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Six members of the Sweetwater Independent School District's board of trustees recently joined local trustees from across the state at the Texas Association of Schools' (TASB) Summer Leadership Institute. Trustees Russ Petty, Gail Lawrence, Bryan Studdard, Becky Jiminez, Wes Bishop and Jeanie McPherson were among more than 2,100 new and veteran school leaders who attended the event which was held June 12-14 in San Antonio. They received in-depth training on every facet of effective board governance, heard keynote addresses from renowed education experts, and gathered valuable ideas from district programs that work.
Topics that were addressed during the 2 1/2-day institute included high school reform, compensation trends, student religious expression, criminal background checks, crisis communication, and technology in schools. Breakout sessions also explained family involvement, employer-sponsored child care, trends in construction costs and contracts, board ethics, an innovative mathematics curriculum, school safety issues, pre-kindergarten initiatives, and environmental and facility-related regulations.
The general session on Thursday, June 12, featured Joan Brock, who shared her experiences as a teacher of the blind who then became blind herself. She was the subject of the television movie "More than Meets the Eye: The Joan Brock Story." In her session, Brock outlined what successful communication is and how it must be shared by all members of an effective team or organization.
Salome Thomas-El, the speaker for the general session on Friday, June 13, discussed his award-winning work with inner-city children in Philadelphia. His presentation underscored a deep commitment to expose students to options beyond the ones they know and stressed the importance of leadership, parenting, mentoring, and service to others.
Special training sessions were available for new board members. The sessions covered basics in budget and finance, school law, district policy, teamwork, governance, and district planning and accountability. Board presidents' academy sessions focused on basic responsibilities, meeting prep-aration, superintendent evaluations, key legal duties, and guidance for building team relationships. |
