Dec. 2, 2016 – CH-UH Superintendent Dr. Talisa Dixon and staff members from Noble Elementary School presented at the 61st annual Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) Capital Conference on Nov. 15 in Columbus.
The Noble session “Welcoming Refugee and Immigrant Students” detailed the school’s work with its Peer-to-Peer Mentoring program, which is focused on supporting the large number of Bhutanese refugee students in the Noble neighborhood.
Presenters included:
- Noble principal Rachael Coleman,
- English Learner teacher Wendy Craven,
- Noble P2P site coordinator Tiffany Rowan,
- 21st Century Grant Coordinator Meghan McMahon,
- Supervisor of Federal Programs and Grants Sue Pardee,
- English Learner consultant Draupadi Pradhan and
- Helen Tarkhanova, Director, Cleveland Office of US Together.
The group shared how to implement successful partnerships to support English Learner (EL) students, help them acclimate to their new school and improve their speaking skills. They also discussed how to boost reading and math success for EL and native-speaking at-risk K-5 students through arts enrichment.
Dr. Dixon joined Richmond Heights superintendent Dr. Renee Willis, South Euclid-Lyndhurst superintendent Linda Reid and Maple Heights superintendent Dr. Charlie Keenan in representing the First Ring Superintendents’ Collaborative to discuss student achievement and challenges in urban schools.
The First Ring Superintendents’ Collaborative is comprised of 16 school districts that surround the city of Cleveland and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Together, the First Ring serves over 65,000 students; and their mission is to improve the education of First Ring students by leveraging the collective capability of the First Ring Superintendents.
Dr. Dixon and CH-UH Board of Education president Kal Zucker and vice president Ron Register joined their colleagues for a rally on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse to peacefully protest over-testing of students and the state’s new graduation requirements.
More than 9,000 people attended this year’s OSBA Capital Conference, which featured sessions of panel discussions, workshops, one-on-one assistance and nationally-renowned speakers addressing a variety of educational issues.
In its 61st year, the Ohio School Boards Association leads the way to educational excellence by serving Ohio’s public school board members and the diverse districts they represent through superior service, unwavering advocacy and creative solutions.