Hoffert Joins Education Talk at White House
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
His childhood dream came true Wednesday when he attended the National Connected Superintendents Summit in Washington, D.C., as a representative of WCS. And after the experience, he feels more confident about the direction the school district is heading.
“As a guest it was really interesting because the morning it was all to start, I found myself there a little bit early and I just walked around the White House and being able to look at it. I always dreamed as a kid that someday I would be invited to go into the White House, and to realize that I was able to do it representing Warsaw Community Schools, and all of our teachers, students and community, was really just beyond imagination,” he said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
The visit started with Hoffert and the other 99 superintendents from across the United States going through security.
“It probably took 45 minutes to get through security. We went into the Eisenhower Office Building, that was next door. It’s really where a big portion of the executive offices are now,” Hoffert said.
The school officials were taken down to a little ampitheater where the first hour was an introduction of individuals and then a review of protocols.
“In between they broke it up with a lot of really dynamic presentations from different people from throughout the United States, just sharing best practices that were going on inside of their school systems,” Hoffert said.
The group was then moved over to the White House where they spent about 30 minutes inside the Grand Room.
“It was just an amazing experience getting to walk around and just being in the White House,” he said. “Just getting to collaborate with people. Really for mostly everyone that was there, it was truly the first time being inside the White House more than the tour you might be able to go through setting up with your congressman.”
He characterized the experience as surreal because it’s such an historical building and so much of the nation’s history happened inside it.
After another 30 minutes passed, the door to the East Room opened up and everyone was taken in there to be seated.
“By luck my seat ended up being off to the right, really in the first row. It ended up being right where the president was walking out, and the entire time we were in the East Room I ended up being about 10 feet away from the president,” Hoffert stated.
“You realize that the individuals are truly people. You see so many things on the news and you hear so much about the White House and the president of the United States, you realize that the president, the Cabinet members, they truly are people. They’re people put in extraordinary situations and having to make extraordinary choices,” Hoffert said.
The group remained in the East Room for a couple hours, including being seated, the presentation and the president’s speech.
“The thing that probably made me the most proud during the president’s speech is to realize that so much of what the goals are for education – and the initiative is really called Future Ready Schools – that Warsaw Community Schools truly is a leader inside of preparing our students. Locally, what we’ve been able to do with our school system and with our education is a model throughout the United States,” Hoffert said. “Being invited to the White House on behalf of our school system really exemplifies the great things our school system is doing locally. It’s our teachers, it’s our community, it’s our business partnership, it’s our students. Just coming together to create a phenomenal educational system. We have an awful lot to be proud of.”
Much of what the president spoke about had to do with collaboration, Hoffert recalled, noting that WCS is really strong inside its Professional Learning Communities.
“Another big piece of it was that it’s much more than devices. It’s about people, and making sure you have a highly qualified teaching staff, and you’re creating the instructional shifts that are needed for today’s learners,” Hoffert said.
What WCS has been able to do through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education over the last five to six years, he said, is a perfect example of that.
“What we’ve been able to do through the help of OrthoWorx and, in turn, their partner the Eli Lilly Foundation; with promoting STEM education inside of all grade levels; creating a guaranteed and viable curriculum throughout our school corporation; the Project Lead the Way classes that are happening at the high school, along with the other new course offerings that we’ve been able to put in place that match students’ needs for the workforce and not so much our needs; our traditional needs inside educational system; the Warsaw Inquiry Learning Laboratory – WILL – is another wonderful example of it,” he listed.
Another thing that Hoffert learned WCS is “doing right” that matches the Future Ready initiative is the way WCS has handled technology and infrastructure inside the district.
“Being able to really create the curricular shifts ahead of time, but then to also have the infrastructure in place that leads us to being able to have technology inside of our school and being able to provide that for our students inside of our classrooms. That’s really a commendable thing by our technology department, and then also leading the professional development in what those shifts look like,” he said.
With President Barack Obama, Hoffert said it was more of the school officials listening to him. The president shared his hopes for the future of education “and being able to recognize what he considered to be the 100 school systems that are really leading the charge inside of being Future Ready, and adapting to the local needs that they had.”
After that, the group was taken back to the Eisenhower building where they started the collaboration among the superintendents. It was an opportunity to hear about the innovations that are taking place at school districts across the United States, and also a chance for Hoffert to share Warsaw Schools’ story.
A big topic of discussion was what schools are doing to prepare students for local industry needs.
“This matches exactly what we’ve been talking about for the last five years. That really started out with our Cambridge Report through OrthoWorx; and looking at our orthopedic and agricultural industries that we have here in Warsaw; and also the global impact that our students will have and making sure our students are well-prepared to go into any workforce that they might desire,” Hoffert said.
He stated he came back from the summit with validation that WCS “really does have something special here inside of Warsaw Community Schools. Even among the school systems that were there – and I know I’m biased in this belief – I believe that Warsaw Community Schools is at the forefront of public education. We just have a wonderful mix between our local community, our excellent educators that we have, wonderful parents, a visionary school board and most importantly students that are eager to learn.”
