Area Back to School 2015

"In some ways I guess that I never quit going to school," said Carlson.

The Seattle native who took over as the chief of Havre Public Schools during a time of tumult seven years ago has since calmed things down. But with the district facing a series of challenges from a shrinking student population, to the difficulty of recruiting teachers and the integration of new technologies into the classroom, it's clear that the education of Andy Carlson is far from over.

The Havre Daily News had the chance to sit down with Carlson for a wide-ranging interview about his thoughts on the coming school year.

HDN: How are you feeling about the coming school year?

AC: I'm excited. I think we are positioned in a good spot. We've got, for all intents and purposes, a new school at Sunnyside. I feel we've been able to meet our needs staffingwise, so I am looking forward to getting started on the new school year.

HDN: What has the process been like, on the school construction for both you and the district?

AC: Well, the first thing I would want to say is our staff and our students have been very resilient. They have made the best of some difficult situations.

As far as for me, it has been a learning experience. It has been challenging at times but my focus is really on why did we do the project in the first place?

When this is all said and done, we are going to have a brand new facility, for all intents and purposes, for five million dollars. That's what we did. I am not making light of that number. Five million dollars is a lot of money when you look at our community and the surrounding area, but in the long term if you look at what that school is going to be for this community, for five million dollars we have, basically, a brand new elementary building that is going to be there for a long time.

I think you would be hard pressed to go anywhere else in the city and find a more practical project for that dollar amount.

People, I don't think, understand the extent of what we did there. I would really want people to come and walk through that building, because I really think people drive by and say "Oh they built a gym." Yeah we built a gym, that's a big piece of it, but our facilities, like our high school and middle school, we had over 500 activities, now that's including ours, but that is community events. That facility is going to be used from the moment we turn on the lights until probably 9:00 when we are shutting them off.

I think that is the biggest thing, that (building) is going to stand for a long time.

HDN: What about these new vaccine requirements that were passed and signed into law during this past legislative session? There is the varecella (chicken pox vaccine) all students must obtain or prove that they are immunized against by October 1st, and then there are new requirements that all students starting in the seventh grade be inoculated against whopping cough.

AC: For us I think, the greatest challenge, honestly, is trying to communicate to parents that this is something that you have to do. I know there are a lot of issues with some folks regarding whether or not to vaccinate, I am not going to weigh in on that. But from my standpoint what we want to do is make sure parents are communicated to and told, "This is what you have to do, these are the steps you take to make sure your student does not miss school time."

HDN: I talked with the Hill County Health Department, and they say this will mostly be students just having to update and get the paperwork from their doctors saying they have had the shot.

AC: Yeah, that would be wonderful if that is all it is. Again, the biggest part is just communicating to parents, "Hey, you got to take care of this."

HDN: In terms of policy and rule changes are there any for this year?

AC: The biggest one is the implementation there at the high school of the campus and how they are going to work through that for students that are not making academic progress. That will probably be the biggest change you will see districtwide.

If you walk through the process last year at the end of the year, the idea that was used was for the freshman class, those students who are not on pace to graduate after the first quarter, we're going to provide some opportunities for them to stay in, do some extra work and provide some support for it.

HDN: What is the district doing to prepare students for the transition to college as well as a post high school career?

AC: The big thing we are trying to emphasize to students is the completion of high school. Regardless of where your transition is, if your transition is into college, directly into the workforce, if your transition is into some kind of on-the-job training, into a community college, into a four-year college, the big piece is we want to encourage kids to stay in school. That really is our challenge. Not every student goes directly into that four-year institution and takes that traditional college path. That is not what our job is. Our job is to prepare kids for that next enterprise.

Some of them will go on to college and that is wonderful, and we need to make sure we meet their needs, but there are a lot of other paths. The big thing for us is to try those things to keep kids in school. Our folks have made a lot of effort, trying different things over the course of the last few years - just from making school a friendlier place. We do a lot of transition activities. We do a lot of visitations with our eighth-graders up to the high school, with our fifth-graders sent the middle school, building-to-building so they get used to those atmospheres.

I know in each building there are folks in place to try and identify and problem solve for at-risk students. But that's where our big focus is. It is not necessarily, "Hey we are going to get you on this path and get you into college," but we are going to get you on this path that gives you an option when you leave our doors.

HDN: Are there any new advanced placement courses this coming year?

AC: No, there's nothing added there. We've been working on building our dual-credit courses, and there is going to be additional opportunities for kids to take college credit and high school credit at the same time. So a pretty significant increase in our dual-credit courses that were approved last spring by our trustees, and we will work in cooperation with MSU-Northern.

HDN: Do you think we rely too much on standardized testing?

AC: What we have always said is this: We will never dismiss and we will never not take seriously the standardized assessments. They give us a glimpse of how we are doing.

But at the same time nothing replaces what occurs on a day-to-day basis in the classroom. The most important thing is what we teach. That's what we need to communicate to parents, that is what we need to communicate to students.

We've gone two years now without (getting) standardized test scores back from the state. I will tell you this: We haven't thrown our arms up and said, "Oh my goodness, we can't teach anymore because we don't have test results." So part of what I would say is we're going to keep doing our jobs. We're going to keep putting in place curriculums we believe in, we're going to put in place the tests we built and we are going to teach based on what we believe kids need to do and understand.

The most important thing is what that child knows and what that child understands when they leave our doors. So I guess the answer is: We have been working for two years without any test scores, and that is what it is. I think that speaks for itself.

HDN: In terms of teaching computer literacy and technology, what are some of the specific things you have done?

AC: I think first and foremost - and I always want to emphasize this - classrooms are about relationships. You are never going to replace a high-quality professional teacher. Technology is a supplement; it should make what that teacher does better. It should provide access.

