Audrey Carr, Executive Editor
audreyccourant
The Board of Education has recently been working diligently to update district goals alongside the Innovation Steering Committee to construct an innovation vision statement. Director of Digital Learning for New Canaan Public Schools Matthew Salvestrini works with students in all grades across the district. Primarily focusing on students’ use of digital tools, Mr. Salvestrini supports all aspects of using technology to support learning.
Mr. Salvestrini is also part of the Innovation Steering Committee, which consists of teachers, community members, the Board of Education, and students. This committee assists in determining the direction they want to pursue as a district. In order to do so, the Innovation Committee has implemented a new vision statement: “Our school community nurtures and inspires all students on their journeys to become creative, empathetic and holistic problem solvers who find joy in tackling authentic challenges as they build a better world.”
The committee wants to hear from students about what works and what doesn’t, as student voice and participation is extremely vital. Learning from one another and establishing goals will help ensure that. “We are looking for students to become involved in the Steering Committee. We meet around four times a year. The job of that committee is to establish a vision, which is something we just did over the past 10 months, which was a huge accomplishment,” Mr. Salvestrini said. “This group helps set the course for the district and how we’re going to continue to pursue innovation.”
The innovation incentive is to prepare students for life beyond NCHS. “We want to make sure students are prepared for when they graduate New Canaan High School, and for what society has to offer in a challenging and competitive workplace,” he said. “We want to ensure the skills we teach them allow them to identify problems and have a strong skill set.”
On Friday January 27th, the committee visited the Chappaqua Central School District in Chappaqua, New York. The committee was able to explore their instruction program throughout all grade levels to support the kind of innovative work implemented in the district. “It’s eye opening to see other educators and how they’re grappling with the same challenges, ” Mr. Salvestrini said. “Some people have been working on this innovation initiative for several years, and so it was great to get their perspective of some of their accomplishments and their struggles.”
With inspiring experiences like these, the district constantly has new motivations for creating innovative spaces across the schools in New Canaan. The library now provides a space with 3-D printers and other circuitry. “We have tried to create a space where students have whiteboards so they can write down ideas and collaborate. We know students move from a thinking stage to an action stage where you may be building or prototyping, and we want to make sure those resources are accessible,” Mr. Salvestrini said.
The new goal promotes and emphasizes innovative practices throughout all aspects of student and faculty life. As Mr. Salvestrini puts it, “Innovation exists everywhere. We want students to feel being problem solvers and being innovators is an opportunity, no matter what class they are taking. The committee is trying to build an awareness throughout the district of what it means to be an innovative problem solver.”
Sophomore Sebastian Saridakis frequently uses the MakerSpace in the library. The MakerSpace provides supplies where students can challenge their creative boundaries and be innovators. “Not only do I go here to work on projects within school, but I also work here for extracurricular opportunities,” Sebastian said. “I came down here for International Day, and I was able to utilize supplies to decorate the classroom doors in the language department.”
Sebastian is passionate about the newly innovative school community. “Students don’t realize that the MakerSpace is always open. If teachers could offer the MakerSpace as a source to produce work, I think more students would be creative with their assignments.”
The newly implemented innovation goal has led the school to look into improving the different spaces and resources that students have access to. “I think the MakerSpace is underutilized for the materials that are available that you might not be able to find in your house,” Sebastian said. “The MakerSpace can be helpful because it opens up opportunities for students to create different forms of projects such as posters instead of writing an essay.”
