 to stand. If you want to sit, we are probably, I'm going to give a little bit of an introduction and an overview. It takes about five to ten minutes and you can sit anywhere because I'll explain what we're going to do shortly and it will involve getting up and moving to other seats. So feel free to stand, sit, grab food, whatever works. And welcome. So I'm Megan Roy. I'm the superintendent of Washington Central. I've met many of you but not all of you. Really excited to have you all here and appreciate you coming out to what we hope is the first of several different and several different kinds of conversations with our community. A couple of logistics. Like I said, oh I think I'm not supposed to stand under there so I don't squeak. I am going to overview what we're going to do, give you a little background information right now. There are people and it sounds like we ran out of, we may be running out of name tags but folks have name tags and if you see red dots on name tags, those are the members of our strategic planning steering committee and we'll introduce them and or have them raise their hands in a second. But they can help during the process as we're having our conversation if you have questions or you're not sure where we are or what the direction is, look to them and they can help you. And we've got some childcare happening down the hall, which you probably know because other than very tiny, I don't see any kids so we should be good. And get food. This is very informal. It's meant to be a conversation so feel free to get up and move around. All right. So a couple things to kind of ground the conversation today. The first piece is our mission and I think people know what this is, but sometimes it's helpful to remember where we are now even as we're gathering information about where we might want to be. So Washington Central exists to nurture and inspire in all students the passion, creativity and power to contribute to their local and global communities. Some more grounding work that we would like to have everyone have in their minds as they talk is these are three pillars that kind of inform everything we do at Washington Central. Those of you that are educators and staff in our system, you see this, you know, whenever we gather together, you see a lot of your PD tied to these things. But all of our work falls under one of these three things. And that's academic achievement, safe and healthy schools and humanity and justice. So we want those things in mind as we do our work. And why are we here tonight? So tonight's conversation is part of our strategic planning process. These are some words that you don't have to read it. But the purpose of this, this has lots of phases, but the entire thing is a multi year process. But we are looking to have a visioning and strategic planning process that really emphasizes engagement and equity and lifting as many voices as we can, which is why you'll hear me say lots that this is not the only event and it's not the only type of event because this is wonderful. And it's not the only way that we can get voices from our communities. And so we'll talk about that a little bit. But the goal is to create unity within our system and really have a common understanding of what you all think our students should have as part of our educational system. Here are steering committee members. Do you want to raise your hands? Those of you that are here. Thank you. This is a great group. We've had some really great conversations and we will continue to have great conversations and we learn from each one of them and we'll learn from this event too. So really appreciative of those who are giving up time to do this. And this is just a little bit to ground you. This is our timeline and process, right? Well, we're here. But I'll go back. This first phase is really about a big funnel community engagement, kind of hearing from folks about really high level core values. What do we want for our students? This will move into a really iterative process of processing that, drilling it down, sending it back out for feedback, engaging with the community, getting to some strategic goals. So this is kind of the long term process. This is where we are now. And just as a teaser, and we're, we are still working on making sure we communicate this out really well. We'll get better at that as we go. We know that not everyone can come to an event. So we will have different versions of this. We will also, every question that you're about to react to is also going to exist in a survey form that we will bring to our communities. These are some school based events between now and the end of the year that we will bring it to. And there will be community based events that, that are community events that we'll drop into. We'll also have conversations about do we replicate this in a virtual format? Do we, do we have another event like this? So our steering committee will be debriefing after tonight. But this is some, some information. So as you were walking in and there's lots written on things, which is great, you were kind of reflecting on your core beliefs. So what are core beliefs? What's a vision? I mean, people know what those words mean, but this is really about something that will give us a compass or a North Star to help guide our decisions, guide our budget decisions, guide the work of what we're doing as we move forward. And it's really important to be able to ground everything we do in what our community believes we should be doing. So part of our process is then turning that vision into action. So we'll be synthesizing words into a vision and core beliefs. We will send those back out to the community in multiple formats. And then we will continue to iterate. We know that we have opportunities and we have challenges in head. These, if for many of you, knowing these are why you're here. Others are new to the process and you're here to engage in it. But our challenge moving forward is figure out how do we stay true to our core values and vision. Build on what's already happening in our schools that's going really well. Build