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Community Corner

Speak Up And Be Heard

Local residents join in a conversation on education at Haddam Killingworth Middle School.

About 70 Haddam and Killingworth residents joined in a conversation on education at Haddam Killingworth Middle School on a sunny Saturday morning this past weekend to answer the question: What is the purpose of public education?

The Community Conversations About Education is a traveling discussion forum, intended to help residents understand the values, assumptions and wide range of views in a community.

Community Mediation, manager of Community Conversations, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization “dedicated to making democracy work fairly, inclusively and vibrantly for all” through their traveling discussion, providing an organized forum for a dialogue on education.

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Participants of all ages are encouraged to speak openly and respectfully in a moderated, civil environment without worry of personal attack.

The goal is not to produce consensus but to help understand the values, assumptions and wide range of views in the community.

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Community Mediation’s Conversation has resounded through 103 schools over the past 16 years and has included a variety of participants; homeschoolers, teachers, teenagers, and non-parents to name a few.

Haddam Killingworth’s Conversation began with an opening statement and instruction from Killingworth First Selectman, Catherine Iino, who initiated the Conversation by applying for and receiving a grant from the William Casper Graustein Memorial Fund, which provided the funding for the HK Conversation.

With the school budget referendum looming, this Conversation comes at just the right time.

“It seems the only time people talk about education is when they’re upset about the budget,” says Haddam resident Diane Stock.

Killingworth resident, Robin Duffield, joined the conversation to share her voice. “I want to be a part of the conversation and not receive information second hand.”

After the introduction, the participants were split into five groups and given the task of discussing what they believe is the purpose of education. With moderators and recorders present in each group, the answers and opinions were documented to be shared at the end of the session with all the participants and will serve as the basis for a report to be presented to school boards, administrators, and local government officials.

Although consensus was not the goal, some common themes appeared.

All the groups stressed one of the main goals of education should be to produce a lifelong learner, a student who is able to adapt to a variety of environments.

Carley Moonie, a senior at HK high school, said she looks to the future. “A quality education is something that prepares students to be successful and to be contributing members of society after they graduate.”

In addition, one group felt the non-college path is not as valued as it should be.

 “No one stays in their job for 40 years anymore,” said Chris Solimene speaking for his group, explaining that students should be learning to learn.

Another common theme was the role of family and parental involvement.

“Parents, teachers and students need to work together towards the common goal,” explained another group.

“A quality education is an interaction between the students and teachers,” says Cody Buffinton, a junior at the Region 17 high school.

All groups expressed consternation with standardized testing, how “teaching to the test” doesn’t allow the teachers flexibility, and that the restrictive goals of testing inhibit the value of the individual student.

A few noted that Haddam Killingworth middle school students do not seem to be as prepared for high school as they used to be in years past.

One group stated that no matter what kind of education a student receives, success in school doesn’t always translate to success in life.

All results and comments will be available on Facebook, HK Community Conversations.

There will be a follow up Conversation on Saturday, April 30, 9-11 a.m., at the Haddam Town Hall, Field Park Drive.

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