Education Day - Class of 2023

Education Day Blog Post

Leadership Wilmington class members started Education Day by visiting assigned public schools. Schools visited were Ashley High, College Park Elementary, DC Virgo, GLOW, Porters Neck, SEATECH, and Williston Middle School. The main things that stood out to me as a visitor to College Park Elementary were how new the building is and how much the staff appreciates the improved space and the rest of the staff they work with. I was a bit surprised that the school is Title I with 90% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. This suggests that free lunch at all schools might be a policy to consider, even for those schools whose population falls below the Title I threshold. Hungry children cannot learn. Perhaps less surprising was hearing about the impact on young students whose in-school education was interrupted by COVID. Teachers explained to us that the children who missed out on going to kindergarten and part of first grade are now in second grade, but many struggle with the socialization skills like working and playing with other children that Kindergarten teaches. Another surprising situation was the need for more bus drivers. Currently, buses in the afternoon must make two runs, returning to the school to pick up students that wait in the classroom for up to 40 minutes at the end of the day. This is no-instructional classroom time for students and teachers, not a great use of anyone’s time. Dr. Charles Foust, Superintendent for New Hanover County Schools assured us that this is a short-term problem for which they are working on a solution. It was very interesting to hear the other LW class members describe their impressions of the schools they visited. Perhaps the most jarring thing I heard was that students at one school did not “feel safe” at the school. Feeling safe strikes me as another thing that seems critical to successful learning.

Before lunch, we heard the history of the concept of Emotional Intelligence from Neal Livingston of the Lead Pro Consulting Group. Unfortunately, we did not learn how EI is measured, just its importance, which is hard to argue.

After lunch, we heard from a series of speakers on education. Jane Morrow, Executive Director of Smart Start, talked about the work of her organization on getting preschool children “ready to learn” when they arrive at school. Dr. Charles Foust, Superintendent of New Hanover County Schools made sure he left time from his talk to answer any questions LW class members might have, which we appreciated. Our classmate Erin Easton got the class energized by firing questions about Cape Fear Community College at us and giving out prizes for correct answers. Dr. Lowell Davis, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at UNCW wrapped up this series of speakers on local education by talking about the goals and challenges at UNCW.

After a break, we were treated to a very interesting session on fundraising for our Work on Wilmington project. The speakers were Logan Thompson, Director of Philanthropy for CFCC, Bethany Leighton, Executive Director of Canines for Service, and Tanya Armour, Director of Philanthropy for Novant/New Hanover Regional Medical Center Foundation. They were very helpful in their candor on the art and science of fundraising.

Some of us ended the day at Cloud 9 atop the Embassy Suites hotel. If you haven’t seen the view from up there, I highly recommend checking it out.