Minority hiring a school priority

One of the priorities the school board and I have this year is to further increase our efforts to hire more teachers from underrepresented minority backgrounds.

A task force of citizens and school leaders has met and identified up to a dozen strategies we will be pursuing. These include marketing regionally and nationally, including creation of a DVD or brochure highlighting teaching opportunities in Oberlin; participating in Minority Career Fairs in northeast Ohio (Akron, Kent, CSU, etc.); reaching out to education school faculty to reach their students; talking to placement services at local universities; reaching minority fraternities or sororities to network/speak about Oberlin schools; connecting with African-American studies programs/professors; engaging people who have done this work in other school districts; joining area minority recruiting organizations; recruiting at HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities); contacting a wider range of regional schools for candidates, such as schools in the Detroit area (Oakland, Mercy, U of M, etc.); working with Oberlin College's Graduate Teacher Education Program to identify candidates; meeting with college presidents such as Kofi Lomotey and Johnetta Cole to open pipelines to teacher education programs (I thank Oberlin College and president Krislov, who have been very kind in helping to open up some of these opportunities for me).

Regardless of whether we are successful in recruiting one or 100 new teaching candidates in these ways, it is also important for us to work with all our staff members to make sure everyone develops cultural sensitivity and maintains an awareness of the differences that students bring with them.

To that end, with the help of the Nord Family Foundation, we have engaged Dr. Hardin Coleman, dean of the Education School at Boston University, to come to the district to run workshops on cultural competence and how it contributes to student achievement.

He will be meeting with school staff for professional development sessions, but he will also be presenting at the Oct. 28 board meeting to share his insights into cultural Competence. It is a meeting that is well worth attending or recording for future viewing.

Speaking of board meetings, at the Oct. 14 work session, the board will hear about the strategies each school is putting in place to improve student achievement this year. There will also be a presentation from a community group that has been studying issues of dress code and uniforms (campus wear is the current euphemism). This group has met for public forums several times since last spring, and they will present their findings in research and feedback they have received from various constituents.

In other news from the schools, yesterday we kicked off the Community Giving Campaign. Along with Oberlin College and the City of Oberlin, our staff will be pledging to support up to four organizations that serve Oberlin and area residents in need. Oberlin Community Services, Oberlin Early Childhood Center, United Way of Lorain County, and Community Shares of Greater Cleveland are the agencies our staff will have the opportunity to support.

The college, the city and the schools are engaged in a friendly competition to see which organization will have the highest participation level. In these difficult and uncertain times, there is a great deal of need in our community.

This week marks the final home game for several of the fall sports teams. The schools' athletic program has enjoyed a resurgence as part of the Oberlin Schools Renaissance. Girls soccer has parent night on Wednesday, volleyball and boys soccer has their parent nights on Thursday, and Friday is parent night for marching band and football. For seniors, it is likely to be the last time they play before the home OHS crowd, so please come out and support the efforts of all our student athletes.