Discussing Weather Woes, Attendance Goals and Tech in Schools
Aug 22, 2023
Superintendent Mark Kopp
Ready to cheer on our victorious local high school football teams? We’re celebrating the stellar start to the season, but there’s more to tackle. From the late summer heatwave that's playing havoc with our outdoor school activities, to the ACP initiatives providing discounted internet and technology to eligible families, to the new attendance goals and policies, and exciting technology initiatives, we dive into it all with our esteemed guests, Stella Pollard, our Director of Technology, and Whitney Allison, our new Director of Pupil Personnel. Don't miss out on their expert insights and important updates.
We kick off the episode discussing the recent triumphs of the Franklin County High School and Western Hills High School football teams before turning our attention to weather-related concerns. With a heat advisory in effect, we're putting students' safety first and postponing all outdoor activities till later in the evening. We also delve into the district's goals for attendance and policies, particularly in light of the absence of a COVID-related excuse this year. Hear Stella elaborate on our district's technology initiatives, from the student-led technology program (STLP) to the 1:1 Chromebook initiative. Stay tuned for this lively conversation filled with school updates, expert perspectives, and amusing tidbits.
Ready to cheer on our victorious local high school football teams? We’re celebrating the stellar start to the season, but there’s more to tackle. From the late summer heatwave that's playing havoc with our outdoor school activities, to the ACP initiatives providing discounted internet and technology to eligible families, to the new attendance goals and policies, and exciting technology initiatives, we dive into it all with our esteemed guests, Stella Pollard, our Director of Technology, and Whitney Allison, our new Director of Pupil Personnel. Don't miss out on their expert insights and important updates.
We kick off the episode discussing the recent triumphs of the Franklin County High School and Western Hills High School football teams before turning our attention to weather-related concerns. With a heat advisory in effect, we're putting students' safety first and postponing all outdoor activities till later in the evening. We also delve into the district's goals for attendance and policies, particularly in light of the absence of a COVID-related excuse this year. Hear Stella elaborate on our district's technology initiatives, from the student-led technology program (STLP) to the 1:1 Chromebook initiative. Stay tuned for this lively conversation filled with school updates, expert perspectives, and amusing tidbits.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to FCS Unscripted. A new podcast for one team, fcs, where we look at the stories behind every one in Franklin County schools. Hello everyone and welcome to episode four of the podcast. This is a special episode this week. We have some information to share and we wanted to get this information out to you as soon as possible.
Speaker 1:
I'll be joined by a couple of guests in just a few moments, but I wanted to start the podcast by saying congratulations to both of our high school football teams for this past Friday night. A couple of big victories for both Western Hills High School as well as Franklin County High School, so congratulations. We had the opportunity to interview both coaches last week on the podcast. We had a great time. We had a little audio difficulties during that interview, but you can still listen to it. You just have to turn that section up a little bit. But it was really good, so I wanted to say congratulations to them. All of our other sports are off to a good start as well, and we'll be talking to several different coaches throughout the year. Obviously, we're going to be talking to teachers and staff members and many other folks in the district throughout the course of the year, so we're very excited to get to share the stories of everyone.
Speaker 1:
We wanted to discuss a few things this week. First of all is the heat. We are under some heat advisories and heat warnings, frankly, for the rest of the week. So we've made the decision as a school district to not allow any outdoor practices or activities after school until at least seven o'clock each night and we will be looking at those temperatures at seven o'clock to determine if practices can proceed at that time. It's just not worth the safety hazard of heat stroke and these are extreme temperatures we're talking about. So we're always going to let's be, let's choose safety over every other thing that we deal with. So just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of that and we will be monitoring that for the rest of the week and as of now, for the rest of the week, no activities outdoors until at least seven o'clock each night.
Speaker 1:
One other thing I wanted to discuss was something called the ACP and not the ACT now, but the ACP. Did you know that your household may automatically qualify for a $30 monthly discount on your home or mobile internet service through the Federal Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, affordable Connectivity Program? So ACP is the Affordable Connectivity Program $30 off a month of your internet and you may be eligible for that. You may also be eligible for a one-time discount of $100 for a laptop, desktop or tablet purchased through a participating provider if you pay more than $10 and less than $50 towards the purchase price Purchase price. So claim your benefits now.
Speaker 1:
To get connected, we've shared some information through our website and through email, but I wanted to make sure we shared it on the podcast. To apply for this, go to affordableconnectivitygov to complete an application and submit it online or print it out and mail a copy with documentation verifying eligibility. You can also call 1-877-384-2575 to request an application. So I wanted to share that information with you. That's exciting. Anytime we can save money for our community members, that's a wonderful thing. So, without further ado, let's introduce our two guests this week. One is going to be with us throughout the course of the year at different times Stella Pollard, our Director of Technology. Welcome, stella.
Speaker 2:
Nice to be here, thank you.
Speaker 1:
Stella. If you know Stella as a rock star, we're blessed to have her in our district, as is the next person I'm going to introduce, our new Director of Pupil Personnel, whitney Allison. Whitney, welcome, thank you. We have several things to talk about and we wanted to do a quick interview, a quick podcast, so we could share some information about attendance. We are now at day 10 of the school year, so, whitney, kind of talk to us about attendance.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely. We have set a goal district-wide to have 95% as our attendance each day and we monitor that from this year compared to last year. And one thing that's new that we want to make sure our parents know about is that we do not have a COVID excuse this school year. That's not something that the Department of Education afforded us, so each student has five parent notes for an excuse and each student has 10 medical or doctor's notes. So it's very important, as I know, when we come back together at the beginning of school in a large group, sometimes we share illnesses, even though it's unintentional. If you are concerned that your child is going to have to miss more than one or two days of school, we would encourage you to seek medical treatment with your physician so that you can use those medical notes before utilizing your parent notes.
