Bentonville superintendent welcomes teachers back

Kristy Bailey (left) and Becky Payne, both faculty members at Fulbright Junior High, peruse the Bentonville School District’s Teacher Fair Monday at Bentonville High School. The event, hosted by the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce, featured 75 vendors for faculty and staff members throughout the school district. The Bentonville traditional classes start back Aug. 18. For more photos, go to www.nwadg.com/photos.
Kristy Bailey (left) and Becky Payne, both faculty members at Fulbright Junior High, peruse the Bentonville School District’s Teacher Fair Monday at Bentonville High School. The event, hosted by the Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce, featured 75 vendors for faculty and staff members throughout the school district. The Bentonville traditional classes start back Aug. 18. For more photos, go to www.nwadg.com/photos.

BENTONVILLE -- Superintendent Michael Poore welcomed School District teachers back to work Monday, encouraging them to find ways to make education relevant to their students.

"Go ahead and take a risk if you think it's going to create greater student engagement," Poore said while on stage at the Arend Arts Center during the afternoon session of a back-to-school celebration.

Special guest

A.J. Juliani, described as an education innovation specialist, was the guest speaker at two sessions of the Bentonville School District’s Back to School celebration. Juliani spoke about his efforts to engage students and the role teachers play in the modern classroom.

Source: Staff report

Classes begin Aug. 18, but Monday marked the first official day of the new school year for teachers.

Poore's presentation covered a variety of district happenings. He spoke about accomplishments and programs installed recently. He peppered his speech with statistics about the growth the district is experiencing.

"We have 150 new employees this year," he said. "We have a total of more than 1,900 employees. We have almost 700 more students with us than we did at this time last year."

Enrollment in the district is expected to top 16,000 this school year.

Poore also cited U.S. News & World Report's ranking of the top high schools in the state. Haas Hall Academy, a charter school with campuses in Fayetteville and Bentonville, was ranked No. 1 among all high schools in Arkansas. Bentonville High ranked as the best public, non-charter high school in Arkansas, Poore said.

Still, he told the crowd, "We would take our top hundred students versus (Haas Hall's) top hundred, and we'd kick their butt."

He talked about a changing world in which technology is playing an increasingly important role. Schools must work hard to prepare students for that, Poore said.

"The business world wants people who can think critically, collaborate, and who are innovative," he said.

The presentation included a performance by the Bentonville High School dance team. Poore also invited a panel of three junior high school students -- Madison Burt, Jaden Tadda and Mason Blaty -- on stage to talk with him about projects they've worked on in school and ways they are giving back to the community.

Poore posed a question to the students he said he hadn't prepared them for: What's something that gets you excited about learning?

"One thing that gets me into learning is hands-on learning, using actual objects to do things rather than just pencil and paper," Mason said.

"That's basically what I was going to say," said Jaden, who said he aspires to produce and edit films.

Mason discussed a class project that led him to contact Microsoft officials about their Xbox video game system. He had lost use of one of his hands after a stroke when he was younger. He wrote a letter asking if Microsoft could develop a one-handed game controller. That led him to a conference call with the company to give input on the potential project.

Poore also showed a video about Loren Wade, a Walmart employee in Kansas who turned 103 years old this year.

"The passion that guy has, that's pretty neat," Poore said. "It's grit. I hope we all don't forget grit is important."

Poore then called on various staff members in the audience to share what they believe the district represents.

Molly Pickering, a central office employee, said she had two children who graduated from Bentonville High. The relationships they formed with their teachers and coaches in school helped shape who they are today, she said.

"You're not just teaching, you're building those relationships," Pickering said.

NW News on 08/11/2015

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