A group huddles in a Lake Highlands High School classroom. “We should change this sentence,” one person says. “It’s too wordy.”
“Yes, I think you’re right,” says another. “And I want to go over Part B one more time,” she says, to the sounds of groaning. “I’m just not sure we answered one of the questions well enough.”
Sounds like a group of English students working on a big presentation coming up. But the group was not made up of students. And while there was a big presentation to be made, it wouldn’t be made to a teacher. It would be made about a teacher. Actually, about all the teachers, administrators, programs and community partnerships of LHHS.
The people working together that day were six of the school’s staff, faculty and parents, and they were completing the school’s application for the national Blue Ribbon award, on of the highest honors a school can receive. And recently, after a year of hard work and waiting, the group learned LHHS was one of only 24 schools in Texas to be awarded the honor for 2001-2002.
From the Beginning / It all started back in April 2001, when LHHS principal Dr. Bob Iden, teacher Sharon Howard and then-PTA president Paula Davis attended a workshop on the national Blue Ribbon program.
While they were excited about working toward a recognition they felt the school deserved, the extensive application process was a bit daunting.
“I left there wondering what we had gotten ourselves into,” Howard says.
But they forged ahead, determined to pursue the award. They formed a committee that included instructional specialist Vicki Colman and LHHS parents Carol Kent, Joan Jackson and Eleanor Birch. The committee members were assigned various duties and met to review their progress.
Howard says the toughest part was keeping the application to the maximum 30 pages, because they had to address so many issues.
“It was a very extensive and involved process,” Iden says. But, he adds, it was also beneficial because they had to review every program at the school to identify its strengths and weaknesses.
The application was largely self-examination, with the schools given eight broad categories in which to review and describe themselves. The application was first turned in to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Schools that passed muster there were then nominated to the U.S. Department of Education, which conducted its own review.
The committee had until Sept. 14, 2001, to complete the application and turn it in to the TEA. They met for one last review of the final version Sept. 10. Davis says she was thankful they finished when they did, given the events of the next day. Since the airports were closed following the Sept. 11 attacks, Dr. Iden drove the application to Austin to make sure the group met the deadline.
In January, LHHS learned it had been nominated for the award by the TEA. The application was then sent on to Washington.
Soon a Blue Ribbon evaluator arrived to “verify and clarify” the application. The evaluator spent three days at the school.
“She stepped into classes in progress, she talked to teachers, she visited with administrators. She stopped kids in the hall to ask them questions,” Davis says. She also went to various community events, Wranglers and Steppers practices, and even a basketball banquet. Davis says the evaluator also talked to parents, asking. “Why do you send your kids here? What do you like about it? And Davis says she heard the same answer over and over again: They like the community, they like the school’s leadership, and they like the extracurricular activities.
After the site visit ended, the waiting game began. In May, just a few days before graduation, LHHS was officially named a 2001-2002 Blue Ribbon School.
A Prestigious Honor / So what does the award mean to the school?
“The best part was having confirmation of all the great things going on at LHHS,” Howard says. Davis echoed that thought, saying: “It shows we are accomplishing what we’ve been working to do. I knew this about us, but to see it on paper is great.”
Iden says the long-term benefits of being a Blue Ribbon School are that capable; talented teachers want to teach at top schools, and parents want to send their children to them. Plus, it gives school leaders a high standard to maintain.
Iden, Howard and Davis are traveling to Washington, D.C., this month to attend the awards presentation. All three say the reason they believe the school won the award, in addition to the quality and variety of programs, is the unusually high level of support of the Lake Highlands community.
“We have great community support that just is not found in other schools,” Howard says.
Dr. Iden agrees: “This is an award we’re very happy to share with the community and with other schools in the area, as well. It reflects the high level of commitment we have from all areas of our community.”
