2007-09-21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CHARLOTTESVILLE CITY COUNCIL WILL BE HELD ON Friday, September 21, 2007 AT 12:00 noon IN THE Adult Education Center, 935-A Second Street, S.W. (IX Building) THE PROPOSED AGENDA IS AS FOLLOWS: Luncheon meeting with School Board BY ORDER OF THE MAYOR BY Jeanne Cox ADULT EDUCATION CENTER – September 21, 2007 Council met in special session on this date with the following members present: Dr. Brown, Ms. Hamilton, Mr. Taliaferro. Absent: Mr. Lynch and Mr. Norris. Dr. Alvin Edwards, Chairman of the Schools Board, welcomed Councilors to the st Adult Education Center, and said the topic of the meeting will be fostering 21 century skills. Ms. Rosa Atkins, Superintendent of Charlottesville Public Schools, said School st staff has talked about the tools needed to prepare students for the 21 century and the support needed to put those tools into place. Ms. Gertrude Ivory, Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, said that the Schools were called and asked to apply for a foundation grant and the presentation being made today was given to the foundation. Mr. Harley Miles, Supervisor of Assessments, said the following projects were proposed to the foundation because they were felt to support what the Schools are currently doing: Minds in Motion; Outreach and Emergency Messaging System; Hand- held Data Collection Devices and Walk-through Software; Assessment Item Bank; and Critical Thinking Lesson Plans. Ms. Ivory said that the total request to the foundation was $103,500. She said the st projects proposed will address the following needed 21 century skills: digital age literacy, inventive thinking, high productivity and effective communication. Ms. Ivory said that the Minds in Motion program will be expanded to six schools. She said a total of $83,500 was awarded from the foundation, with only the emergency messaging system not supported. Dr. Brown said he saw the Minds in Motion program last First Night and he thought it was fabulous and he is glad to see it expanding. Ms. Hamilton asked how the Minds in Motion program links with the rest of the curriculum. Ms. Ivory said research shows that music is correlated to math skills. She said students will do a lot of problem solving, and their exposure to the program will be through physical education or music classes. Ms. Hamilton said she is glad that the Schools will be working with Richmond, but said we also have great arts in Charlottesville that she would like to see them work with in the future. She said that technology is rapidly changing, and suggested that the Schools make sure anything such as the hand held devices are transferable to other applications. Regarding inventive thinking, Ms. Hamilton said things really get modeled by teachers, and she asked how it will be ensured that teachers are displaying inventive thinking to students.