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Untimely Loss – Vicki Hoffman

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Vicki had the unique gift of viewing everything through a lens of positivity.  There was not a person, organization or object in which she did not see “potential”.  Together we labored countless hours locating, rescuing and reviving materials which could be repurposed for our students’ art lessons.  We scoured school district surplus sales from Tacoma to Everett, dividing up our loot to take to the schools who needed them most.  She was the one bold enough to believe our kids could try fusing glass in the classrooms – which led to our roadtrips to Portland where we could purchase glass wholesale and stretch our budgets.  Vicki made these excursions fun and our successes were triumphant.  We spent hours in tiny kiln rooms firing student art projects after hours and on weekends so that each child would be able to create a keepsake for years to come.  Many a student (and prospective adult art docent) started a conversation saying “I’m not good at art” – Vicki would just laugh and disagree – and say “we’re just playing” – and lure them into a world of creativity.  That was her special gift – she lured you in and made you see your own “potential”.  It is a lesson we can all learn, take a chance, see where it leads and have fun along the way.  I will miss her dearly.  – Cyn Baumert

Vicki was a ray of sunshine in my life..11 years ago we began our journey together in the world of Art Docent. She was my mentor and inspiration! I could always share ideas with Vick and know that my lesson plans would come out fabulous! She was instrumental in helping me get the program started when Grand Ridge Elementary opened 7 years ago. Vicki is a legend in our community and will always live on through her dedication in making our world a more colorful place to be!! Love her and miss her…-Debi Courage

There are not enough words to describe Vicki and her heart for children, whether it was being an ISF Voice mentor, or hosting a party that raised funds for ISF, or whether she was involved in distributing every sign that went up for either the bond and levy campaigns, or for ISF’s All in for Kids campaigns.  She was involved at Tiger Mountain, Echo Glen, Issaquah Food Bank, Issaquah Middle School, Issaquah High School, Issaquah Community Network, just to name a few.  Vicki lived in half a lifetime what would take the rest of us to live in five life times.  There was no stone unturned when it came to helping kids.  Our community will definitely feel the loss of this amazing giving soul.  We love you Vicki! -Jody Mull

Vicki made it her business to not only expose as many people, young and old, to art, but to share the joy of creating art and art pieces.  She was perpetually positive, didn’t give in to fits of badmouthing and was professionally gracious and fun loving. -Lacey Leigh
 
Vicki was a gem in our community.   Vicki was my first art docent trainer and she was so inspirational and enthusiastic.  She wore many hats – but all of them showed that she was caring and passionate about the kids in our community.   Vicki is a shining example of using your passion to make the world a better place.  -Kim Foster
 
Personally, I was inspired by her commitment to teaching our kids art – whether it was clay or glass, she was always reaching out to share her passion with kids.  Such a huge loss for Issaquah… -Susan Griffin
 
My connection to Vicki was through the Art Docent program, but she is someone I ran into year after year and she was always an inspiration. I can’t believe I spent ten minutes catching up with her at Barnes & Noble’s only two weeks ago, and now she is gone. I don’t know her family, but I can only imagine how many people she has touched over the years. What a loss to the community!-Teresa Cowan
 
I am so glad to have known her when I started working with the school district. A lovely warm person ready to help a newbie like me. Praying for her family at this time….RIP Vicky. -Sharon Fong