on what we're already doing. But also respond to changing conditions. We don't have a choice about our changing conditions. We know we have enrollment declining. We know that our communities are facing the same economic realities that everyone else in the state is. And there are some things that have nothing to do with us about how education is funding, funding that we've had and we won't have anymore. Those are things that we're going to have to figure out how to react to. So when we respond to those conditions we want to be able to do that keeping our visions and values in mind. And it's important to know that we're starting this way because we don't have preconceived notions about where we'll end up. We know we've got some things we have to respond to. But we want to know what the community wants for our schools. So today we want your ideas. Okay. I'm going to pause briefly. Are there any burning questions that someone needs to ask because they don't understand and they won't be able to move forward. Yes. Positive things that are that we don't have real control over that might change. If you go back to slide. You have two slides. You have defining enrollment, economic realities and funding changes. Are there positive things that could go in that bottom bucket that we need to respond to? Probably. Do you have an example in your head? That's a genuine question. Yeah. Of course. These are the conditions that we've been talking a lot about recently because they impact us and they impact us soon. But absolutely the educational landscape in Vermont I would call a positive condition. I would love this. That's a great question also to weave into the conversation we're about to have. Okay. Here's what we're going to do. At some point tonight you will go to four different tables. Every table has the same set of questions and you'll do the same thing which means it doesn't matter where you start. And the tables that look less cluttered so not this one and not this one are the ones that have the set of questions on them. The questions will also be up here and people with red dots will walk around to make sure you know what we're doing. And although I think we fit nicely we can bring down another table if it feels too crowded. I think that we're okay right now. But you're going to go to four different tables. You're going to get to have a conversation about a specific question and take notes on that conversation. You'll have about seven minutes at each station. I will time us and I'll give you a one minute warning. Take notes that capture the themes and highlights of your conversation. If you happen to be at a table and nobody likes to take notes someone with a red dot will take notes. Couple things as we have these conversations. We call them working agreements most of the time when you sit at a meeting. We have a set of norms. We've tried to kind of modify this for this kind of event. To the extent that you can. Small tables hopefully makes for a manageable comfortable conversation but try to make space for all voices. Not everyone loves talking in this kind of setting. Try to stay focused on the question. There is a reason why these questions are the ones. It doesn't mean that you can't jot down other things that you want us to know. And actually I can put up a parking lot chart paper. So if you really want to make sure that we get to something later we'll make that happen. But try to stay focused on the question during the time that you're at the table. Be present to the extent that you can. And then just remember that we're this is a big setting. We're we're being recorded so people can hear a portion of our conversations later. So just know that as you have conversations you might have stories you want to share. Just be aware. We can't. This is not necessarily a confidential space so. Okay. So the first round. Says stay where you are unless you feel like your table is very full and you need to move. But the first round is the first question. It should be the top of your kind of extra big size paper. Yep. It says hopes and dreams. What are the hopes and dreams that our community has for our young people. And I'm going to set a timer and you can start your conversation. Yeah. Yeah. I think form. Formative connections. With educators. Absolutely. It's good. We elected you. Prepare for the next. With that. Add on to that. Like. To be ready for the next steps. Not just like next. Know your options. A valuable part of the community. And some of that might be to. Sort of have the opportunity for individual exploration. I'm out of the feeling next steps. These are opportunities for exploration. Individual. Figure out what that is. I want them to be valued. I love seeing how other people like it's like what their moves are with their babies. Like some working and positive models for the on place. Resolute. You had some. Respectful of one another. Especially. I think that's. Especially. It's easy to be respectful of people. I'm coming out. I think for me it's like a safe. Don't. So you said a safe support. Inclusive. Strength. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Yeah. He works for Microsoft. I just want to say one thing about him. Sustainability. I don't think we're going to be able to do a program. Because he was supported here when he went broke with his love. He had connections through... He might, if I'm out, just do a great job. He's going to be better if I get him to get out. You did? You got him? Yeah. Now he just goes to do things. I still go to school here. I know that if they did, the hopes and dreams I have of them are really strong and confident. Help them get that. It's not necessarily that they have to be great at it. Right. Comfortable in their skin. There's a piece of me that's comfortable in their skin so that they're willing to take reasonable risks and be stuck. I'm not sure how to phrase that. I think willing to take risks and end life. