Guest Blog: Renaissance at Rogers High School
By John C. Stocks, NEA Executive Director
Rogers High School is located in the poorest ZIP code in the state of Washington. It serves 1600 students, of which at least 200 are homeless. The student population is very diverse: African American, Hispanic, Native American, and Caucasian, as well as a large number of recent immigrants from the Marshall Islands who are fleeing the effects of global climate change and the former Soviet Union who are fleeing oppressive and war-torn homelands.
Rogers High School was a Student Improvement Grant (SIG) school and has been assisted by Washington Education Association (WEA) and NEA Priority Schools.
Led by Lori Wyborney, this year’s Washington State Principal of the Year and a former WEA local union president,in the last five years, Rogers High School has boosted its graduation rate from the high 40s to an impressive 86 percent.
Rogers is also where National Council for Education Support Professionals (NCESP) President and Spokane EA Vice President Debby Chandler oversees student attendance.
Recently, I visited the school again and toured the building with Lori, Debby, Jenny Rose (Spokane EA President) and Shelley Redinger (Superintendent of Spokane Public Schools).
I met students, custodians, food service workers, attendance secretaries, athletic coaches, guidance counselors, library media specialists, instructional coaches, assistant principals, student intervention specialists, English language learner support professionals, classroom teachers and the school security officer.
The student-centered culture of the school was always ‘top of mind’ in every conversation – a testament to the leadership of Lori, Debby and other staff leaders.
I spent time in a classroom of ‘at-risk’ students run by a veteran teacher named Barb, a Rogers High alum herself who still lives in the neighborhood. As faculty sponsor of the student Gay-Straight Alliance, Barb has worked with at-risk students for more than 25 years. Debby and Barb also partner with parents of ‘at-risk’ students to build plans for their children’s success. They go out into the neighborhood visiting with families and persuading students to come to school with the goal of helping them earn a high school diploma. These two NEA members are beacons of hope for many disinterested ‘at-risk’ students who would otherwise dropout. Debby and Barb are a big part of the key to Rogers’ amazing turnaround in graduation rates.
With assistance from NEA Priority Schools and Minority Community Organizing and Partnerships, Debby and Barb plan to train more Rogers staff to participate in the student home visit program.
With assistance from NEA Priority Schools and Minority Community Organizing and Partnerships, Debby and Barb plan to train more Rogers staff to participate in the student home visit program.
The school has fostered deep and meaningful relationships with the surrounding community and is becoming a beacon of light for many families and students who had given up on education. Students from the neighborhood who have received scholarships to the prestigious Gonzaga Preparatory, but find it unwelcoming, are coming back to Rogers every quarter.
An interesting outgrowth of Rogers’ focus on excellence is something that happened Friday night. After 39 years of never making a football playoff game and over a recent decade of never scoring a touchdown, the Rogers High School football team won its first playoff game. The successful season is attributed by many as being the result of its focus on academic excellence and graduation. Students are coming back to Rogers, finding a Guest Blog: Renaissance at Rogers High School - Lily's Blackboard: