LAUNCH Flagstaff update for June 28 — June Monthly Progress

Internship Coordination Strengthens

The community efforts of the Flagstaff Internship Network will be strengthened this fall with the addition of two staff positions at Coconino Community College and Flagstaff Unified School District.

Both positions will be funded through monies awarded to both CCC and FUSD from a federal Perkins grant for vocational and technical education.

For the better part of this last year, the Flagstaff Internship Network has worked to develop a communications tool to help local businesses understand the details for hosting an intern.  Last year the team surveyed Flagstaff businesses in the advanced manufacturing sector to gather data around their understanding of work-based learning and their needs for interns.

Literacy Programmatic Landscape Analysis Begins

The Literacy Coordination Team began work on a programmatic landscape analysis of community literacy resources this month to lay the foundation for its work toward improving collaboration and coordination in alignment with the K-3 literacy plan of the Flagstaff Unified School District.

Motivated by the survey results gathered by LAUNCH Flagstaff in February, the team is focused on strengthening personal and organizational relationships between team members and increase community awareness for the importance of high-quality language and communication skill development for preschool children.

The team began their work by reviewing five common pitfalls in program design

Educational Leadership Academy Begins First Unit

Twenty-three Flagstaff area educational leaders began the first unit of the Beat the Odds School Leadership Academy this month.  Administrators and aspiring educational leaders from the Flagstaff Unified School District, charter schools, Northern Arizona University, and early childhood educators are participating in the 14-month long program.

The first unit began with world-class education and using strategic thinking to drive high-quality teaching and learning for all students.  Global trends that are affecting educational systems were studied.

“Looking at countries who are successfully creating systems where all students have the opportunity succeed, developed a sense of urgency for me to transform our current system,” said Whitney Tapia, teacher at Knoles Elementary School.

“The task ahead is vast if we seek to improve the education of our children,” said Tracy Braatz, Director of The PEAK School.  “It’s exciting to receive the tools of change in this program with the collaboration of an amazing cohort of school leaders.”

This unit was supported by Coconino Community College and the use of the District Governing Board room on the Lone Tree Campus.  Funding for lunch was provided by the Northern Arizona Area Education Center (NAHEC) at NorthCountry Health Care.

Too Small to Fail

From Why Am I Telling You This? Clinton Foundation, June 17, 2019.  Chelsea Clinton

In this episode, Chelsea Clinton sits down with Ralph Smith, managing director of the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, and Dr. Susan Neuman, New York University Professor of Childhood and Literacy Education, to share stories and strategies on how to help every child reach their full potential.

Listen to the podcast below.