On behalf of the Whitefish School District, I offer my deepest gratitude for our city council’s decision on Jan. 2. During that meeting, our council agreed to unanimously support a resolution of intention to fund our high school redevelopment project in the amount of a $2.5 million contribution from tax increment finance funds. Based on a great deal of feedback from our diverse community, we strongly believe that the city’s contribution will make a critical impact in our district’s ability to pass the upcoming bond election. In combination with other funding sources, including a major state grant and a commitment of over $1 million of the district’s TIF funds, we are able to lower the requested bond amount to $14 million, offering voters the chance to invest in a $19 million project at a significant reduction.
While there has been an immense amount of good discourse and debate about potential alternative funding sources and the two-year effort to gather community input, there is also much happening in our schools that does not make the front page. This year, for instance, our school district has begun an earnest exploration of the teaching and learning strategies that guarantee our students will be prepared for their future. Our school board trustees, school leaders and many of our teachers have agreed that we will have served our students well only if they graduate as thoughtful citizens, prepared with the skills necessary to succeed in their future careers and in college. At an early age we want to begin building competent, confident thinkers who are dedicated to their community. It benefits our entire community when we teach our Whitefish students to be skilled communicators who can work well with others to solve challenging problems. Those same students are our future community leaders who will ultimately devise solutions to the challenges facing our community.
Recently, for example, I observed a biology class as teachers and students were together practicing teaching and learning that develops 21st-century thinkers. During the lesson, teachers observed as students debated whether medical researchers have the right to distribute a patient’s cell samples to medical labs without that patient’s knowledge – even if it might mean future cures of deadly diseases. I listened eagerly as our high school students examined and debated a number of issues about patient privacy and consent, the ethics of medical care, and the characteristics of certain cells which can grow indefinitely, be frozen for decades, and shared among scientists.
As I listened to the interesting arguments and sophisticated thinking of our students, I couldn’t help but feel the irony as new collided with old. Teachers were learning from each other in their common practice of innovative instructional practices. Science students were learning the skills of research and sound argument while also learning the discipline of biology. As I listened, I felt great hope for our students and teachers.
But I also felt the discomfort a mechanic might feel if asked to install a brand new engine into a rusted-out chassis. Innovative teaching and professional development were taking place in an underequipped science lab built decades ago, in a tired building with great need of renovation, and in a learning space I cannot even call adequate. Since the high school building was built 50-plus years ago, the delivery of education has changed radically – and continues to change. To achieve our mission, we need a facility that delivers both the technology and the flexible spaces necessary to accommodate rigorous problem solving, cooperative learning, strong research, effective communication, and efficient professional development.
It is true our high school teachers and students are making the best of their learning conditions. I am proud of the progress we are making in teaching and learning. Nevertheless, each time I sit in a classroom at the high school when students are wearing their winter jackets or custodians are moving the buckets under leaky roofs, my hope is that someday soon our high school will be worthy of the promise and talent of our Whitefish students. Given the city council’s unanimous support to contribute funds to the project, I now believe that our “someday” will soon be realized – as our community continues to wisely invest in our students and their high school.
Kate Orozco is the superintendent of Whitefish Public Schools.