Principals at 10 New Hanover County schools are preparing to welcome community leaders onto campus for the Oct. 9 Walk in My Shoes program.
Guests to the schools can sit in on classes, talk with staff and students and eat lunch in the cafeteria. The program, organized by New Hanover County Schools and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, launched in 2013 to increase public awareness about challenges and triumphs in local public schools.
“We want the community to be our partner and to understand what goes on day to day: what teachers are dealing with, what students are dealing with, where tax dollars go, how we deal with challenges from budget cuts,” said Valita Quattlebaum, New Hanover County Schools spokesperson.
The 2014 program is focused on school needs included in the proposed $160 million school bond referendum.
Wrightsville Beach School is one of the schools participating. Principal MaryPaul Beall said visitors to her school will clearly see the needs, but also success despite overcrowding in an aging facility.
“We’re using every nook and cranny in the building to teach students, but we’re also a successful school. We’ve made do so far, but this renovation would make it even better for the students,” Beall said.
Quattlebaum said needs would be more evident at the three elementary schools included in the program: Wrightsville Beach, College Park and Blair elementary schools. At most middle and high schools, improvements are mainly to improve infrastructure and security.
Principals were given flexibility to create a customized experience for visitors.
“Each school can design their own programs, so your experience at one school may be totally different from what someone else has,” Quattlebaum said. “We give the principals some guidelines that they can incorporate, but each of our schools is really unique so we let the programs be unique as well.”
Invitations were sent to 150 elected officials and business leaders. Confirmed attendees for the 2014 tour include New Hanover County Commissioners Woody White and Jonathan Barfield Jr., Wilmington City Councilman Kevin O’Grady, New Hanover County Board of Education Vice-Chair Jeannette Nichols and Cape Fear Community College Foundation Executive Director Margaret Robison.
Quattlebaum said all are welcome to attend, but must RSVP with the school district’s public relations department.
Schools participating in the event will be open for visitors from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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