Hoffert said, “Overall the trip was just an incredible experience and I feel so proud to have been given the opportunity to represent Warsaw Community and our greater community at the national level.”[[In-content Ad]]
His childhood dream came true Wednesday when he attended the National Connected Superintendents Summit in Washington, D.C., as a representative of WCS. And after the experience, he feels more confident about the direction the school district is heading.
“As a guest it was really interesting because the morning it was all to start, I found myself there a little bit early and I just walked around the White House and being able to look at it. I always dreamed as a kid that someday I would be invited to go into the White House, and to realize that I was able to do it representing Warsaw Community Schools, and all of our teachers, students and community, was really just beyond imagination,” he said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
The visit started with Hoffert and the other 99 superintendents from across the United States going through security.
“It probably took 45 minutes to get through security. We went into the Eisenhower Office Building, that was next door. It’s really where a big portion of the executive offices are now,” Hoffert said.
The school officials were taken down to a little ampitheater where the first hour was an introduction of individuals and then a review of protocols.
“In between they broke it up with a lot of really dynamic presentations from different people from throughout the United States, just sharing best practices that were going on inside of their school systems,” Hoffert said.
The group was then moved over to the White House where they spent about 30 minutes inside the Grand Room.
“It was just an amazing experience getting to walk around and just being in the White House,” he said. “Just getting to collaborate with people. Really for mostly everyone that was there, it was truly the first time being inside the White House more than the tour you might be able to go through setting up with your congressman.”
He characterized the experience as surreal because it’s such an historical building and so much of the nation’s history happened inside it.
After another 30 minutes passed, the door to the East Room opened up and everyone was taken in there to be seated.
“By luck my seat ended up being off to the right, really in the first row. It ended up being right where the president was walking out, and the entire time we were in the East Room I ended up being about 10 feet away from the president,” Hoffert stated.
“You realize that the individuals are truly people. You see so many things on the news and you hear so much about the White House and the president of the United States, you realize that the president, the Cabinet members, they truly are people. They’re people put in extraordinary situations and having to make extraordinary choices,” Hoffert said.
The group remained in the East Room for a couple hours, including being seated, the presentation and the president’s speech.
“The thing that probably made me the most proud during the president’s speech is to realize that so much of what the goals are for education – and the initiative is really called Future Ready Schools – that Warsaw Community Schools truly is a leader inside of preparing our students. Locally, what we’ve been able to do with our school system and with our education is a model throughout the United States,” Hoffert said. “Being invited to the White House on behalf of our school system really exemplifies the great things our school system is doing locally. It’s our teachers, it’s our community, it’s our business partnership, it’s our students. Just coming together to create a phenomenal educational system. We have an awful lot to be proud of.”
Much of what the president spoke about had to do with collaboration, Hoffert recalled, noting that WCS is really strong inside its Professional Learning Communities.
“Another big piece of it was that it’s much more than devices. It’s about people, and making sure you have a highly qualified teaching staff, and you’re creating the instructional shifts that are needed for today’s learners,” Hoffert said.
What WCS has been able to do through STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education over the last five to six years, he said, is a perfect example of that.
“What we’ve been able to do through the help of OrthoWorx and, in turn, their partner the Eli Lilly Foundation; with promoting STEM education inside of all grade levels; creating a guaranteed and viable curriculum throughout our school corporation; the Project Lead the Way classes that are happening at the high school, along with the other new course offerings that we’ve been able to put in place that match students’ needs for the workforce and not so much our needs; our traditional needs inside educational system; the Warsaw Inquiry Learning Laboratory – WILL – is another wonderful example of it,” he listed.
Another thing that Hoffert learned WCS is “doing right” that matches the Future Ready initiative is the way WCS has handled technology and infrastructure inside the district.
“Being able to really create the curricular shifts ahead of time, but then to also have the infrastructure in place that leads us to being able to have technology inside of our school and being able to provide that for our students inside of our classrooms. That’s really a commendable thing by our technology department, and then also leading the professional development in what those shifts look like,” he said.
With President Barack Obama, Hoffert said it was more of the school officials listening to him. The president shared his hopes for the future of education “and being able to recognize what he considered to be the 100 school systems that are really leading the charge inside of being Future Ready, and adapting to the local needs that they had.”
After that, the group was taken back to the Eisenhower building where they started the collaboration among the superintendents. It was an opportunity to hear about the innovations that are taking place at school districts across the United States, and also a chance for Hoffert to share Warsaw Schools’ story.
A big topic of discussion was what schools are doing to prepare students for local industry needs.
“This matches exactly what we’ve been talking about for the last five years. That really started out with our Cambridge Report through OrthoWorx; and looking at our orthopedic and agricultural industries that we have here in Warsaw; and also the global impact that our students will have and making sure our students are well-prepared to go into any workforce that they might desire,” Hoffert said.
He stated he came back from the summit with validation that WCS “really does have something special here inside of Warsaw Community Schools. Even among the school systems that were there – and I know I’m biased in this belief – I believe that Warsaw Community Schools is at the forefront of public education. We just have a wonderful mix between our local community, our excellent educators that we have, wonderful parents, a visionary school board and most importantly students that are eager to learn.”
Hoffert said, “Overall the trip was just an incredible experience and I feel so proud to have been given the opportunity to represent Warsaw Community and our greater community at the national level.”[[In-content Ad]]
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