The Owen-Withee School District has started a process to update their strategic plan. The first meeting was held on Monday, April 28, but was cut short when the tornado sirens went off. Administration, teaching staff, support staff, school board members and a couple of members from the public were in attendance.
The meeting began with an ice breaker where each member of administration told two things about the school that were true and one that was a lie. Those attending had to guess which was the lie.
The current mission and vision statements were handed out, along with some possible suggestions for wording for new mission and vision statements. It was felt that the current statements might be too long.
The current mission statement reads: Members of the School District of Owen-Withee will work with our students with care and understanding, leading and challenging them in knowledge and character, so that they will develop into responsible citizens with intellect and integrity.
The current vision statement reads: We create this vision by teaching to the strengths of our students, embracing technology, encouraging meaningful community engagement and creating a welcoming, safe environment, which allows parents, students and staff to work toward a common goal.
Those in attendance worked in groups of 2-4 to come up with ideas to update the mission and vision statements. District Administrator Randy Bergman collected the responses from each group and they will be combined into new statements to be discussed at the next meeting.
The group also talked about some of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and obstacles affecting the school district. For strengths, a couple of the items noted were the staff, special education department, family and community support, school pride (The Blackhawk Way), and good collaboration/teamwork. Weaknesses included staff cuts, no foreign language in-house, no curriculum person, and communication. Opportunities included a willingness to change, getting community members more involved/engaged, and intervention for students not in special education. Some of the obstacles noted were school funding, lack of time, childhood trauma, staffing, and declining population.
Discussion will continue at the next meeti