Community Conversations: Reimagine Education

Why, no matter how much we pay, do our schools achieve such uneven results? With falling enrollments, rising fuel, healthcare, labor and infrastructure maintenance costs, increasingly needy students and an antiquated school schedule, we seem boxed into a system that is becoming less and less productive. Meanwhile, students in other countries are excelling in areas where US students are showing signs of decline, threatening our future in an increasingly competitive global environment.

Inspired by such challenges, innovative ideas are emerging about ways in which we can approach education differently. New technologies and strategies free teachers to operate in new ways. Other parts of society are recognizing their roles in assisting the educational process. Some concepts are quite radical, while others focus on new directions that can be implemented in existing classrooms.

At the Community Conversation on Tuesday, June 10^th, at the Monadnock Center for History and Culture, three representatives of the educational community will present their perspectives on the challenges and opportunities in education today. The program will open with a historic overview of Peterborough schools, presented by Michelle Stahl, Executive Director of the Monadnock Center for History and Culture.

Tom Ferenc lives in Peterborough, and commutes to Green Mountain Union High School in Chester Vermont He was named Vermont’s High School Principal of the Year in 2012, an award sponsored by Met Life and the National Association for Secondary School Principals. [read article]. Tom also serves on the school board of the Conval School District.

Brad Bates is headmaster at the Dublin School, an independent boarding and day high school serving 150 students from twelve countries and fourteen states.  He received a Masters in Arts and Liberal Studies from Dartmouth in 2001 and is currently completing a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Colorado.

David Dewitt was recently honored by the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, for his exemplary contributions to the chamber’s education goals. His work has centered around providing connections for students with local manufacturing firms.

After brief opening remarks from the speakers, the public is invited to join in a moderated conversation. The goal of the program is to give people the opportunity to explore and learn from each other,  with the hope that new connections will be made, and that further conversations and actions will result in a strengthening of our community.

Community Conversations is a partnership with the Monadnock Center for History and Culture and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript.

Extended biographical information:

Tom Ferenc was raised and educated in the Greenwich, Connecticut public school system. He earned his undergraduate degree at Southern Connecticut State University, his Master’s degree in Organization and Management from Antioch NE Graduate School and his Ed-Leadership certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies at Plymouth State University. He holds current licenses as a Principal and Superintendent. Tom was principal at Fall Mountain Regional High School in Langdon, N.H. for 5 years and has been the principal at Green Mountain Union High School in Chester, Vermont for the past 7 years. He and his wife Christie have lived in Peterborough for the past seventeen years. They have one son, a Conval graduate, Dr. Matthew Ferenc, who is a Senior Research Scientist in Cambridge Mass.

Brad is finishing his sixth year serving as Head of School at Dublin School in Dublin, NH. Dublin School is an independent boarding and day high school serving 150 students from twelve countries and fourteen states. Brad grew up in Concord, Massachusetts and went to the Fenn School before attending Belmont Hill School, where his father taught mathematics. Brad pursued his growing interest in history at Dartmouth College where he also raced for the varsity ski team and captained the heavyweight crew team. From Dartmouth he travelled to the St. Andrew’s School in Delaware where he chaired the history department, served as Dean of Students, coached soccer and rowing, and lived in the dormitory for fifteen years. Brad met his wife Lisa at St. Andrew’s, where she taught Spanish and French.  After St. Andrew’s Brad served as assistant principal at Aspen High School in Colorado, where his parents live. He received a Masters in Arts and Liberal Studies from Dartmouth in 2001 and is currently completing a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Colorado. Brad and Lisa have two children (Lilly who is thirteen and Calvin who is fifteen). Brad enjoys spending as much time as possible in the out of doors with his family—especially on cross country skis.

After a long career in manufacturing, David DeWitt fonded Manufacturing Stories, a web site to promote manufacturing and STEM Education.