{"id":34432,"date":"2013-02-01T07:26:27","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T12:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=34432"},"modified":"2013-02-02T10:13:09","modified_gmt":"2013-02-02T15:13:09","slug":"oft-head-impressed-with-innovative-vwcs-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2013\/02\/01\/oft-head-impressed-with-innovative-vwcs-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"OFT head impressed with VWCS programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/em><\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper (right) listens as Van Wert Elementary School Principal Kevin Gehres talks about the new school. (Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Van Wert City Schools have become an educational innovator, something that Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper discovered when she visited the district to see how its cutting-edge educational programs were doing.<\/p>\n

What she saw in several buildings, from the high school\u2019s project-based learning programs, to the new Early Childhood Center in the former Jefferson Elementary building to the LifeLinks Community School in the S.F. Goedde Building, impressed the veteran educator.<\/p>\n

The New Tech High School program begun this year in VWHS\u2019s freshman class was something Cropper said she wanted to see in operation. \u201cIt\u2019s not something we see everywhere, so I was very interested in seeing how that model works, how the teachers are reacting to it, how the students are reacting to it,\u201d the OFT president noted.<\/p>\n

While local educators admitted the program has had some \u201cgrowing pains\u201d in its first year of operation, Cropper said that is to be expected. \u201cIt\u2019s a very different type of learning; it\u2019s a very different type of teaching,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

The OFT head also said she feels the New Tech concept will ultimately be a good choice for district students. \u201cIt\u2019s a very, very interesting concept that I think is going to reap benefits beyond what people even expect,\u201d Cropper added. \u201cI think, in a few years, Van Wert is going to be bragging to people: \u2018This is what our children are doing here that they\u2019re not doing somewhere else.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The teachers\u2019 union president said she talked to a group of VWHS freshmen about the New Tech program, and, while some students still had concerns about the new way of learning, they also admitted their retention of the subject matter being taught was greater than under the old educational model.<\/p>\n

Cropper called Van Wert\u2019s decision to incorporate the innovated teaching model for all high school students \u201ca bold stroke\u201d, noting that such a change, while difficult for some, can reap significant benefits down the road.<\/p>\n

She also commended local educators for the way they have dealt with a radically different way of teaching. \u201cThese teachers have taken on a huge responsibility and a huge shift from what they\u2019ve done in the past and they should be commended for their positive attitude,\u201d Cropper said, adding that she was very impressed with the commitment the teachers have to the New Tech program — even holding planning meetings on Sundays.<\/p>\n

Chuck Rollins, a high school science teacher and past president of the Van Wert Federation of Teachers, said project-based education has been a learning experience for teachers, as well as students, and has forced teachers to re-evaluate some of their assumptions from before the program started.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took for granted that students would have some of the skills needed for the New Tech projects, but we found we had to build in some of the \u2018scaffolding\u2019 (abilities, such as presentation skills, not needed for traditional education),\u201d he said, adding that local teachers had to learn to teach skills they had never taught before.<\/p>\n

Cropper said she liked the fact that New Tech puts responsibility on students, as well as teachers. \u201cIt puts responsibility on students to take control of their own learning, but also puts a lot of responsibility on teachers to meet the needs of the students,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n

She also stressed, though, that no one teaching model was perfect for all of Ohio\u2019s students, adding that she hopes state legislators provide enough flexibility down the road for innovative teaching models to be successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always advocate for our districts and communities to decide what is the best way to educate our kids,\u201d the OFT president said.<\/p>\n

Cropper was also impressed with the new Van Wert Early Childhood Center that opened for the first time last week. \u201cI particularly liked the targeted time concept: grouping students based on what they need to learn,\u201d she said, noting that she feels the concept could be valuable in helping students meet the new state third grade reading guarantee requirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the way Van Wert is taking care of that,\u201d Cropper said. \u201cThat was exciting to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also said she was impressed with the LifeLinks Community School and the fact that VWCS has incorporated the alternative school concept within the district, instead of having a stand-alone school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to see LifeLinks under the sponsorship of the district to provide an alternative for students struggling in a traditional classroom setting,\u201d Cropper noted.<\/p>\n

After her first visit Thursday in the Van Wert district, the OFT president said she looking forward to future visits to see how the district\u2019s innovative programs are progressing.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t wait to come back,\u201d Cropper said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Van Wert City Schools have become an educational innovator, something that Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper discovered when she visited the district to see how its cutting-edge educational programs were doing. What she saw in several buildings, from the high school\u2019s project-based learning programs, to the new Early Childhood Center […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-29 04:56:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}