Park names whittled down to three after community vote

Gordon Parks High School students play role in shaping and digging into park’s history by collecting votes

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
Again and again, students at Gordon Parks High School (GPHS) have worked to make sure citizens are involved in the journey to transform a vacant lot next to their school into a five-acre park.
GPHS, along with the Skyline Tower apartment complex and Union Park District Council, expressed concern about the park name selection process being planned by the city earlier this year, pointed out Curriculum & Media Arts Coordinator Paul Creager.
“As a result, we helped organize a process that resulted in a huge increase in community participation, with numerous voting sites in the neighborhood adjacent to the future park,” said Creager. “We want to empower community.”
512 vote on top three names
The school served as a voting location for students and parents, as well as for nearby Midway residents.
Citizens were asked to give input on 15 possible park names. These 15 names originated from several community engagement activities in 2016-2017, where over 100 name ideas were gathered. Of those, 15 names met city of St. Paul criteria and were the most popular, including: All Nations/New Nations, Family (Lakota: Tiospaya or Tiwahe), Freedom, Gordon, Green, Harmony, International, Lexington-Hamline, Midway, Mosaic, Peace (Arabic: Salam), People (Somali: Bulsho), Union, Unity (Sanskrit: Samadhi) and University.
The voting process whittled the 15 options down to the most popular five in November: Peace Park, Midway Park, Mosaic Park, Tiwahe Park, and Unity Park.
At two meetings in December, one held at Skyline Towers and the other at the regular Union Park District Council Board meeting site, citizens agreed to forward three names to the city’s park and recreation commission.
The community voting process resulted in 512 votes being cast for Peace, Unity, and Midway.
St. Paul parks and recreation will recommend to the city council one name this month.
In the past, students have referred to the park as Three Ring Gardens after its long history of housing circuses, while the city labeled it Lexington Commons.
In 2016, with $1.5 million from the city’s 8-80 Vitality Fund, The Trust for Public Land put together the purchase of the three parcels that will become a 5-acre park as part of the group’s focus on more green space along the light rail line. The land was then conveyed to the city.
The park is still in the fundraising stage, and will hopefully be developed in late 2018.
Students and neighbors envision a playground, outdoor classroom/amphitheater, indoor gardening space and a community orchard at this property that sits 17 feet higher than University Ave. and offers a unique overlook of nearby treetops and rooftops.
It will be a park that champions open space, equity and access.
According to a green space assessment, just 2.3 percent of the area is dedicated to parkland, although parks make up an average of 15 percent of St. Paul. The new park will be within a 10-minute walk of more than 2,600 residents—including the residents of Skyline Tower, who are largely East African immigrants.
Student engagement
“Our work on the future park at Griggs is an example of civically engaged storytelling-approaches to curriculum,” remarked Creager. “Highly engaging, state-standard aligned curriculum is available in the community around a school and doesn’t need to be purchased from Pearson Inc. and Scholastic. For students, interaction with this park project boosted their sense of civic agency, and familiarity with the processes of championing community change.”
Photo right: Gordon Parks High School English teacher Jamie Tomlin collects ideas for park names during a student-led event on the future park property held in 2017. These names were then whittled down to 15, then five, and finally three that were forwarded to the parks and recreation department. The three finalists were Peace, Unity, and Midway. In all, 512 votes were cast on the names. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)
Creager added, “For the educators involved, the project gave us an opportunity to apply learning in a relevant, tangible way, and show that schools can play a vital role in the communities where they are located.”
GPHS remains dedicated to staying informed regarding ongoing park work through the Trust for Public Land and city of St. Paul.
Although 17-year-old LaDavia Allcorn will graduate this spring, she plans to come back and assist with the park. “I’m not done,” she said. “That park isn’t built yet.”
The park caught Allcorn’s attention the very first day she attended GPHS as a sophomore, and ever since she’s been working to make the park a reality. She’s so glad for the opportunity through GPHS to get credit for “doing something amazing like this.” Working through the process of getting a park created has been an eye-opener for her.
“I’m ready for that park to be built,” said Allcorn. She’s excited for the day when she can bring her kids to the park and let them know she helped make it happen.
It is a park that the school and nearby community need, according to Allcorn, who recently helped garner votes on the park name. Personally, she favored the name “Our Park,” because, as she explained, “It’s everyone’s park.”
Allcorn pointed out that parks are beneficial in many ways, and she’s looking forward to students being able to have a space to spread out a blanket, take a break from school, and enjoy the mental health benefits associated with green space.
“They deserve that,” stated Allcorn, who observed that this park might be something small for others, but it’s something big for them.
Soil analysis at park site
GPHS students have also begun collaborating with Kat Hayes, an anthropology professor at the University of Minnesota, and her grad students.
“The future parkland has a unique history, and some of the soil is relatively undisturbed,” stated Creager.
Students have done archaeological mapping projects on the property.
The archaeology curriculum includes components such as biology modules using bone casts and teaching bones from the university’s anthropology department labs. A demonstration was given on LIDAR (light detection and ranging), a noninvasive way to record and assess the site, as well as a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) module, that gave students a chance to see how this technology is used in the field.
Students also learned how archaeologists set up sites and document everything in 3D space.
Under the direction of GPHS science teacher Joel Abdella, students have recently begun conducting a soil analysis project.
This project and the future park space has “helped begin years of science and social studies curricular inquiry,” said Creager. “These projects also create a shareable class experience that will help inspire more taxpayer support to leverage policymaker involvement with thoughtful school change, and inspire students and staff to keep pushing for the educational reform our schools need.”
Creager added, “Kat is also an incredible fit for us because she brings a deep background of exploring sensitive racial and economic histories into archaeological inquiry.”
Participants appreciate this project because it involves so many things—historical research, contemporary social relevance of urban planning, questions of environmental justice, applications of science and math to real-world problems, and thinking about how to commemorate the past.

