2015 State of the County Address

David Wymer, Chairman

Roanoke County School Board
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Id like to first thank the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce for the
opportunity to speak to you this morning.

Opportunity describes what we as a school system are here to provide.

I am David Wymer, chairman of the Roanoke County School Board, and it is my
honor to present the state of Roanoke County Public Schools.

First, Id like to recognize the current members of the Roanoke County School
Board:
Vicechairman Fuzzy Minnix from the Cave Spring District
Jerry Canada from the Hollins District
Jason Moretz from the Windsor Hills District
Tim Greenway from the Vinton District.

Fuzzy and I will be retiring from the board at the end of this year. Id like to extend
our congratulations to Mike Wray, newly elected member from the Cave Spring
District and Thomas McCracken, newly elected member from the Catawba District.

It is also my pleasure to introduce Dr. Greg Killough, new superintendent for
Roanoke County Public Schools. Dr. Killough is a native of Blacksburg and we are
thrilled he has come back home to the Roanoke Valley.

Lets go back in time for a moment.

Take a look at this. Here is Mrs. Yanceys classroom at Oak Grove Elementary School
in 1980. 35 years ago, this was what education looked like. Back then, learning was
passive. The teacher would stand at the front of the room and impart information,
while students would just sit in rows like sponges and get information.

Now, lets fastforward to the classroom of today take a look

As you can see, todays classrooms are vastly different. That is because education is
vastly different from that of 35 years ago.

Today, our classrooms are interactive, busy, sometimes messy, and engaging. Our
students are experiencing learning and discovering information. They are actively
participating in what and how they learn, and it takes a highly qualified team of
teachers, administrators and support staff to make this all happen.

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Over the past two years, our staff completed a detailed strategic planning process to
develop what we call our strategic framework. This is a roadmap for outstanding
instruction. At your table, you will find more detailed information about our
framework and how we are moving ahead with implementation.

As a result of this level of planning and preparation for instruction, our students are
excelling. I am proud to announce that every school in Roanoke County is fully
accredited by the state of Virginia.

More than 94percent of the class of 2015 graduated on time. We are proud to have
one of the highest ontime graduation rates in the state. Our students continue to
outperform national averages on SAT, ACT, and Advanced Placement tests.

More than 12hundred high school students took at least one dualenrollment class,
earning college credit at Virginia Western Community College.

Business leaders are looking for a strong, talented workforce. Through career and
technical education programs in our high schools and the Burton Center for Arts and
Technology, our students are ready with certifications to take on various job
opportunities in the Roanoke Valley and beyond.

Roanoke County graduates have earned more than 800 career and technical
education certifications from workplace readiness to Microsoft Office Specialist to
ASE certifications and more that prepare them to enter the workforce with the skills
they need to be successful right after graduation.

Our 2015 graduates also have earned more than 10million dollars in scholarships
to help pay for higher education options.

The Class of 2015 is more than just ready for college or other training they are
OPPORTUNITY READY ready to select from a widerange of options from post
secondary education to the workforce. We are preparing our graduates for future
careers that you or I may not even know about yet.

In short our students are experiencing opportunities for growth in skills and
knowledge that reflect their personal goals and interests, and their future choices
when they leave Roanoke County Public Schools.

All this is happening every day in our classrooms.

We use the word classroom in a much different way today. What defines a
classroom? There are all sorts of classrooms. We are nearing the completion of an
extensive renovation and expansion of Glenvar High School to address the advanced
academic needs for our students in the western portion of Roanoke County.

But today, education is not limited to what occurs within the bricks and mortar of a
school building. Our facilities are important, to be sure, but not the only places our
students learn.

We have been very fortunate to have many wonderful community partners who
provide our students with opportunities for learning wherever it can happen.

Some of our partners are here today, and Id like to take this moment to thank all
our partners.

Our students have gained realworld experience through communitybased
internships and we are collaborating with the technology community to advance our
programs.

We are eager to partner with you and your companies to enhance the opportunities
available to our students. Together, we can help enhance the value of the Roanoke
Valley to prospective new businesses.

We are breaking down school borders with our neighboring school systems and
coming together to create opportunities for learning. Through our laptop program
moving to middle schools, our 8thgrade students at Cave Spring Middle School are
collaborating with students at Breckenridge Middle school on a studentled project
called "Be The Change: Partnership365."

Also, Roanoke County and Salem are partnering to provide education opportunities
for students with limited English skills.

We are reaching out to Interactive Achievement to develop better ways for teachers
to teach and develop actionable data on student progress. This allows teachers to
more quickly identify a struggling student so he or she can get additional support
they need long before the end of the school year.

Partnering with our community goes beyond direct instruction. Over the summer,
Walmart came together with schools in Roanoke County, Roanoke City, Salem, Giles
and Botetourt counties to hold the largest regional school supply drive ever to help
students in need.

We also work with other communitybased programs to provide food and other
supplies for students needing support.

More importantly, our staff and students are giving back to our community. Our
schools hold fundraisers for charities, collect clothes and canned food for shelters,
volunteer and serve our community in countless ways.

Why all this partnership?

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Roanoke County is not an island. Just as Roanoke City or Salem are not islands. We
must work together to encourage businesses and families to locate in the Roanoke
Valley.

The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors and the School Board are working
together to foster economic development in Roanoke County. Many of you
understand that businesses want to locate in communities where their potential
employees and their families will be happy and successful.

Ask any business leader what qualities they are looking for in a community for their
business and one of the top questions asked is: What are the schools like?

The answer is that the greater Roanoke Valley equals or outperforms the rest of the
state regions in academic achievement. Thats right our Roanoke Valley students
outperform the Richmond, Charlottesville and Tidewater regions and match
Northern Virginia students.

Beyond the classroom, Roanoke County students have many outstanding
opportunities for extracurricular activities. Many of these have resulted in
regional, state, national and even international recognition.

We recognize there is an impending need for highly skilled workers in traditional
vocations. Through recommendations from our General Advisory Committee, we
are working to supply the next generation of trained and qualified electricians,
carpenters, masons, welders, mechanics and more to fill the vacancies that are
coming in the near future.

We are planning to expand our STEM initiatives to include health career
opportunities starting with our students becoming certified EMT 1s. This program
will provide students with opportunities with local first responders or to begin a
path towards other careers in the medical field.

We are looking for more community partners for this key program.

We are training students for new digital careers. For several years, we have offered
students the opportunity to learn advanced computer programming so they can
design and create their own games and mobile apps.

Starting next year, through a partnership with Radford University, we will expand
our program with new classes teaching cyber security. This new class also could
expand the breadth of our criminal justice programs.

The technology industry is booming and we are giving our students the opportunity
to get an early start on this exciting career path.

Through these programs and many more, we are training the next generation of
medical technicians, programmers, engineers, scientists, artists, graphic designers,
performers, writers and much, much more.

We are developing critical skills so our students can think critically, problem solve,
communicate, and collaborate all with creativity. These are skills that our
business partners are telling us our graduates need to possess.

Roanoke County Public Schools plays a key role in what makes Roanoke County a
great community. We are proud to contribute to the many attributes that make the
entire Roanoke Valley a great place for all families to live, work, learn and play.

Together, we need to share and build on our successes and spread the word: come
to Roanoke County. Its a great place to raise your family. Its a great place for your
children to learn. Its a great place for your business.

Thank you.