Welcome to the new Speak Up Blog!
As you probably know, the Speak Up National Project is all about engaging and empowering the voices of critical but often-unrepresented education stakeholders in the national conversations around education technology, math and science instruction, global competitiveness and 21st century learning. We continue to be inspired everyday by the innovative ideas and candid views shared with us by students from all grades Kindergarten through 12th, teachers, and parents from schools and districts all across the United States and on American military bases worldwide – and look forward to continuing to instigate new important discussions nationally on your behalf. Note to all: Speak Up 2007 opens up on October 1.
And so it is fitting (and long overdue) that we take this discussion to new level and help facilitate the next generation of conversations about how the Speak Up data can be best utilized by local schools, districts and communities to transform education and prepare today’s students to become tomorrow’s innovators, leaders and engaged citizens of the world. While we (like many of you) get excited about the latest Speak Up data findings (did you know that over 50% of middle school students who have online friends have not met them face-to-face) we also realize that the real power of the Speak Up movement is in the connection between voices and action – how all of these innovative ideas are channeled into programs, policies, strategies and plans, affecting real kids in real schools in real communities all across America. This blog is dedicated to capturing and sharing those stories so that we can all learn how to not only Speak Up but also Act Up! Let’s talk.
Located in northeastern Pennsylvania in Schuylkill and Columbia counties, the North Schuylkill School District has a population of 16,681 and serves 2,083 students through the employment of 8 administrators, 147 teachers, and 114 full-time and part-time support personnel (2000 federal census). The region encompasses 72.2 square miles of rolling hills and valleys and is an area of many contrasts. While it is best known for its anthracite resources and for its past mining history, it also is a land of vast wooded acres and some of the most beautiful agricultural areas found in northeastern Pennsylvania. Residents of the boroughs of Ashland, Frackville, Girardville, Gordon, and Ringtown, and a scattering of small surrounding villages, are served by the district’s two K - 6 elementary schools and its 7-12 junior/senior high school.
