RESOURCES THIN AFTER LAST LEVY CUTS

Stacy Daubenspeck is a teacher at Graham Local Schools. She is also a parent of children in the
district. The first-grade teacher has seen a lot in her time at Graham and that includes the last
round of deep cuts that were made in 2011-12.

“We had to make cuts so class sizes went up. It would not be feasible to do what I do now with
a bigger class. That’s a problem because the quality of learning, face-to-face time disappears.
That is what I worry about with this next levy.”

Daubenspeck feels great pride when talking about the job she and her fellow teachers are doing
at Graham.

“I feel like we have a lot of good things going on here that other districts have not started
doing,” said Daubenspeck. “I’m proud of what we’re doing here. We have a lot of caring, hard-
working people here and our kids are getting a good education.”

Although the teachers do a great job and technology is used to improve instruction the problem
is that it is spread very thin. Daubenspeck’s room has an iPad, two desktop computers that
don’t always work, and the ability to have up to four Chromebooks at a time – sometimes.

Rather than have access to devices all the time, she has to split time with other teachers across
different grade levels. But the results of what can be achieved is on display. In Math alone,
Daubenspeck has seen steps forward through a program called Dream Box. In only 15 minutes a
day – if the Chromebooks are available – her students use the program that adapts to the level
of each child.

“I am seeing huge gains in growth with that program,” she said. “It is enriching things. Kids are
doing addition and subtraction, and some multiplication, in first grade. In ways I cannot push
them, it is boosting their abilities. It would be nice to have access to that all the time, or to see
them publish their own writing and take that ownership of what they are doing.”

It would also be nice, according to Daubenspeck, to introduce an Art program at the elementary
level, something Graham has not had in the time she has been employed there.

Graham is where Daubenspeck wants to be, both as a teacher and a parent, and she wants to
see the district thrive.

“My kids are here and that’s the reason,” she said. “We looked to buy a house here, not just
because this is where I work, but because I like the schools here.”