Iowa Education leader finds initiatives in action in Clear Lake

(Above) Iowa Department of Education Direcotr Ryan Wise and Clear Lake Schools Superintendent Doug Gee listen as teacher Kelly Cooney and her Clear Creek Elementary School class explain what they have been studying.-Reporter photo.

by Marianne Gasaway

Ryan Wise was enjoying the favorite part of his job Friday.  The former teacher, who now heads the Iowa Department of Education, made a stop in Clear Lake on his continuing quest to visit each of the state’s school districts.

“I think it is critically important to get in the schools and engage with teachers and students to see how our policies translate to practices in the classroom,” said Wise.

To date, the DOE leader has visited 230 of the state’s 327 school districts. He estimates it will take six years to complete the school list.  On Friday, he was accompanied by School Administrators of Iowa Executive Director Dr. Roark Horn and Iowa State Education Association President Mike Beranek.   In addition to visiting Clear Lake, the group met with students and faculty at West Fork and CAL on Friday.

Wise said he was impressed by what he saw in Clear Lake.

“There was a high level of student engagement.  Students were understanding the concepts and they could explain what they were learning.”

Career and technical education options available here were also a highlight.  In particular, the high school’s registered apprenticeship program implemented this year was applauded.   Clear Lake is one of eight schools in the state with a certified Registered Apprenticeship program.

“Community engagement and engaging with

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business and industry in the area is really impressive,” said Wise.

Seeing the governor’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) policies in action is also important, he added.

The Clear Lake School District was recently recognized as one of 13 schools in the state to be part of the STEM BEST program. This program supports school-business partnerships that allow teachers and industry professionals to work side-by-side on curriculum and projects that give students actual work experience and an understanding of the opportunities and required skills for careers in STEM fields.

“It really supports our statewide future-ready Iowa efforts, and it started all the way down in preschool and kindergarten with some of the engaging science lessons that they were doing,” said Wise.

He also noted Clear Lake’s use of the state’s Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) plan, which he says empowers teachers to lead change within their schools.

“It helps at the local level to identify areas where they want to grow and change,” said Wise.

Project Lead the Way, first implemented in Clear Lake schools in 2017 was also of special interest to Wise.  Clear Lake is currently the only school in the state to also teach PLTW at the preschool level and last year was asked to host a PLTW showcase and present at the Governors Future Ready Iowa Summit.  According to Clear Lake School Superintendent Doug Gee, the district has been adding one new PLTW Launch module every year to each grade.  This year all grades, PK-5, are completing  at least three modules of study and some will be doing four.  The goal will be to have all four modules at each grade implemented next year and continue to teach with all four modules each year.  Gee was invited to present at the PLTW National Summit in Kansas City this year on the district’s program implementation PK-12.  He addressed how the district was able to introduce PLTW in a rural community and how it has grown from the elementary through high school, thanks in large part to funding donations from local industry.

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