By Lucky Kidd
McPHERSON, Kan. — The McPherson USD 418 Board of Education has started the process of developing a new vision statement for the school district, as the lifespan of the Vision 2025 initiative is coming to a close. The Board, along with district administrators and key staff, met in the McPherson Middle School library for a study session Monday evening to begin the process.
At the start of the 90-minute discussion (much of which was done in small groups) Superintendent Shiloh Vincent said the process includes a reflection of the past five years, changes that have happened since 2020, and laying the foundation for the future.
The sessions were facilitated by Dr. Britton Hart of the Kansas Association of School Boards, who cited data that 80 percent of the jobs that will be around in 2030 have not yet been created, and that 60 percent of the jobs in 2018 had been created since 1940. Dr. Hart suggested looking forward to the year 2037, when this year’s kindergarten class will graduate high school.
Board of Education president Laura Vanderhoof told Ad Astra News following the session this process will be taking a look at things which might not be known now.
“Our workforce development looks different, and we don’t know what that looks like,” Vanderhoof said. “But we need to be preparing our students for the future.”
One area that will be looked at in this process is the visionary goal of USD 418, which currently states, “McPherson Public Schools will be recognized as a top performing school district in Kansas and across the nation.” In discussion on this point, one participant suggested deleting references to “top performing” and adding “effective learning environment,” with others suggesting empowering students to find their own greatness and meeting the needs of every student in reaching their greatness.
During the discussion participants brought up a “profile” of a McPherson High School graduate, and the skills needed to reach that profile. Broadly speaking, suggestions that came up include resilience, critical thinking, effective communication, being compassionate, responsive, a servant leader, lifelong learner, dealing with conflict resolution, having a sense of identity and contributing to society among many others.
The process of developing a vision will be lengthy, and community input on a new vision will be part of that starting with a survey of patrons. Dr. Vanderhoof said that a cross section of the community, including students, businesspeople, senior citizens, parents and other stakeholders will be brought together to assist the board in working on a new vision plan for USD 418.
The Board will discuss the concepts brought up Monday at a study session it will be holding in November during the KASB annual meeting next month in Wichita.