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever they might be. Right. I think anemic, social. Right. Yeah. So that would be to never get too conflict or... Two-minute warning here. Part of salient. The kind of bouncing back. Yeah. We do. Yes. I think nobody knows how to really spell it. Well, it looks like re-silence. There's also a piece of accountability. Yeah. I have to take it off. What's that? Can she say... So, I'm back. Yeah, okay. Thank you, Becca, for bringing us back. What about... There will also be some joy in our doors. Yeah. Would you like to be right for a bit so you don't use the time? No, it's okay. Can you add... Well, no, just add this to the joy. The fun. Yeah. I know you two can read it, right? Oh, yeah. I mean, I can read this back every moment, too. Helping our kids wade through this misinformation. Become informed citizens and voters. Become smart digital citizens and consumers. Also helping kids have a foundation in history. Help the kids to feel a sense of belonging and connection. All passions, expressions, and your sense of value and equality. Stop! Come to school open-minded, excited to learn and realize that you're part of a larger community so that you become like learners and learn to take risks. Perhaps they could have more opportunity to engage in real-world opportunities. Okay, we are about to move. In order to learn more human skills and identify what those skills are. So you're going to move to a new table. Thank you for that. This is always hard. Nobody wants to stop the conversation. Remember when you move to a new table, the goal is to sit with a different group of people. So try not to move as a group. Try to filter yourselves around. Get settled, and then I'll read the question. Yes. No, sorry. Everybody is going to the same second question. You totally could. Okay, so the next question. And you've already done a little bit of this with the exercises you came in. But what are the core values that should guide Washington Central as we make important decisions? It is a mouthful. Core values. Shadow. No inclusivity. I'd like to start with kindness always. Kindness. Yes. We got Zach. Thanks. We can do multiple choice. I'm thinking of something in terms of student centeredness. Okay. What about you? You don't want to leave your voice out either? I think integrity is important right now in the world. What does matter work? Integrity. Yes. Good one. Which one? Empathetic empathy. Oh, yes. That's huge. She's a queen. One side is Elena Abilar and one is Brené. She does not have it. I was looking and I was like is it not a value? Is it considered a quality? We've got inclusivity, kindness, culture, community, student centeredness, integrity and integrity. Core values. There's something about being able to freedom dream the future. Freedom to dream? Well, to dream into the future. Freedom to dream into the future? I think that's what I want to say. We have to start thinking about... Say more. Well, we can't be stuck in the standards that are met. They're kind of irrelevant to most of our kids. So what's next? Willingness to change? Is that related? Growth mindset right there? My big number word. Freedom dreaming and being really creative is thinking beyond all the boxes. So that families and friends are included in the education. Hi, oh yeah, let's get it. Better looking than ever, right? Jody. So the interconnectivity is that... You like that? You can make up whatever you want about what I said. Yes, you're right. I got distracted. I need a new tag. I think you need one. I'll make a messain at one point. Okay. Action, relationships, belonging. How may we elaborate on this? I think I would suggest along that kind of creative bouquet is embedding in that what stages of development. So as we think about potential shifting, or if that's on the table, where are these students passionate about the talent she's been tapping for? Or are they particularly a spot in that field? And again, ask ourselves the question. Why do we keep this group together? How does this work? Are we doing all of this for budgetary reasons? This is your two-minute morning. What are you saying that is the root of this potential shift? I think we need to interrogate. What else? I like to add sustainability. Not just of environmental, but of all aspects. We need to set it up in a way that works for everybody from the students to the taxpayers. That's one of the positives. When somebody asks or something positive that's on this list, we have an opportunity here to create something else. When I think of a question that we should always come back to is how does this decision have for students? When you're talking about sustainability and even if you look at it from a investment in terms of decision-making clarity or transparency it's really important. You're tired. Especially decision-making process. And to get a little bit nitty-gritty, making sure that it's in laypersons. Everything is in laypersons terms. So when you're thinking about every member of a community being truly able to make decisions, I think educators can understandably use it to master education. We've had lots of conversations about that this year already and actually the way these questions actually work really hard to break them down. I have a notebook of jargon. You can So we're going to move to a new table. Again, make your group up. There is a little prompt that says try to go two tables away from where you are now, but nobody's going to monitor that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I want to have a chat. I have a form of teacher. Okay. Okay, a question for this round. What are the answers to some of the other ones probably in the answers? This one is what skills or qualities are most important for our students? Skills and qualities. I have another one. That says credible, right, because I think first we have to start. Passion. Passion. It's not a right passion, but I've heard Yeah, yeah, yeah. Say the ability to work hard, the ability to actually put in work and how you... Perseverance, persistence industrialism. Just good old fashioned literacy. Literacy, you know, literature. Literacy. Literacy. I mean, right, how nitty gritty do we want to have specific... Skills and qualities. Right, skills