Westerville Central’s Medical Intervention students, with their instructor, Diana Arko, lead Chris Corder, a legislative aide for Representative Anne Gonzalez’s office, through a laparoscopic surgery simulation.
On February 5, Westerville City Schools demonstrated the exciting efforts being implemented in the district as a result of two Straight A grants, Innovation Generation and EDCITE, at the first Straight A Innovation Fund Conference held at the Statehouse. State Superintendent Dr. Richard Ross said at the opening remarks this is the largest state innovation fund in U.S. history.
Innovation Generation
Westerville City Schools has developed three career pathways as part of Innovation Generation including Advanced Manufacturing, Business/Logistics, and Health Careers.
Pupils from Medical Interventions, a health pathways course taught at Westerville Central High School, showcased the work students engage in as a part of the pathway. Diana Arko, the instructor for Medical Interventions, and five Westerville Central students – Angela Chen, Grant Hagglund, Kara Johnson, Luis Sandoval, and Meshora Suthanthira – hosted the Innovation Generation table and took visitors through a laparoscopic surgery simulation. Also on display was work Westerville’s 7th grade students have completed as part of their Engineering & Design course and part of the Advanced Manufacturing pathway.
Registration for courses in the Health and Business/Logistics pathways at all three Westerville high schools is now taking place. Want more information about how you can get involved in Innovation Generation in Westerville? Please visit www.innovationgenerationohio.com, ask your school counselor, or reference page 22 in the High School Course Description Guide.
EDCITE
EDCITE: Evaluating Digital Content for Instructional and Teaching Excellence project will help Ohio districts find products that improve student achievement while providing more personalized, customized learning opportunities. The Westerville City Schools district leads a consortium that includes the South-Western City, Licking Heights Local, Fairbanks Local and Buckeye Valley Local districts.
“With digital resources from the grant, Westerville teachers have the opportunity to take a more multidimensional approach to incorporating digital content into their lesson plans,” said Stephanie M. Donofe, Curriculum Coordinator for K-12 technology. “As we make more curriculum purchases, we can look at other options besides traditional textbooks. Teachers may choose to use digital curriculum completely, partially or as extra online support.”
She said Stage One is having the portal populated with reviews, but this is part of an ongoing grant. EDCITE is a five year grant for Ohio State and the current Westerville teachers involved are in year one. It will be expanding to other districts as well. “As we move forward, we will look at both teacher-created and vendor-created materials,” Donofe said.
Westerville City Schools, in collaboration with Ohio State, conducts online professional development for teachers in all five districts through a learning management system, Schoology. The hope is professional development will transform instruction by providing more materials and alternatives for teachers, which will give students access to the best form of instruction, Donofe said.
As a result, 74 teachers in the district are involved in yearlong Professional Development, and 1,280 Chromebooks and 40 carts have been purchased with grant funding for use in their classrooms. This has allowed Westerville Schools to move a year ahead of its scheduled plan to have one device for every two students. Originally, the 2:1 goal was to have been accomplished by year three of the district’s five-year Learning and Teaching Roadmap.