Copyright © Monitor Saint Paul

Verizon grant enables Hamline Elementary to offer one-on-one instruction using iPads

Over 400 iPads being used by grades 2-5

by Tesha M. Christensen

Using iPads in the classroom has enabled Hamline Elementary School teachers to provide personalized instruction to their students.

And it’s making a difference. Kids are more excited about learning, and teachers report that they are more engaged.

Hamline Elementary (formerly Hancock-Hamline University Collaborative Magnet School) has been able to incorporate iPads thanks to a $50,000 two-year grant from the Verizon Foundation and the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE).

This past year Hamline had over 400 iPads deployed in grades 2-5. “In an end-of-the-year survey students reported increased interest in school work when using the iPad and increased access to information,” pointed out Hamline Principal Craig Anderson. “Teachers reported increased student engagement and ability to meet individual needs with different levels of curriculum when personalized through the use of technology.

All classrooms used the iPads several times during the day.

HOW ARE THE IPADS USED?

Teachers use the mobile devices to present to students, as an independent activity during work time in reading and math, and as a research tool. With the iPad, a teacher can also get instant feedback on lessons, and assess student understanding, noted Anderson.

They record information, make videos for learning, and take photos.

Plus they can collaborate with students and teachers around the world.

They use apps that help reinforce math and reading skills. Apps that motivate and engage. Apps that allow students to create technology projects. They play games and take quizzes.

“With the iPads, I am empowered to individualize lessons more quickly and efficiently,” noted fifth grade teacher Diane Smith, who appreciates seeing results in real time. “It takes so much less time than searching through printed material to find activities appropriate for each student's level. Students have the ability to master skills at their current level and then continue to move higher. They are self-motivated to advance their skills. We use the iPads everyday, pretty much all day in some capacity.”

With the iPads, Smith has begun to front load her classes, which is also known as incorporating a flipped classroom. Students view their lessons at home in the evening and then practice in class the next day.

“They use apps that allow them to show and record their work for me,” noted Smith. “I create interactive lessons. They are able to choose topics to study on the iPads and then create a finished project.”

Last year, Hamline partnered with wonderopolis.com, a web site with multi-disciplinary content that purposefully aligns to Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the STEM Educational Quality Framework, and Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. Through this partnership each student in grades 3-5 created a science fair virtual poster using gloogster.edu.

“Our students are making better and faster progress — it’s amazing,” Smith stated.

Smith watched one of her students, Shayd, dramatically increase her basic math skills over the course of the last school year by using an iPad. A shy student, Shayd has been more willing to take risks when she is working one-on-one with her iPad. She is also highly motivated to take on the next challenge.