and qualities. Civic engagement. Civic engagement. And locus of control. Like, no, and they can make a difference. Like that. Instead of a... Instead of something like a jargon. I don't know. I feel like... I'm just gonna write, because I think our curiosity... I would say graceful. We're kind of in a moment in history where we need to teach kids or re-teach them the concept of how to have grace in your life. We have someone to benefit and endow. I like that. Let's see, self-awareness. You've met every middle schooler. Does anyone hear, like, on the floor? And this is the table? I'm not on the floor. Okay. This is the table. This time, I bet there's time. Oh, man. If you want to encapsulate that in something, as we did in our communication or just in academics. Yeah, I mean... I'm part of the community too, so anyway. But it's like... it's... to find joy in learning, right? I really want to be a learner. I want to be independent of learning. It's curiosity and a level of... How do we... It's fun. The what-it... skill, it's the what-it. Which is more of a... it's really, um... different things and analytics. But... being able to read That's the skill. How do we, um... talk about facing the digital realm versus the real realm? Yeah, there's something enormous there that's already here, actually. Two more minutes for this question. Two more minutes. Fake intense. Yeah, relationship. And how kids are kind of swallowed. They don't hear the birds because they're too busy listening to them. You know, and how to keep them grounded. I mean, we're... we're always going to have the digital stuff, but how do we get the kids to understand? I think... the earth to walk on and with... There's something else. I don't know if you've got the language or how to deal with this, man. I mean, digital literacy, sexual citizenship, they're all these things. So you need to... bring to our kids. Give me... I'm deleting all my stories. Well... That doesn't make them go away. But how do you encourage kids to... not take the easy way at the end? I don't just take the easy way. You know? I'll teach them how to use it in a responsible way. I mean, there are pieces of it as an adult who struggles with spelling that I fully embraced. That are tools now that I didn't have before. And so I'll use those responsibly. And ethically. Oh, no. I mean, there's other more AI tools that are helpful for people who have different levels of learning. And that's true much of technology where kids with autism can really fly, right? So... This actually has us returning to your starting table. So you do actually get to sit with that original group again. Okay, so your last question is how will our young people know that Washington Central cares for and about them? Returrent, yes. And we can be flexible if people didn't. They'll be challenged. No. Right now, I'm Stephen Bell. I don't know the principle here. All right, It's hard to believe that they weren't at the beginning. They did assume a lot of somebody in the crowd and they couldn't collect that. I think it was, I think so. Well, I'm trying. Don't have your newsman at school. Yeah. But there's a lot that goes into that, I guess. Advocating. Give them opportunities. This is a challenge. You're welcome. You know, they see Steven like joyful. You know what I mean? I mean, they're just using an example, but like, oh, he likes, he wants to be here. You know. Place of joy. I'm going to use when Jamie, I'm going to subconscious them down. Do you know what I mean? When Jamie comes around and helps them, they either get back to class or it helps them out at the moment. Right? When adults help. Yeah. Conscious. Conscious. Conscious. Conscious. Conscious. Conscious. Conscious. Thinking about like, fill like, they can actually like achieve academically. They can push themselves and academically. It's all hard to solve with it. Everything comes back to, like, when you talk to support them and, right, when those kids see themselves achieve that because of what is something you need to help support you. Yeah, which I would say is, has to be the first five hours of it. It's with celebrations or celebrating learning. We might think that and believe it, but it's not shown through. The way that we enforce this. You can be quiet like those out-of-boys, right? They're very specific cranes. They talk about that when you're reading. It's just like, good job. You work really hard on it. And that comes from the adults in our system. It provides specific feedback. Specific feedback, yeah. I was going to say, we asked them how they're doing. I just heard them taking Shelley's class, right? We just had that conversation. Someone had asked me how I was doing. Nobody ever asked me. Maybe I was just coming back at the step of celebrating different ways of getting to outcomes. Celebrating different ways of problem-solving. I think also, let me know, it's been going too fast. I think being willing to do this trick is willing to change, really flexible. To be in chains of bodies, floors. And maybe it's following the math, before the system to admit something. Two more minutes. Two minutes. We're going to be really angry, we're really going to speak out against something. Opportunities they want. Oh, that's a good move. Despite needs. With respect. So, it's like, not just financial, but also neurodiversity, and other kinds of access issues. And so I want to do this. Pretty remote. But they just scroll down their windows at our beginning, and I'll take you home. He said maybe where my driveway was and everything. But he's the kind of kid that could sit next to you and not know your name. It just didn't matter to him. You were fine, you talked to him. And I didn't, it was never the stranger danger or anything. If they're on our road, they must be saved. They made it here. Yeah. I don't really reach out. Okay, you want to wrap up? Wrap up. This part of the discussion. I'm going to just add maybe that. So, I'm going to give just a couple of logistics. Then I'm going to pass it on to Floor for the closing activity. So again, the reason I'm showing this slide