Plano ISD Employees Kick Off School Year at Convocation 2011

August 18, 2011

Plano ISD's 7,000 faculty and staff members showed their spirit at the district's back-to-school employee convocation held on Tuesday, August 16, at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. The event featured student speakers, community participants, performances by the staff band and choir and a keynote speech by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Doug Otto. Convocation was sponsored by THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano and Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano.

Superintendent Shares Vision for 2011-12

Dr. Otto shared the following message at convocation during his keynote presentation, which was based on Plano ISD's 2011-12 theme "Learning by Design." Follow these links to view Dr. Otto's slide presentation and video of his keynote address, and read more about the highlights of this year's convocation further down on this page.

To illustrate the theme, Dr. Otto said, "Designers see the world differently than the rest of us. They’re constantly deconstructing and rebuilding objects and ideas that most of us accept as static and fixed. What if the same were true for the learning process of our students and staff? What if we reinvented how knowledge is passed along?"

Dr. Otto asked employees if they are "ready to reinvent, redesign and reshape the learning experience for students and teachers? "Learning by design implies paying attention to the little things that make learning personal for students or any of us as learners.

"This is a time of transition from who we are to who we want to be. We need to be poised to re-imagine the story. We are moving from using a floodlight to illuminate the fact that all of us are learners, to using a spotlight to provide intense insight into what each child needs to maximize learning."

Teachers of the Year Isabel Pawling and Christine Nightingale enjoyed participating in the employee convocation program. They hosted the event's sponsor video and introduced student speakers.

New Technologies & 24/7 Learning Expectation

Quoting a New York Times article, Dr. Otto said, "65% of students will end up working in jobs that don't exist today."

He said that, "We’re 11 years into the 21st century, and our students and teachers have ever-increasing access to resources and knowledge creation tools through digital means. We must leverage the digital knowledge, skills and devices that students bring to our classrooms.

"We will be learning in addition to teaching, as we have more virtual/digital access to resources," said Dr. Otto, referring to Plano ISD's moving to “cloud” servers so that staff and students "have more access to resources anywhere, anytime and on any device to support learning as a 24/7 expectation."

Sharon Goldblatt, Texas PTA president and longtime Plano ISD parent volunteer, was among eight community leaders who thanked teachers during convocation with "cardboard testimonials". Read more

The New Norm

"I never thought I'd be happy to lose 'only' $4 billion following the adoption of the state's budget this year," Dr. Otto said, referring to the Texas Legislature's original estimate of $10 billion in cuts. This loss translates into $25 million in cuts this year to Plano ISD's budget and $10 million more in cuts next year."

Dr. Otto said that Plano ISD must operate with fewer dollars and fewer staff members, while preparing for new state accountability measures. "This year, the state legislature was all about 'beating up' teachers. They looked at our pensions, salaries, furloughs and tenure, as if that costs the state huge dollars. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and we'll lose less money with this state budget than originally predicted."

Dr. Otto assured employees that Plano ISD will forge new collaborations with the North Texas Visioning Consortium and the Western States Benchmarking Consortium to continue to define what education will look like in the future.

McMillen High School faculty and staff cheered during convocation. The district's newest school will open on August 22.

'Society Turns to Teachers in Times of Crisis'

"Plano ISD and all Texas school districts are doing more with less, as a result of the state legislature's budget cuts this biennium," Dr. Otto said, as he reminded employees that, "Teachers are still the profession that society turns to in times of crisis."

Dr. Otto shared his passion for teaching. "I loved teaching business education in the classroom when I first began my career," he said. "But, I quickly realized that I spent too much time planning lessons and not enough time figuring out whether my students were learning. If I could teach now, I would care more about student learning and less about what I'm teaching."

He continued, "It's time to put the spotlight on each individual student. Our demographics are changing in Plano schools. We serve students from myriad backgrounds who bring rich heritage and culture to our school system. We don't have to be less than what we are now in the future. In fact, we can be better."

Arriving at convocation together were Saigling Elementary School's Julie Christian, Mary Schwartzkopf, Rosanna Alkozbari and Angela Newman.

Maximizing Learning for Every Student

"We must continue to show our students the respect they deserve or they won't be the future leaders that we want them to be," Dr. Otto said. "Success does not happen serendipitously. Rather, it takes a conscientious effort to make sure our students are successful."

"55,000 young people will come through our doors on August 22. They need you. Maybe the legislature can't win for losing, but public education is still considered the best investment in our future."

My hope is that, this year, you will "rescue a few students and earn their respect. And, I hope that you laugh, love and learn."

School Board President Tammy Richards adjourned guests as the Plano ISD Staff Choir performed a "card stunt" depicting this year's school district theme "Learning by Design."

Convocation 2011 Highlights

In addition to Dr. Otto's keynote speech, this year's Employee Convocation program also included the following activities.

• Employee Spotlight video featuring hundreds of schools and employees, was shown prior to the main program. This year's convocation featured thousands of employees waving brightly-colored pompoms in their school or district colors as a "Show Your Spirit" message played on two huge video screens.
• Robert Eppler, Jasper High School assistant principal, provided introductions to kick off convocation.
• Plano East JROTC Panther Battalion posted colors and led the audience in the "Pledge of Allegiance."
• Plano ISD's Staff Concert Band, directed by Jeff Turner, fine arts department, provided opening and closing musical entertainment and played "Horizons of Tomorrow," composed for convocation by David Herring, Jasper assistant band director.
• Tammy Richards, school board president, welcomed staff and recognized special guests and sponsors.
• Plano ISD 2011 Teachers of the Year Christine Nightingale and Isabel Pawling & Convocation Sponsors were featured in a video spotlighting the two top teachers and THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano and Baylor Regional Medical Center.
• 2011 Graduates Yichao "Teddy" Xiong and Michael McBride offered their heartfelt thanks to teachers during motivational speeches. Read their remarks
• Community Leaders participated in a "cardboard testimonial" activity to share how educators made a personal impact on their lives. Read their messages
• Plano ISD Staff Choir members sang "America the Beautiful" and "I Believe in the Dream." The choir also performed "card stunts," forming a heart and the message "Thank You" and depicting the "Learning by Design" logo.
• Plano ISD 2011 Beginning Teachers of the Year Luz-Dalia Valentin and Nereida Perez facilitated door prize drawings with help from audience members Joanne Brooks, Plano Retired Teachers Association president, and principals and special guests from Beaty Early Childhood School, Wilson Middle School, McMillen High School and Rice Middle School.

Each door prize winner received an all-in-one desktop computer system featuring a high definition multi-touch screen and built-in webcam donated by M&A Technology. Congratulations to these winners:

Steve Seymour – Wilson Middle School Teacher

Terry Quon – Clark High School Teacher

Leslie Mickel – Wyatt Elementary Teacher

Arlene Andrewartha – Learning Media Services Library Tech Clerk

The new McMillen High School Principal George King (center) and Rice Middle School Principal Chris Glasscock (right) assisted Plano ISD Beginning Teachers of the Year Luz-Dalia Valentin and Nereida Perez in drawing and announcing the name of one of four door prize winners.

Plano ISD extends special thanks to senior high school cheerleaders and mascots for greeting employees and passing out event programs at convocation.

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