But some specifics: We are at the middle school we are one on one for devices. At the high school, we've implemented Chrome books and we have iPads. A lot of our teachers are doing some pretty amazing stuff with Google Classroom.

If you go in and you watch, they built websites where students can actually go in and work from home. It's pretty amazing. We had some pretty neat presentations there at the end of the year last year in springtime; it was just a real small sample size of our instructors. I believe we had a math teacher and an English teacher from the high school demonstrating what they have been doing over the course of their year and to be honest with you, I was kind of blown away. I mean, I knew we were doing some pretty good stuff, but after watching their presentations and the way they were incorporating technology into their classrooms and utilizing it from an instruction standpoint, the English teacher was actually doing real-time editing on student's papers. The student writes and the teacher can actually give them feedback while still seated at their desk. Kids are writing the paper, they are getting feedback from their teacher and they are able to make corrections right there on the paper.

What it does is it actually increases the amount of writing that is actually occurring because there is that instant feedback, but it is also increasing the quality of the writing because students are going and making those corrections.

HDN: How important is teaching students new technology to be prepared for entering the workforce?

AC: I think it's extremely important, but at the same time you've got to strike a balance. There is meaningful work that doesn't necessarily involve the computer. I think we would be doing a disservice to our students if we didn't teach them how to use technology and how to use it properly, but at the same time if you go to Sunnyside and you watch that construction, I think it's a real good example of how technology has changed what we do and at the same time, there are a lot of things that require folks to get in and use their back. There is value in both.

I mean when they are pouring the big concrete floors, that guy running the concrete is using a joystick. It's amazing. He is running this giant piece of equipment and everything's new technology, but at the same time there are still guys that have to (manually) smooth the concrete. So again, I guess the answer is you have to expose kids to this technology and you have to teach them the right way to use it. That is their world, too. They operate in that world. In some ways it's harder for us because they have grown up with it, they're digital natives. For folks my age, we were kind of on the back end of it. We had one computer class in high school and it was an advanced course; it involved sorting the NFL teams by alphabetical order. That was a big deal at that time.

HDN: Do you think we are in danger of downplaying some of those basic low-tech skills?

AC: I think the danger becomes when you start to devalue those things. In my perspective this is something we have to address as a society. There is value in doing any type of job. If you work in some part of the labor industry, there is value in that and meaningful work to be had. Look at our construction folks, they are in need of employees and what we don't want to do is send the message to people that unless you are working and are the one doing the computer programming, your job isn't meaningful.

There are a lot of opportunities for you, but the big piece is you've got to get that high school diploma.

HDN: What is it that you think are the particular strengths of Havre's schools?

AC: I think we have a high quality staff that care about kids. We've implemented technology extremely well in this district. I think when you look across the state at the technology and access that our district has - that our students and staff use - I don't know if there are a lot of folks ahead of us. Certainly the credit goes to our folks using that. Our middle school is one-to-one on device ratio. At the high school, we have quite a few devices there. Our Internet speed by industry standards is about as good as you can have, so I am pretty pleased with those things.

For a school our size, we offer quite a few advanced placement courses. Our extra curricular activities have been outstanding. Our band and choir, they are recognized across the state. So, there are a lot of good things going in our school district.

HDN: What do you think will be the greatest challenge in the coming school year?

AC: I think the greatest challenge is the unpredictability piece, but I think it is the most enjoyable part, too. It is that unpredictability piece because it changes. I can kind of describe to you what a typical day is but, at the same time, if I was to tell you what my typical day is and you would follow me, it would look nothing like what I described. There are times when my day is pretty uneventful where I am doing paperwork, meetings and planning. Then there are days when I am, like, "Holy cow, how did it get to be 6 o'clock?"

HDN: What about attracting teachers to the area? I know there are some communities that have a lot of trouble with that-

AC: And we are one of them.

HDN: So how do you go about remedying that?

AC: Well one of the things that I think needs to happen is our university system - they have to get involved in this. The other thing I think that needs to happen is people need to understand that the education profession is a valuable, integral profession to a society.

Over the years, I think there has been some devaluation of the education profession. It should be that a teacher is as highly regarded as they maybe were 40 years ago. That's something that has to change. I have no qualms saying this, I don't think it's necessarily everything we do, but as a society we have to send a message about how important it is to go into the teaching profession, and that it is a noble endeavor.

You don't have to look very far to find an article or someone slamming the profession of teaching and education. It is my intuition that people are no longer going into the education profession because it is not as highly regarded as it once was. I think that is one of the things that has to change. I think we, as a society, have to recognize the value of education.

I think you will start to see people go into education because they are seen as a professional, because they are valued as a professional.

HDN: Would a person who graduated from high school 40 years ago recognize Havre schools today, and what are the big differences?

AC: Well I can tell you this: The hallways at Havre High were a lot more crowded. That is probably the biggest thing that they would mention.

Our business is still a relationship business, and I think that's what makes it so difficult. When you have all the different pieces that impact how we operate - and I speak from the standpoint of every politician coming down the line has a new solution or a new program. You have every different stakeholder group from grandparents to parents. Everything. I think we are so connected to our community. All of those outside things impact what is going on in the classroom. The one thing I think is constant and I think it's whether it was 40 years ago or it's today, if you have a high quality individual that is in charge of the classroom, that is what really matters.

Access to information, I guess, would be the number one thing. I think it is different - the access students have now. But at the same time, what matters is that access is what is in charge of instruction and how you use that information.

So I think that's probably the biggest change, the access and how to weed through all of it, but the constant in all of it is still that high quality professional, that teacher who makes a difference in kids' lives.