again is mostly to emphasize as you go back out in the community and remind people that this is not the only event, that we will have an opportunity to ask people those same questions, and we'll have an opportunity to ask people different questions as the process evolves. And for those of you that have kids in schools, these are school-based, events that we will have a table at and an opportunity to respond to this same set of questions. And again, we'll sort of have opportunities in the community for that as well. And I'll pass it on to Floor. Thank you, Megan. So, well, first, thank you, everybody. It's so exciting to see so many people here that showed up and are willing to have this conversation with us. We have two questions. We put some post-its on the table, and we are very excited to see how many people post-its on the table, and we are wondering two things. First, in the post-it, if you would want to write, what did you hear tonight that leaves you encouraged or inspired? And then on your way out, you're going to paste that on that piece of paper there. Or you can also give us some feedback on what can we do better. So either one. And then in the last one, who do you want to bring into this conversation if you were in mind turning the paper in the back of the questions and writing, if you have any suggestions to people that we should make sure to reach out directly to the next one, that would be wonderful. Any questions? Yeah. It's double-sided. You can write on the back of the number. Thank you. And if you run out of post-its, there are markers. You can write your thoughts, or you can consolidate your thoughts onto post-its. But the goal is just give us some feedback on your way out. And really, we appreciate you being here. Oh, and there's still a little food, so please on your way out, get some food. Yeah. Well, both. It's a difficult one. Yeah. I think those are important voices. What is happening? Do you think you're offering that? Do you think the voices of students being a graduate here would be helpful, and would not do a different... I would love to... Yeah. Huge. There are a lot of former students working in the living room. Yeah. So, do you know some phone folks? Yeah, we're thinking of them. I don't know if you can guess. Matt Levin? Yeah. And then Erica and Brynn Hare. What's the last one? Erica and Brynn, the R-Y-N-S-E-R-H-J-R-E. Do you have some people letting them know why you think this is important? Do you know why you're here? Do you think it's important to be valuable? If you're trying to have deeper conversations, you don't have to be 100%. I ran for student rep last summer and I would be on probably a good day and probably talk, knock on 20 doors and maybe have two to three good conversations, but they could be really good conversations. You know, you get a decent... You don't need to... You may be going after quality, not quantity. And if you have quality, then you're likely to get their relatives and their friends and neighbors. One of the things that I'm concerned about and I don't know... I don't know the specifics of who's in the room, they don't know who's in the room, but the people who show up to these things tend to be disproportionately higher income. Very good. It's good to have a child. Yep. Option. I don't know what it is, but it's just the size of your mother and your elementary school, so it's pretty easy to post them. I'm happy to have a conversation with them. I have a question and that's sticking out next to us. Yeah. Yeah, these conversations can be... Probably if you learn open to it, you need to be asked maybe twice. Everyone volunteer, you're retired. I'm a persuader. But how about the people who feel like they've already done this before? Personal invitation. People who have kids. They're so packed together. Yeah. Maybe five to five. So, how do we get them? Thank you. That's what I said. No. I'm on. Yeah. So, last steps, when you're done this and this below on that table, again, your sticky notes on the poster sheet and grab food on your way out. So, I'm very serious about wanting to have food and how it's not just the two of you, it's like the album of some sort. I think what needs to happen is what's going to happen in the future. You know, like, it's true. I came from a serious opinion that it wasn't open to anybody, but I think you're going to get. That's how you're going to get somebody comfortable in. And to honestly put it to my individual, it's very convenient. I supported four members. We're going to have a round of money party. And, We're going to do some at first. I practiced. You talked about... We talked about... I walk by your building. The transfer station. Do you have to go? No. I think they used to do things like that, and they're used to being able to chill out, like having questions, like a board where you can just like on and out. It's laptops, but not computers. Right, laptops. So just like the chalks on the board. It's... It is such a lie. No, I know, I know. It's like you're going back, come on, be clear? Yeah. I'm not just... I work with Lister. I like to eat my son ramen noodles. Like I was like taking a shower while we were at work. And they'll be back later. I'm moving it down. Yeah, I know. We're talking about the art sense of the school. I was just like, yes, I'm like... I've been putting in like a new security system. I worked with Lister. I worked with Duke. Right. Duke. Yeah, I was in the... Now I'm under repair. So I already have some stuff. I work with Lister. Because I do support. So I like to work with many things. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So I love Lister. Yeah. I used to work with Lister. Yeah. I used to work with Lister. Oh, wait. Oh, wait. Yeah. Yeah. I love Lister. Yeah. Lister, really. Well, yeah, I love Lister. Yeah. I know, I like it. I hope so. Yeah, I love Lister. Yeah. I've heard about you. Yeah. It's just your decision. Yeah. I'm just a fan. I'm not a fan of Lister. That's true. It's for Lister. Yeah. I'm just a fan. Oh, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. And thank you. One more time.