Smith noted that the tutors from Hamline University tell the elementary students how they use technology in their college work. “The tutors help my students find information on the iPads during research projects,” said Smith. “They also show them tips that help them utilize the iPads more effectively. I feel my students know that they are learning to use this tool that will help throughout their educational career.”

FOCUS ON TEACHER TRAINING

The focus of the $50,000 grant is to help students develop the skills to support higher education and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The grant provides Hamline staff with two years of on-site and virtual innovative training led by ISTE. The training is designed to prepare teachers to incorporate mobile technology into classroom learning with strategies that support STEM courses.

The Verizon Foundation launched the Verizon Innovative Learning School (VILS) program in 2012 to support 12 underserved STEM schools across the country in their goal to have their students STEM-ready for the future. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, by 2018 there will be approximately 18 percent growth in careers that require education in STEM fields.

It was such a success that Verizon Foundation doubled the number of grant recipients to 24 schools in 2013, expanding their reach to more than 12,000 students.

“The focus of the Verizon Foundation grant is professional development for teachers implementing a one-to-one technology initiative,” pointed out Anderson.

The grant provided Hamline with the money to have a technology coach and access to a consultant from ISTE, as well as hourly stipends for teachers to collaborate and spend time learning with the tech coach.

Teachers also participated in a full-day virtual conference and attend many webinars. They were also able to attend the ISTE national conference.

“The goal for the professional development was to meet individual teacher needs to customize and personalize the experiences,” observed Anderson.

He added, “The professional development helped teachers to integrate technology into every subject during the school day.”

“I’m so excited to continue the virtual training sessions and learn more that I can share with my students,” Smith said.

WHAT DOES 2014 HOLD?

This next year, Hamline will focus on refining and sharing its learning with each other and the district, according to Anderson.

“SPPS is going to personalize learning for students by implementing a one-to-one environment over the next two years,” Anderson remarked. “I hope the great things we started in year one will be extended in year two -- giving kids the ability to work at their ‘just right’ level during most of the day.”

For more information about the Verizon Foundation’s VILS program, visit http://www.verizonfoundation.org/our-focus/.

Teachers file whistleblower lawsuit against Community School of Excellence

Allegations include misconduct during school trip to Thailand last spring and diversion of federal money for unlawful purposes
 

Mo Chang, Superintendent of the Community of School of Excellence has been named in a whistleblower lawsuit against the school brought by a current and a former teacher.

by TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN
A teacher and a former teacher have filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the Community School of Excellence (CSE), a K-8 Hmong Language and Culture charter school in St. Paul.

Current teacher Megan Christine Deutschman and former teacher Ana Brooks Panone allege that eighth graders at the school were endangered during a school trip to Thailand last spring. According to an article in the Pioneer Press, the lawsuit alleges that superintendent Mo Chang “grossly mismanaged” the trip and that chaperones’ concerns were rejected as “Western thinking.”

Panone was allegedly fired in retaliation for reporting suspected abuse cases, a practice Chang is accused of hampering that has also been the subject of an investigation by the Department of Education. Meanwhile Deutschman took a family and medical leave as a result of a condition worsened by “the atmosphere of retaliation and fear created at the school.”

The suit seeks injunctions against the school to change the leadership, and seeks unspecified damages and attorney’s fees.

Controversy at the school has made headlines for over a year, and much of it has centered around CSE’s founder and director, Mo Chang, a longtime education who served as a charter school liaison for the St. Paul Public Schools. She has been accused of threatening staff for disagreeing with her, and contributing to a high level of turnover among the staff.

Last year, the Department of Education directed Concordia University, the charter school’s authorizer, to investigate allegations that the school has misused federal free- and reduced-price lunch funds, including having students punch in for meals they do not consume. Previously, CSE had been required to repay over $200,000 of misused food and nutrition (FNS) funds for similar issues.

CSE opened in 2007 with 176 students, and since has seen its population grow to nearly 1,000 students, according to its website. The K-8 Hmong Language & Culture and IB World School is housed in the former home of St. Bernard’s Catholic school at 170 Rose Ave W.

This story was printed in the April edition of the St. Paul Monitor.