Editor, Commonwealth:
Could you imagine Milwaukee Tool, John-Richard, Viking and other local factories having a plethora of highly qualified and certified workers to pick from to work at their establishments? Could you envision Greenwood’s police and fire departments fully staffed with qualified and certified workers? Could you foresee the employees who I mentioned being newly high school graduates? Many would question the notion if this could ever happen.
In fact, the Mississippi Department of Education has spearheaded the launch of Districts of Innovation in 2016, with Corinth being the first in the region.
Since 2016, five other districts have been deemed Districts of Innovation, while six other school districts are waiting for approval. Six schools have been deemed as Schools of Innovation.
A District of Innovation designation gives school districts additional flexibility in several areas governed by the state Department of Education. The school districts are able to create programs to better engage students in learning through innovative structures that are limited by state statute.
Being named a District of Innovation would allow the district to generate a curriculum that centralizes on the needs of the student, regardless of whether they are on the path of college, workforce or armed forces. It could provide a needed resource for the city to use to help improve inadequate living spaces for citizens and a highly qualified employee pool for current and potential investors. It could help with retention of future local leaders in the business, political and medical fields, to name a few options.
The purpose of a District of Innovation or School of Innovation is to better prepare students for success in life and work using real-life hands-on experiences.
With the pending consolidation of the Greenwood and Leflore County school districts and the constant desire for charter schools in the area, the implementation of a District of Innovation would be a great thing for the area, sparking a much-needed partnership between the schools, colleges and the city. Students who are not intrigued with traditional education but like working with their hands could learn a trade if given the opportunity to learn on the job by fixing some of the many imperfections around the city.
The feeling of a student who would be graduating from high school while at the same time receiving a certification in carpentry after being an intricate part of building his mother’s new home, or a student who has the interest of becoming a dentist taking dental hygiene technology courses while shadowing a local dentist, would be next to none. MDE’s District of Innovation provides the opportunity to do so by using more blended and experiential learning in the classroom.
Such a collaboration is desperately needed for the area. The need for a charter school has been the hot topic for quite some time. Maybe we should look at what the state Department of Education is offering to ensure all students are given the opportunity at success beyond high school.
Kenderick Cox
Greenwood
