This is Smith’s 12th year leading the multimedia presentation. He includes the district’s achievements and challenges while hammering home the importance of public education.
He does this through a series of slides and video testimonies from students, teachers and graduates.
He mentioned how 2023 is different so far from 2022.
“I think this year, there's continued evidence that we were coming out of the pandemic,” Smith said. “Last year, we thought it was kind of a normal year, but yet it still wasn't. This year really seems like the first year that we are returning to that sense of normalcy. And that is so important for the benefit of our students and our staff.”
He said this is manifest in the return to in-person extra activities for their students, after moving entire school populations to different buildings to allow social distancing.
In his 40-minute speech, he highlighted some challenges such as teacher pay, which is still among the lowest in the Midwest — even though 98-percent of the EVSC budget is for educator salaries.
“Indiana was 51st in the nation,” Smith said from the stage. “That's right — dead last when you include the District of Columbia for inflation-adjusted wages.”
He gave a lengthy pause. “Have we made the point?”
He said this means there are fewer teachers in the talent pipeline. To repair this, they’re focusing on recruiting student teachers and actually paying them for their experience.
He also highlighted the negative impact of the pandemic on EVSC students compared to 2018 numbers.
“Every single demographic saw substantial loss in educational outcomes,” he said. “Frankly, I believe that the achievement gap becomes the employability gap. And we have to eliminate this disparity.”
He said the district is making investments in early childhood education; focusing on reading and dedicated staff.
He also shared the good news about increased AP class attendance and the success of the Medical Professions Academy.
He opened by recognizing the EVSC New Tech Institute Thunderbots robotics team, which was present with robot “Betty.”
They won the FIRST robotics team state competition recently. “Congratulations to the robotics team,” Smith said. “They just came back from Houston, Texas, where they competed in the World Championship.”
He also recognized two National Merit Finalists, who stood out in a field of 1.5 million other high schools students.
Smith also touched on the supreme importance of motivation in learning, and science based education strategies through GAIN — growth in academics through innovation and neuro education.
“And it really is the framework through which we align everything we do with how the brain functions,” he said.
Accordion to the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, “executive function” refers to a set of skills that help students to “plan ahead and meet goals, display self-control, follow multiple-step directions even when interrupted, and stay focused despite distractions.”
Smith said they’ll be rolling out executive function assessments next year for kindergarten students.
Smith said next year, they’ll focus on what they always do — improving and implementing goals. “Anybody can have plans, anybody can dream,” he said. “It's how you implement those things successfully. And as I said, toward the end of the presentation, we are not satisfied with the status quo. We always always look to improve. So I think just celebrating that is a huge improvement and something to celebrate in itself.”
