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Benson School adopts 'innovative program'
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
The Benson School District will benefit from a program that goes beyond traditional teaching from textbooks when it pilots the Vail Interactive Curriculum Initiative (VICCI) offered by the Vail School District.
Already receiving national attention, VICCI, also known as Beyond Textbooks, received an honorable mention from the American School Board Journals Magna Awards.
The program encourages teachers and administrators to consider new ways of looking at instruction, which means that rather than starting with a textbook, a teacher will look at state standards and use digital content available to teach the standards in a current, effective manner. Some of those methods include the use of cameras, LCD projectors, student responders and interactive white board technology.
The VICCI Web site allows teachers to house and share resources over the entire district. For each performance objective, teachers have access to a menu for resources that will help them prepare lesson plans by using helpful tools such as PowerPoint slides, Web links, audio clips and accommodations for special education and English language learner programs.
The teachers are able to create lesson plans beyond the scope of a textbook, and then can share their successes with other educators through the Web site.
Marilee Rist, executive director of the National School Boards Association, said "As schools face unprecedented challenges in today's difficult economy, the Magna Awards are an opportunity to showcase innovation and the bold steps taken by districts every day. This year's entries reflect the hard work of school boards, superintendents, and staff who strive to meet changing community needs in creative and innovative ways."
Calvin Baker, superintendent of the Vail School District, said he is happy that Benson agreed to pilot the new program.
"In essence, Vail has been able to develop some tools and guidelines for instruction that smaller districts simply do not have the resources to develop," Baker said. "I remember trying to develop innovative systems when Vail was smaller than Benson. We simply didn't have enough people to make it work. Our motivation with Beyond Textbooks is to share opportunities available for our teachers and students, with teachers and students in other districts."
Vail, one of the state's excelling schools, has grown to more than 8,000 students. Benson has just over 1,000 enrolled.
David Woodall, superintendent of the Benson district, said they were glad to pilot the program over the last four months, with several teachers using the new software.
One of those instructors is Tom Poirier in the social studies department.
"I think the program has a lot of merit," he said. "I am sure that school districts will eventually move away from textbooks that are used as a crutch in the classroom. The VICCI utility is designed to provide a variety of lesson plans, handouts, readings and activities that can be used with a textbook or in lieu thereof. VICCI will be very beneficial for new teachers that come into the district. These new teachers will have a lesson plan database aligned to state standards that they can reference for lesson ideas to supplement their curriculum. This database will also be beneficial for the veteran teachers as well, as we are always looking for better and innovative ways to present concepts and content to our students."
Poirier said the VICCI database is continually stocked with proven lesson ideas and resources from all content areas.
"I am sure Vail is anxious to roll it out ASAP," Poirier said. "Many of us who participated in the pilot program will spend some time during the summer reviewing our best lessons and will upload them to VICCI."
Baker said there are outstanding teachers in Benson and other districts across the state, and Vail is already seeing them put their lesson plans and teaching materials onto the Web site for other educators to use.
"Due to the success of the pilot at Benson, we are offering the program to other school districts in the area," Baker said.
By agreeing to pilot the project, Benson Schools will get to continue using the software for free. Woodall said it will save the district between $10,000 and $15,000 a year. Next year, the district expects about 40 teachers to participate in the program, with training in early June.
Baker said they have presented the program to school districts in Morenci, Pomerene, Safford, Bisbee and Sierra Vista, and interest in purchasing the software required is high.
Woodall said he expects Beyond Textbooks to be very successful in the future.
"The entire program is just a very nice enhancement to our curriculum," he said. "We were the first district besides Vail to have it, and we are pleased with the results."
Besides taking advantage of the digital world to help teachers, the Vail School District has also made strides in moving students past the traditional classroom learning.
The Empire High School Class of 2009 will be the first class to graduate without using a textbook. The students used laptops instead.
Other districts are also looking to Vail to expand this program.
The Benson School District will benefit from a program that goes beyond traditional teaching from textbooks when it pilots the Vail Interactive Curriculum Initiative (VICCI) offered by the Vail School District.
Already receiving national attention, VICCI, also known as Beyond Textbooks, received an honorable mention from the American School Board Journals Magna Awards.
The program encourages teachers and administrators to consider new ways of looking at instruction, which means that rather than starting with a textbook, a teacher will look at state standards and use digital content available to teach the standards in a current, effective manner. Some of those methods include the use of cameras, LCD projectors, student responders and interactive white board technology.
The VICCI Web site allows teachers to house and share resources over the entire district. For each performance objective, teachers have access to a menu for resources that will help them prepare lesson plans by using helpful tools such as PowerPoint slides, Web links, audio clips and accommodations for special education and English language learner programs.
The teachers are able to create lesson plans beyond the scope of a textbook, and then can share their successes with other educators through the Web site.
Marilee Rist, executive director of the National School Boards Association, said "As schools face unprecedented challenges in today's difficult economy, the Magna Awards are an opportunity to showcase innovation and the bold steps taken by districts every day. This year's entries reflect the hard work of school boards, superintendents, and staff who strive to meet changing community needs in creative and innovative ways."
Calvin Baker, superintendent of the Vail School District, said he is happy that Benson agreed to pilot the new program.
"In essence, Vail has been able to develop some tools and guidelines for instruction that smaller districts simply do not have the resources to develop," Baker said. "I remember trying to develop innovative systems when Vail was smaller than Benson. We simply didn't have enough people to make it work. Our motivation with Beyond Textbooks is to share opportunities available for our teachers and students, with teachers and students in other districts."
Vail, one of the state's excelling schools, has grown to more than 8,000 students. Benson has just over 1,000 enrolled.
David Woodall, superintendent of the Benson district, said they were glad to pilot the program over the last four months, with several teachers using the new software.
One of those instructors is Tom Poirier in the social studies department.
"I think the program has a lot of merit," he said. "I am sure that school districts will eventually move away from textbooks that are used as a crutch in the classroom. The VICCI utility is designed to provide a variety of lesson plans, handouts, readings and activities that can be used with a textbook or in lieu thereof. VICCI will be very beneficial for new teachers that come into the district. These new teachers will have a lesson plan database aligned to state standards that they can reference for lesson ideas to supplement their curriculum. This database will also be beneficial for the veteran teachers as well, as we are always looking for better and innovative ways to present concepts and content to our students."
Poirier said the VICCI database is continually stocked with proven lesson ideas and resources from all content areas.
"I am sure Vail is anxious to roll it out ASAP," Poirier said. "Many of us who participated in the pilot program will spend some time during the summer reviewing our best lessons and will upload them to VICCI."
Baker said there are outstanding teachers in Benson and other districts across the state, and Vail is already seeing them put their lesson plans and teaching materials onto the Web site for other educators to use.
"Due to the success of the pilot at Benson, we are offering the program to other school districts in the area," Baker said.
By agreeing to pilot the project, Benson Schools will get to continue using the software for free. Woodall said it will save the district between $10,000 and $15,000 a year. Next year, the district expects about 40 teachers to participate in the program, with training in early June.
Baker said they have presented the program to school districts in Morenci, Pomerene, Safford, Bisbee and Sierra Vista, and interest in purchasing the software required is high.
Woodall said he expects Beyond Textbooks to be very successful in the future.
"The entire program is just a very nice enhancement to our curriculum," he said. "We were the first district besides Vail to have it, and we are pleased with the results."
Besides taking advantage of the digital world to help teachers, the Vail School District has also made strides in moving students past the traditional classroom learning.
The Empire High School Class of 2009 will be the first class to graduate without using a textbook. The students used laptops instead.
Other districts are also looking to Vail to expand this program.
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