By David Knapp,

Loveland City School District director of technology

Does the year 2032 ring any bells for any of you? If you have a child in kindergarten this year, it should – for this is the year your child will be graduating college…

One of my favorite statistics that I like to allude to when speaking to the importance of thinking differently in regards to education these days, refers to the future our students face once they embark on their own careers. According to a study conducted by the United States Department of Labor recently, 65 percent of today’s grade school students will end up in a job or career that has yet to be invented. that means for us in education (those people who work so hard to ensure that your children are ready for that future job or career when they leave our doors), is that we don’t really know exactly what we are preparing our students for. For most of us, that’s a scary thought, especially considering traditional education has been grounded in the acquisition and knowledge of specific skills and facts for hundreds of years. When we don’t know exactly the jobs and careers that will exist in 10 years, it’s hard to say for certain what exactly our students will need to know – which is why it’s not so much about knowing anymore as it is about asking and then doing.

Here across the Loveland City School District, our teachers, administrators and staff work tirelessly to [quote_left]What  “What does that tomorrow look like and how exactly will we prepare our students for it?[/quote_left]help prepare our students for tomorrow, today. As the director of technology, I am privileged with the task of extending that line of thinking and asking, “What does that tomorrow look like and how exactly will we prepare our students for it?” Although nobody can (or should) claim to answer that question correctly, what we can do is prepare our students to be well versed in the art of collaboration, communication, critical thinking and most importantly, how to think creatively. Those are marketable skills. In fact, Fortune 500 managers recently told LinkedIn they are looking for prospective future employees to be adaptable, strong oral communicators, tech-savvy and creative.

By structuring a learning environment and providing access to 21st century learning tools and devices, we are allowing our students the opportunity to engage with their learning and with resources across the world in ways which most of us who graduated years ago would have never thought possible. By making available the 1,800 plus Chromebooks and Android tablets that our students now have access to, our students are provided these opportunities not to answer the what, but to ask and answer the how and the why, with the power to achieve this on a global scale.

And this is just the beginning of so many more great things to come here in Loveland…stay tuned.

Second annual event raised more than $7,000 to build a well in South Sudan

Loveland, Ohio – Loveland Intermediate School (LIS) sixth grade students each carried one gallon of water two and half miles Friday, Oct. 30, in an effort to raise money for South Sudan. It’s called Walk for Water, and it was the idea of LIS English Teacher Jennifer Kirby last school year.

“Students read the book A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Parks – a story about the great distance children in Africa have to walk to retrieve water for their family daily,” said Kirby. “After reading the book and learning about the Lost Boys of Sudan and the water crisis, teachers and students were inspired to make a difference. We got sponsors for our Walk for Water, hoping to raise at least $5000, to help build a well in South Sudan.”

The students exceeded the goal. This year the group has raised $7,129.44 with donations continuing to come in. Last year students raised more than $7,200.

[pull_quote_left]All of the money raised is donated toward the building of a well in South Sudan[/pull_quote_left]“All of the money raised is donated toward the building of a well in South Sudan,” said Kirby. “We also hope that students learn not to take the things they have for granted and, especially, that they can make a difference in the world.”

The LIS-sponsored well is scheduled to be drilled this December. It takes $15,000 to construct a well. Students will receive pictures and information about the village benefiting from the well after construction begins.

“In addition to teaching our school’s curriculum, we want to give these children experiences that will help them become better citizens of the world,” said Kirby. “We hope to touch something in them that inspires them to help others, to do good and to realize that even one person can make a difference.”

To participate in the LIS Walk for Water event, each student brought in a full, unopened, gallon of water. Following the walk students donated the water to Matthew 25 Ministries – all 400 gallons.

“Ms. Burge was chosen for this award because of her endless energy, passion.”

The Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District (District) is a County organization, established by State law, responsible for ensuring that the County achieves State mandated goals for recycling and waste reduction. The District achieves these goals through the implementation of waste reduction programs targeted to residents, communities, businesses, and schools.

The District awards communities with outstanding or significantly improved recycling programs; buinesses or organizations who excel in reducing, reusing or recycling; and schools, educators and students who have made an outstanding contribution to recycling education in Hamilton county.

Loveland High School teacher, Tracy Burge was recognized as the 2015, Outstanding Recycling Educator in Hamilton County.

The 11th Annual Recycling Awards Ceremony was held November 17th, at Winton Woods Mill Race Banquet Center. Attendees were welcomed by Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune. Holly Christmann, Director of Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services, along with staff of the Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District, presented awards.

The Outstanding Recycling Educator Award goes to an educator who champions recycling and materials management within their school. This year’s winner is Tracy Burge of Loveland High School.

Here is the statement from the County about why Burge was honored:

Ms. Burge was chosen for this award because of her endless energy, passion, and ability to motivate her students. Tracy has always been the driving force behind the reduction efforts at Loveland High School.

Before her tenure as environmental science teacher, there was no recycling program in the Loveland District. She started the program in 2009, beginning with paper recycling. With the help of her students, she loaded her truck with paper and cardboard and recorded the empty dumpsters the school was paying to have picked up. Empowering her students to act, they appeared before the school board and were effective in convincing them to begin recycling paper.

The next step was to focus on waste reduction. Knowing the best way to educate and build leadership skills, Tracy developed service learning projects as part of her students’ curriculum. Some examples of waste reduction successes stemming from this include:

• Integrating tray stacking in the cafeteria, thus reducing the number of trash bags from 60 to 32 each day.

• Commercial composting in the cafeteria, further reducing waste generated by 1500 students to only 2 bagsof garbage each day!

• Incorporating commercial composting at the Middle and Intermediate Schools, allowing them to also achieve a zero waste status in their cafeteria.

• A number of Ms. Burge’s students have received college scholarship monies as a result of their efforts under her tutelage.

Tireless, Tracy Burge does her work without support of a Green Team or Club. Her helpers are her students as she is such an inspiration. From the words of William A. Ward, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”

Today Loveland High is an 86 percent zero waste school with a 97 percent zero waste cafeteria. Her program development led to the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools Award in 2012, and remains the only school in Hamilton County to be honored with this distinction as well as only one of 78 in the nation.

Henry Brooks Adams wrote, “Teachers affect eternity; no one can tell where their influence stops.” Certainly Tracy’s influence stretches well beyond the school, the community, and will reverberate timelessly.

It is an honor to award Tracy Burge with the Outstanding Recycling Educator Award.