ACSA exec observes successes, challenges at rural schools

ACSA Executive Director Wes Smith traveled to Visalia, in the Tulare Charter, to attend the Region 11 Mid-Year Networking Social in January and the Region 11 Meeting at the Tulare County Office of Education. 

While he was in town, Tulare County Superintendent of Schools Tim Hire took Smith on a tour of three schools, to give him an idea of the successes and challenges educators experience in Tulare County. Following the tour, Smith expressed his pleasure at being able to actually get into the classrooms and see what the students were doing. He said his time spent at the Tulare High School Ag Farm brought back memories of his childhood, spending time with his dad doing similar work. Tulare Joint Union High School District Superintendent Tony Rodriguez and Board Member Kathy Mederos accompanied Smith as he was given a tour of the Tulare High School Ag Farm by Principal Dan Dutto. He observed a classroom where Future Farmers of America students were teaching eighth graders about agriculture.  At the farm, students are provided opportunities for leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education, which is delivered through three major components:

• Classroom/laboratory instruction
• Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE)
• Student-led organizations, including FFA, the National Young Farmer Educational Association, and the National Postsecondary Agricultural Student Organization

Superintendent/Principal Keri Montoya was given the opportunity to discuss the challenges involved in running a single-school, rural district/school. She is the superintendent/principal of Liberty Elementary School, located between Tulare and Visalia.  She spoke with Hire and Smith about the school’s consistent student growth and the difficulties with accommodating that growth in terms of facilities. “With the way the process has been for applying for hardship and the length of time we are ‘in line’ for funding, it is difficult to develop a secure plan because of the delays at the state level,” she said.  She also talked to the pair about the superintendent/principal job title and the difficulties that are faced with having essentially two full-time jobs done by one person. Compounding all that is the water issue she faces, tying into Tulare City water. “It is difficult for a superintendent/principal to attend multiple-day trainings or to take time out of their week to network with other superintendents because they are also the site principal,” she said.  Smith suggested having retired superintendents come in and “sub” for the current superintendent/principal so they can attend professional development and continue to grow as professionals. Smith and Hire said they would continue that conversation and see what they could do to help. 

Visalia Unified School District Superintendent Tamara Ravalin joined Smith and Hire as they visited the Media Arts Academy at El Diamante High School.  Their visit began in Spencer Carr’s freshman Academy English class. Students were in the midst of a class discussion on the hero’s journey monomyth, a specific plot structure used in many films. Their final project for the unit will be to write their own script using that structure and possibly film their script in their Intro to Video class. This is the integrated, linked project for ninth grade. They next visited Ellie Hebert’s classroom, which is the main film production studio. They were given a tour of the lab and studio space, and saw seniors working on their final thesis project. They were able to see scripts and design booklets for the films that are being made, and interact with many students. They spoke with students who are the social media managers for the films.  Jeff Watamura, the media arts teacher who focuses on practical and special effects, also took them to the building where students have been constructing sets for their films.  They were incredibly impressed with the amount and quality of work students were producing and the high degree of student engagement.