The second community conversation regarding the future of Wrangell education asked some more probing questions, received several answers and set the stage for future plans.

Hosted by Schools Superintendent Joshua Garrett, the meeting was the second in two weeks at the Nolan Center. Garrett invited the public to attend and exchange ideas. Approximately 13 people showed up Thursday evening, Dec. 4.

“These conversations aren’t just supposed to be about education in Wrangell, but about education in general,” he explained. “I’m a nerd, and I love to talk about education and share ideas.”

He said things haven’t changed much since the Committee of Ten — a national working group of educators established in 1892 — standardized curriculum in public education.

“At that time, they recognized the economy was shifting from agricultural to industrial, so they established guidelines that would prepare the students for the industrial age by getting them to focus on certain areas of study and answering to bells and following movements between classes,” he said.

“A lot of things in education have just stayed the same sense then. My question is, why?”

Garrett pointed out that the current system that involves chasing certain scores on standardized tests has proven to be ineffective.

“I want to consider what is best for our kids,” he said. “What’s best for our kids right now? Why are we doing so many things the same way?”

He said the first community conversation on Nov. 20 involved participants answering six questions that had been spread out among six different tables. He recorded the answers and used ChatGPT to extrapolate the recurring themes for each question.

Garrett had the individual questions, along with their primary responses, posted on the walls Dec. 4 for review and asked each person to evaluate those answers.

He then took three large sheets of paper and distributed them to three different tables and challenged everyone to take a turn at answering each question: What changes can we make in Wrangell: three months from now, one year from now and 13 years from now.

“We really need to get some tutoring kind of program going for the schools,” former school board president David Wilson said during one of the discussions. “We need to be make sure that every student is learning what they need to learn.”

“I think these kids need to develop better writing skills,” parent Tory Houser said. “I have read some papers that my son has written for school, and I just feel like some important basic things either aren’t being taught or learned.”

After lengthy discussions, Garrett collected the answers to the three questions and thanked everyone for coming out and participating.

“I’m smiling because here it is, a Thursday night, and all of you have been here talking about education and helping our kids,” he said. “I’m going to take some time to review these answers and see where to go from there.”

Garrett said he likes the idea of hosting more community conversations and indicated a third one could possibly be scheduled sometime in January.

“It was inspiring to see our town come together to dream boldly, think collaboratively, and focus with such passion on what is best for our children. I’m grateful for the community’s partnership as we continue shaping a future where every child can thrive.”