USD 253 Emporia’s art students were on prominent display at the Kansas Association of School Boards annual convention earlier this month.
Students were invited to be a part of the convention’s district showcase where they were able to display various art pieces from the Emporia High School art department. USD 253 Board of Education President Lillian Lingenfelter says leadership was very proud of the moment and notes the EHS art department already had quite the reputation ahead of the event.
The showcase took place on Friday, November 15 which was day one of the three-day convention that included several breakout sessions and panels. For Lingenfelter, one of the most informative sessions dealt with increasing engagement and communication with non-English speaking residents and families, something she says the district already does very well.
Lingenfelter says something she believes the district can bring back from the convention where they saw examples of various engagement activities showcased by other school districts that take place outside of the classroom. In addition to interactions between students and faculty, Lingenfelter says there was a lot of great information on the importance of “student-to-student interactions.”
Also during the convention, school leaders looked ahead to the coming legislative session where several topics of note will be discussed including the ongoing conversation on school vouchers, a method for families to use public funds to pay for private school tuition, something Lingenfelter says she is not in favor of. Lingenfelter noted in her own personal opinion school vouchers can be harmful to public school districts and says while she hopes there can be a compromise of some kind found on the matter she is not confident that will happen or even what such a compromise would look like.
In all, Lingenfelter says the convention was a great opportunity for board members to spend more time with one another and also noted it was heartwarming to get to see current USD 253 board member Art Gutierrez wrap up his time as KASB Board President.