Speaker 1:
And we have been discussing some possibilities about, you know, are there places that our folks can go to get tested? Obviously, they can attend their private physician. We'll be sharing more information if we're able to come up with any other ideas in that regard. Absolutely, and so some things that we're trying to work on, but nothing to announce at this time. We do know that COVID is ramping up, unfortunately across the country, from everything we're hearing, and across the state, and attendance is incredibly important. Kind of talk about why attendance is so important.
Speaker 3:
Well, our students gave us information this past school year when they took the say yes survey that was for our seventh through tenth graders and they indicated that their mental health was better when they were in attendance at school. They had less stress. I felt like they slept better at night and were more involved in their school programs. And so we know that when the kids are in school and interacting with one another that we develop those relationships and friendships that help us have a positive attitude to learn and grow. And if you miss a minute you miss a lot, and so attendance matters to us when we want our kids in the building.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely, you know it's obviously everything goes back to instruction. We talk about how important it is to, you know, to try to avoid missing instructional time, but what you've just brought up is so important and that's the mental health of our students. You know our kids need to be able to socialize with each other and that's that's such an important part of you know, of us preparing them to be citizens in the global community. So attendance is incredibly important.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely. And to reiterate your point about learning, you know, if you consider that a student misses five days with parent excuses and 10 days with a medical note, we're very close to missing an entire month of school because really, when we count calendar months, it's only 20 school days, and so we want them there and learning and growing in our classrooms.
Speaker 1:
Right, well, stella, thank you for being with us today. Stella is our director of technology and she's going to again kind of jump in here throughout the course of the year. Kind of talk to us just a little bit, if you can, about technology in the district and what are some of the things that you're looking forward to this year. What are your goals, so to speak?
Speaker 2:
We have a few goals across the district. One of the things that I think is beneficial for our families to know is that each of our almost each of our schools have an STLP program and that's the student technology led program, and all students have the opportunity to participate in that grades three through 12. If your child's school does not offer it, let us know we can work it out with another school that's close by. It gives the students a chance to create and it gives every kid an opportunity to be involved in an extracurricular activity and it's super fun. In the spring, we all go to Rupertina to the state conference and it's a really good time.
Speaker 2:
Another thing that we're super proud of here in Franklin County we are one to one with Chromebooks district wide and we have been since 2017. And we're just continuing to grow that program. There's some big plans coming along with graduating seniors down the road, but with all the Chromebooks that we've purchased recently, we got those through the federal government with federal money and very thankful for them being able to provide for us, but we are super excited that our kids have the opportunity to learn in a 21st century world.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, we've been blessed as a district. Thank you for your visionary leadership there in terms of expanding that one-to-world program beyond just middle and high school and pushing it down through every grade. And the fact that every student has access to a Chromebook is not a lot of districts can say that that's fantastic. So we'll be discussing a lot of other technology initiatives throughout the course of the year, but now it is time for Fun Facts, and both of you get to participate in Fun Facts and you've got to give me some quick responses to these. Don't dwell on them, but Fun Facts time. What is your favorite food, stella? First?
Speaker 3:
Banana pudding Ice cream.
Speaker 1:
My wife is. She's loving your answer. Right now she's ice cream fanatic, All right. What is your favorite movie of all time, Whitney Goonies? Oh, that's a good one. I love Goonies.
Speaker 2:
The Majestic.
Speaker 1:
The Majestic.
Speaker 2:
Yes, it's got Jim Carrey in it. Jim Carrey, that's right.
Speaker 1:
Okay, all right, very, very good. What about your favorite streaming show or TV show of all time?
Speaker 2:
George and Tammy.
Speaker 1:
I don't even know what that is.
Speaker 2:
George Jones Tammy, you want to get it? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we talked about it, yeah.
Speaker 1:
Right Okay, george and Tammy Right Okay.
Speaker 3:
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that is good.
Speaker 3:
I'm going to go Golden Girls.
Speaker 2:
Classic.
Speaker 1:
Golden Girls Classic. That's exactly right. Let's see what was our last Fun Fact question Almost forgot.
Speaker 2:
Did we get to ask Mr Cobb with Fun Fact? No, no Okay.
Speaker 1:
No Music group or John Redd Music. Slash Music Group. Slash Performer.
Speaker 3:
Oh gosh, I listen to everything I'm going to say country, okay.
Speaker 1:
Country.
Speaker 2:
My favorite singer is George Jones.
Speaker 1:
George Jones, I knew where we were going with that. Yes, well, guys, it's been fun. I appreciate having you on. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today. We will be getting this episode out as quickly as possible so we can make sure that all of our folks in the audience, all of our listeners, can take this information and use it. I sure appreciate you and thanks for your time today.
Speaker 3:
Absolutely Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:
Well, that wraps it up for this week's episode of FCS Unscripted. Thank you for listening in and I encourage you to subscribe and follow this weekly podcast where we will share updates, information and interviews with hashtag everyone the wonderful students and staff who make up one team, fcs. Have a great week everybody.