Kadoka Area,
What a great week! We had a great girls and boys SoDak 16 in the area as the state gave us two doubleheaders for the first time, which is a fantastic opportunity for our school groups to serve the public and help support their causes. However, the start of March means the end of the process for which this column started. Our comprehensive needs analysis is finished and is planned over a five-year strategy. Each school in the Kadoka Area School District: Kadoka Elementary, Interior, Midland, Long Valley, Kadoka Middle School, and Kadoka Secondary has a unique and individualized goal for which to strive over the following few school calendars.
As we approach these changes with our teachers, I am reminded of the many great American successes because of finding out what needs to improve Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart and master of organizational growth, gives us the inspiration to innovate and drive above the system. We know that the secret is that “we are all in this together,” and we stay focused on “innovating above the system.”
Changes have already come because of this process with the onlooking of the state education department. Most apparent is this column. The writings came to be because as we were assessing ourselves as a middle school and high school, we, as a team of teachers and myself, did not feel comfortable with the engagement strategies we were bringing forward to the state for evaluation. The idea of this column was born, a tool to talk about the educational issues of the area weekly.
We are fortunate to have such a willing and able partner in the Kadoka Press and share these columns on social media. As a team, we are lucky that we have an excellent infrastructure that supports our placement in these installments to inform the public. Without years of commitment from the school board and administrative team to develop the ‘T’ of our STEAM focus (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). These writings would not even be an option.
Specifically, my teams at Kadoka Area Secondary brought forward the improvement in the areas of formative assessment within lesson plan structures. Kadoka Middle School will focus on transitions between grade levels as an area of robust growth for the next half-decade.
Our latest staff in-service outlined our approach to these goals and how we would approach them. I was fortunate to open and lead this district-wide meeting and outline how to approach these problems and not burn out early. To do this, we as a staff will follow the wisdom of the aforementioned late Walton, master of organization growth. Instead of asking ourselves to tackle the entire problem all at once, we want to find and work forward in an increment of 1% growth each day. If we focus on that growth over a whole school year, small steps will almost double our production, but it is much less intimidating than staring at the goal as one big step.
We understand that growth of any kind is not constant; it is a winding path that leads to ups and downs. Thus, we expect a day or team that doesn’t improve or gets worse. The Wal-Mart model has prepared us that we do not see our best growth, but we hope to follow it with marked improvement. “Individuals don’t win; teams do.” Mr. Walton’s wisdom in growing our organization will be the path we hope to follow going forward.
Sincerely,
Mr. Lukens