial list of the current programs being operated:
Boys and Girls Club
Delta Sorority mentoring program
Thomas Shields Center
Rev. Richard Joyner
Rocky Mount OIC
Rocky Mount YWCA
Rocky Mount YMCA
CIS of the Northeast
CIS of the Rocky Mt. Region
Community Enrichment Organization
Families Supporting Families
OIC, Inc.
Together Transforming Lives – Dropout Prevention
SOS – St. Paul’s
SNPD – Strengthening Families
St. Luke Total Community Outreach Ministries, Inc.
HUG, Inc.
Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church
Ivory Community Development Corporation
Halifax County Tri-District Dropout Prevention Program
Community Based Program
Caught Before Fallen Dropout Prevention Initiative
Word Tabernacle Church
Building Hope Community Life Center
We next heard from Tammi Sutton, Executive Director of the KIPP School in Gaston, North Carolina. The KIPP (knowledge is power program) school is a free, charter school that has open enrollment. One of their higthest priorities is attracting and retaining excellent teachers. There is no tenure and teachers must prove their effectiveness or they are “out.” Ms. Sutton was highly enthusiastic and very proud of their achievement of preparing 100 percent of their students for college. She talked about how important it was to improve student self esteem and provide them with cultural enrichment opportunities. She also stressed parental involvement. Students attend the KIPP school from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 as well as take classes on Saturdays.
Conclusions
The conclusion portion of the program focused on possible grant funding ideas. The biggest possibility that emerged was the suggestion for a center to focus the universities’ and community colleges’ expertise on the special needs of our five-county rural area. This center, or Institute for Rural Education would bring together a number of academic disciplines to focus on issues such as teacher preparation, leadership development for teachers and administrators, entrepreneurship to engage students and communities resourcefulness. One participant thought it could organize outreach efforts modeled on the 4-H agricultural extension programs.
There was also a discussion about the need to evaluate the various after school efforts in the region. With all of the programs that are operating, students are still falling behind. There needs to be some assessment of some of the programs. There are experts in the schools of education who can help with this work.
Some of the participants were enthusiastic about establishing health centers in some of the schools and those would be modeled after the programs described by Dr. Doris Williams.
Participants
School District Representatives
Dennis Sawyer, SuperintendentRoanoke Rapids Schools
Vernn J. Bryant, Board of EducationRoanoke Rapids School
Ms. Robin Boddle-Haggins, Asst. SuperintendentNash-Rocky Mt. Schools
Kathy LawsonNash-Rocky Mt. Schools
Larry Price, SuperintendentWilson County Schools
Craig WitherspoonEdgecombe County Schools
David Jones, Asst. SuperintendentWeldon City Schools
Community College Representatives
Erica C. HolmesHalifax Community College
Charlie HarrellEdgecombe Community College
Kristi SnuggsEdgecombe Community College
UNC Higher Ed Representatives
Gerald Ponder, College of EducationNC State
Emmy ColemanNC State (Friday Institute)
Verna LalbeharieNC State (Friday Institute)
Dr. Andy OverstreetNC State (Friday Institute)
Vivian Covington, Dir. Teacher EducationECU – College of Education
Beth VeldeECU – College of Education
Kenny FlowersECU – Economic Development
Sharon SpencerNCCU
Anne White, School of EducationECSU
Foundations
Dan GerlachGolden Leaf Foundation
Leslie WinnerZ. Smith Reynolds
JB BuxtonGates Foundation
After School Projects/Programs
Ed Maxa NC State 4-H
Linda Harrill, Communities in Schools of NC
Melanie Meeks, Executive Director, Communities in Schools of the Rocky Mt. Region
Arlene Wouters, Director – Developing Communities,
Danya Perryn, Field Specialist – NE
Leighanne Bryant – CIS in Wilson County
Saudea Eshe, Workforce Investment Act – OIC
Reuben Blackwell, OIC
KIPP-Pride High School in City of Gaston
Tammi Sutton – school founder
Demian Dellinger, KIPP School
Jasmine Gee, Student
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UNC General Administration
James C. Sadler, UNC-GA
Cathy Hanby-Sikora, UNC-GA
Laura Buffaloe, member of UNC Board of Governors and resident of Halifax County
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Fred Belfield, Jr.Nash County Commissioner
Lou RichardsonNash County Commissioner
Oppie JordanE-NC Authority / The Rural Center
Upper Coastal Plains Learning Council
Fred Turnage
Sam Dickens
Danny Tyson
Charlie Harrell (also noted above)
James C. Sadler (also noted above)
Jim Leutze
Lynne Goodspeed
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Facilitator
Warren Miller, Fountainworks, Raleigh, NC
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