As the countdown until the beginning of the 2014-2015 Portage Township school year drops to just under a week, the Portage Chamber of Commerce welcomed new superintendent, Dr. Richard Weigel, at the Chamber luncheon today to speak about his ideas on how to make Portage schools greater than ever.
Weigel has degrees from multiple universities and has had jobs all over the career spectrum, from off-Broadway performer and producer to computer programmer. Executive Director, Terry Hufford introduced Weigel as a qualified leader with a deep passion for education.
“My first meeting with him was last night at the education convocation, so he’s certainly going to be involved with what’s going on in Portage, and that is a very good thing,” Hufford said.
According to Hufford, Weigel went through an intense process of screenings, which included a board of college professors assessing résumés, and even survey results from general public.
“Dr. Weigel was unanimously chosen by the Portage Township School Board of Education to lead the district into the 21st century,” Hufford said.
Weigel then addressed the crowd of Chamber members, including with his speech, a slideshow presentation filled with data, inspirational quotes and information about himself.
“I’ve been here five and a half weeks, so I don’t know everything there is to know about Portage Township Schools, but I can tell you this: The [administrators] sitting at these three tables in front do, because [what] I’m going to talk about today has more to do with them than it has to do with me,” Weigel said.
The presentation opened with numbers about the ISTEP+ scores in the school system that showed last year’s scores were higher than they have ever been.
“As a business, if you think about it, it’s like you’re increasing your profits on a continuing basis. What you’re doing is you’re moving the whole bell curve over. That’s what’s happening with Portage Township Schools,” Weigel said. “We’re moving the bell, and we’re making every student hit a higher level of achievement, and to do that, it takes all of us.”
Weigel paused in the middle of his presentation, asking the Chamber members to turn to the person next to them and high-five, explaining, “It’s not just about the schools; it’s about everyone.”
He then went on to discuss his goal of making Portage Township Schools known nationally for their success, but that reaching that level is not up to him alone.“To do that requires every single person in this room,” Weigel said.
According to Weigel, the adults of Portage need to take a role in the education of the district’s students. He explained that when he meets students, he asks them what their post-high school plans are, and if they do not know, he gives them a plan, using, “You’re going to the University of Michigan and you’re going to become a doctor” as an example of the potential he sees.
“When students are able to create a plan for themselves,” he said, “Then adults should embrace that, but until then, give children something to strive for.”
“It is our responsibility, as adults, to have those expectations for our kids,” Weigel said. “And it’s okay to have expectations to become a welder, to go into manufacturing, or to go to college.”
By setting children up for success early on, Weigel believes the community’s adults will benefit as the new generations grow older, since successful youths will make great employees for local businesses.
“It’s a two-way street, where we work together to get the best that we can for every child, whose lives we have the privilege to touch,” Weigel said.
He pushed investing not only money, but time and encouragement into each child.
Weigel went on to remind the Chamber to think ahead about what could be, instead of focusing on the way things are done now. He used jobs as an example, as many of the most booming careers on the market did not exist during the high school years of past generations.
The way to prepare kids, Weigel believes, is by growing off to their ability to think.
“If a student goes to school but learning didn’t take place, did teaching really matter?” Weigel asked. “See, it’s not about teaching; It’s about learning.”
Weigel hopes that everyone in the Portage community can come together to create a nationally-known school district of excellence.