The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

“Students will leave Wahkiakum High School with the tools and skills necessary to persevere in their pursuit for college or career success.”

--a Wahkiakum School District goal

Exciting things are happening in Wahkiakum’s school district.

“After attending a superintendent conference a couple years ago,” said Wahkiakum High School’s new principal, Stephanie Leitz, “Bob Garrett brought back a book by Damen Lopez, called No Excuses.”

During an administrative internship at the grade school Leitz and other K-8 teachers tackled No Excuses for a book study, and its new philosophy began to invade the long hall and portables of Julius A. Wendt Elementary and Thomas Middle schools. Now the excitement is making its way to the high school and being implemented with this year’s freshman class.

The two basic principles of Lopez’s philosophy are thus:

1. Every child has the right to be prepared to attend college.

2. It is the responsibility of adults in the school to develop exceptional systems that make that dream a reality.

On Mondays one will find students in the grade school wearing their Julius A Wendt t-shirts with the affirmation “I am college bound” on each back. Every teacher has adopted a four-year university and in each classroom on Friday, one will find the students wearing that particular school’s colors.

In middle school the students turn their focus to the values and options of attending a community college. And at the high school, Kami Bair, a recruiter from LCC comes once a month to talk to students about higher education.

“We want to keep as many doors open as possible,” Leitz said.

In the end, students should have the confidence they need to actively pursue the life they want to lead, whether they go to college or not.

Not only are the teachers allowing the students to dream, they are giving them the practical skills to make those dreams a reality.

“The state is moving towards this whole idea of common course standards and creating kids who are college and career ready, “ Leitz said. “With all these changes coming that are being mandated by the state… as teachers, we have to be willing to reflect on our practice and try to change what we’re doing to have more kids succeed.”

Leitz is making the most of the many connections she has made over the years to move what has historically been an isolated faculty, due to the nature of working in a rural school, into the larger teacher’s community of the Longview/Kelso area in order to challenge, support and encourage their important work.

“Faculty have been invited to participate in any of their staff development for free,” says Leitz.

The district has also adopted a late start one day a week for teachers to focus on students' individual learning.

Classes start an hour later than usual on Thursdays to give time for teachers to meet and discuss “How are kids doing? Are they succeeding? Who isn’t succeeding?”

It’s also an opportunity to discuss four questions in a model by educator, Rick DuFour, “What do we want them to know? How will we know if they know it? What are we going to do if they don’t know it? What are we going to do if they do know it?”

Teachers are gathering, K-12, in what Leitz has termed “vertical” meetings. They discuss what students will need in the coming years to be prepared for the next grade, in order to fill in the gaps.

Incomplete work is becoming a thing of the past. What once garnered a negative response and a bad grade now brings conversation and collaboration. Time is reserved at the school for the student to finish the assignment with the assistance they need.

“If you aren’t turning in assignments, we can’t see where you are…where you need help,” Leitz said.

The extra support and focus on goals is working. The football team had study tables before practice. In the past, it was not unheard of to have up to 10 students unable to participate at grade check. This year, there were only three.

Ultimately, Leitz said, “I want them to leave high school saying that faculty, that staff, they helped me grow, they helped me find my direction, they really cared about me.”