Facilitator Training FAQ

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What the heck is going on here?
As you probably all know, the district is revising its homework policy and has invited the PTSA’s to be involved in a conversation about the homework our children do (or don’t do, as the case may be). On the website under Homework there are links to the district’s timeline, its current policies on homework, and “guiding questions” it would like parents to consider as they weigh in on the process. The webpage also has a good (and GROWING) number of links to research on the value of homework, etc.  Check it out when you get a chance:
As the discussion has evolved, we have decided that we’d like to approach this issue by having each school will hold a “community conversation” meeting, on some evening before the end of March.
Why did I get the list of IEA reps?
The teachers are also a part of this process and are eager to join in on our conversation. As you can imagine, teachers’ opinions on homework vary as much as parents’ opinions do, so this is definitely not an “us against them” thing — we all want what’s best for our children and a conversation in which multiple opinions and viewpoints are aired and explained will benefit all of us. So please contact your rep(s) and involve them from the beginning of the meeting planning process — this is a team effort.
Why do we need facilitator training?
There is an art to managing a “group conversation” and we are tremendously fortunate that one of our own advocacy reps has training in this that she’s willing to share with us. At the program after the January Council meeting, presidents (and any advocacy reps who can come) will get the briefest introduction to facilitating skills (how to keep people from saying the same thing over and over, keep them from rambling, etc.), plus a discussion of how to wrap up the meeting so that everyone attending feels they had a tangible opportunity to weigh in. The full-blown workshop will be in the evening of Monday Jan. 14, exact time to be determined as soon as I book the room. If you can, please plan for whoever is facilitating your meeting to attend that evening.
Can we do a survey?
Sure, and if you do set one up, please share it with the rest of us in case other schools want to follow suit. Surveys are a great way to involve families that cannot otherwise attend your meeting, but it shouldn’t replace the meeting itself, as there is great value in having parents hear the differing viewpoints.
What are the next steps?
1. Presidents and advocacy reps, working together, should contact their IEA reps and invite them to weigh in on planning the meeting, including choosing a date and a facilitator. Keep in mind that the facilitator will not be allowed to be a part of the conversation/express an opinion. Let me know if you have trouble finding a facilitator.
2. Sara Niegowski has specifically asked us NOT to put this on the principals’ plates at all — they are up to their eyeballs in TPEP stuff and will not have the bandwidth to participate meaningfully in this.
3. If you are in a middle or high school, make sure your ASB knows about this, and let them figure out how they want to make the range of student voices heard (conducting their own survey, inviting students to attend the conversation, etc.)
4. As soon as you have a date set, let Sara Niegowski and me know. Sara wants to put the dates on the district website, and I will pass them to Lida Buckner to put on the Council website. That way, if one of your elementary school parents can’t attend, they can go to another elementary school’s evening, since the conversations are likely to be similar. I would love to have all your dates by the January 10 council meeting — let me know if you are having problems with this.
Thanks again, and don’t hesitate to let me know if you have follow-up questions.

Activist Training Jan12, 2013 – League of Education Voters

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Key Activists!

I hope each and every one of you is trying to come to our January 12th Training.  And, we encourage you to spread the word.  Attached is a flyer for the training that you can distribute at your meetings, or post in central places.
Bring a friend!  At $25 the cost can’t be beat!
We have one session that is just for you – from 8-9 we will do our invite only conversation with Frank about the legislative session.  It’s early, but its worth it.

We will have 3 workshops that cover:
  • Teachers and leaders from the Anacortes school district coming and talking about TPEP implementation (they are leading the state in this work)
  • Ross Hunter talking about the Ed Funding task force and what steps may or may not happen this legislative session
  • A session on parents and community influencing local bargaining
  • Linda Hanson will talk about McCleary and what it really means now
  • Childrens Alliance talking about why All Day K matters
  • Maggie and the LEV team talking about the Discipline issue
  • Robin Lake talking about successful implementation of Charters in Washington State
And we will have 4 – 10 minute “science fair” presentations – posters will be on the wall and you will walk to the presentation that interests you, we will have organizaitons like:
  •  DFER
  • Teachers United,
  • Cleveland Seattle Stem school
  • I Grad from Kent (a storefront program for recruiting and customizing programs for drop outs in Kent to graduate)
  • Federal Way Acceleration Policy
  • ELL certification in Kent
  • PBIS
  • Flipping the classroom (a teacher who is doing it)
And others who have not confirmed yet
Lastly, we will have a wine reception from 3-4 where we have asked people to have a resource table and a person manning the table.  The goal is to build relationships, meet new people.  We have asked quite a few groups, and expect quite a large number, so far we have confirmed:
  • PTA, Stand for Children, Parents Union
  • Roadmap Project
  • College Success Foundation
  • Black Education Strategy Roundtable
  • Our Schools Coalition
  • Excellent Schools Now Coalition
  • Plus, many of the science project participants will also participate in the wine reception!
To sign up:  Go to www.educationvoters.org and look for the button on the right of the screen!
I hope all of you can come!
—

Kelly Munn  |  State Field Director

Office: 206.728.6448

Mobile: 425.773.7878

Visit us at educationvoters.org

 

League of Education Voters

Working to improve public education in Washington State 

from cradle to career with ample, equitable, and stable funding

Questions for Parents

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Homework guiding questions

The Issaquah School District’s policy states:

Homework, as an extension of the classroom, must be planned and organized; must be purposeful to the students; and must be evaluated and returned to students in a timely manner.  Homework may be assigned for one or more of the following purposes: 

    • Practice – to help students to master specific skills which have been presented in class;
    • Preparation – to help students gain the maximum benefits from future lessons;
    • Extension – to provide students with opportunities to transfer specific skills or concepts to new situations; and
    • Creativity – to require students to integrate many skills and concepts in order to produce original responses.

The purposes of homework assignments, the basis for evaluating the work performed and the guidelines and/or rules should be made clear to the student at the time of the assignment.

With that foundation:

  • Do you believe this policy is in practice in our classrooms?
  • When is homework a valuable learning tool? When is it not?
  • Do you believe that currently the amount of homework your child receives is appropriate?
  • What weight should homework be given in a student’s overall grade?