by Mitch Wainwright
During the course of my professional career, I have had the opportunity to work for some very influential leaders. Many of them have helped to shape the professional that I feel I am today. One of the common topics they all mentioned over the years was, “If you show me the target, we can hit it.” I also feel the same sense of pride in that if I know what the target is I will be able to hit it. Until now.
There are so many things that have changed during the course of this school year. In the fall of the year, we received information about our school district report card scores. We could not share them right away due to state requirements, but when the news came out, Mineral Point once again scored in the Significantly Exceeds Expectations category. Each building and educator knew what the target was, how to work to achieve the goal and hit the target. When the teachers work with their students, they know how to help the children hit the target.
The coronavirus pandemic has now made the target move so many times we cannot even see it. Initially, we were out of school until April 6th, then the Safer at Home order until May 26th, and now school grounds are closed until the end of the school year. According to state statute, that is June 30th. Mineral Point wanted to continue educating students to the best of our ability while other districts had indicated that they were not going to do anything. The state was leaving that decision up to the local districts. Most schools have moved to some form of alternative learning environment.
What I can assure all of you is that the staff is still working hard, and maybe even harder than ever, to continue to offer an education to every child. Even though the target keeps moving for them, the staff have done an incredible job during this time. It is an extremely difficult job trying to maintain connections to students when you do not have the chance to interact with them in-person day to day. With your help at home, which is deeply appreciated, we can all be proud of the efforts to hit the educational target.