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Class of 2012 -
Session 7 Update
We
met this month on a
stormy morning in
Maple Valley for an
enjoyable and
diverse day.
We
kicked off our day
at The Lake
Wilderness Lodge
being welcomed by
Greg Brown, Parks
and Recreation
Director for the
City of Maple
Valley. He educated
us on the history of
the property,
stating it has gone
through many
transformations over
its lifetime. In the
1890’s, one of the
largest logging
mills in King County
was located on the
site. Over the years
it has been
everything from a
homestead farm open
to hunters and
anglers, a
destination resort
complete with
ballroom and
restaurant, to its
current use as a
world-class rental
facility.
Maple
Valley itself used
to have a population
of 10,000 when it
first became a city
14 years ago. It
went through a
population explosion
and current
population is around
22,800. Family
Circle magazine
named Maple Valley
one of the Top 10
Cities for Families
in 2011 which of
course draws people
as a desirable
location; however,
one of the major
concerns of
residents is with
the city providing
enough
infrastructure to
accommodate
population growth
and reduce the urban
choke.
We
then met with Dr.
Eileen Ely, Green
River Community
College President.
GRCC’s mission and
philosophy is to
keep an open access.
Every student should
have the right and
the opportunity for
an education. She
believes that our
human resource is
our greatest
resource and
investing in our
state’s workforce is
our most precious
resource. GRCC has
about 10,000
students in
enrollment with 300
adjunct staff
members. Green River
Community College
has the largest
number of worker
retraining students
in the state, the
largest number of
running start high
school students, the
largest air traffic
control program west
of the Mississippi,
and has the largest
number of
international
students at a
community college in
the state. Sixty
percent of students
transfer on to a
4-year college. One
of the programs Dr.
Ely would like to
start is an “Upward
Bound” program for
vets returning to
the community after
their service to the
country.
In
addition to
providing
information about
the college, Dr. Ely
shared with us quite
an interesting
personal history of
education and some
of the struggles she
went through on the
way to her doctorate
degree, which really
seemed to strike a
chord with quite a
few of us in class.
She talked about her
“patchwork quilt” of
all her experiences
making her who she
is today. Her advice
to us was to take
other’s experiences
and grow on them;
not trying to
compete, just doing
it your own way. She
spoke about really
making sure to
balance your
professional life
with your personal
life and that the
only person stopping
you from achieving
what you want to do
in life is you.
Dr.
Kip Herren was our
presenter who
finished out our
morning. He is the
current
Superintendent of
the Auburn School
District. Kip has
been with the Auburn
School District for
33 years, beginning
his career with the
Auburn School
District in 1979 as
a teacher and
wrestling coach.
Kip explained to the
class the challenges
he has encountered
as the Auburn
Superintendent and
his efforts to
change the system as
a whole. Kip shared
with the class a
presentation on
Systemic Leadership
which helped to
demonstrate the
difference between a
“system” and a
“collection”. In
addition Kip shared
with the class the
mission, vision,
values, and goals of
the Auburn School
District which he
was instrumental in
helping to develop.
Since Kip has taken
on the role of the
Superintendent of
the Auburn School
District and has
started implementing
a systemic
leadership practice,
the Auburn schools
have seen marked
improvement in
student and school
performance. In the
key area of 3rd
grade academic
performance testing
the Auburn School
District children
are far above the
state reading and
writing
requirements; and
ties in performance
of other school
districts such as
the Bellevue School
District whose
annual district
funding far
supersedes that of
the Auburn School
District.
Kip
is a dynamic
presenter and
hearing his
presentation was
truly a joy and
treat for the
class.
Our
final presenter of
the day was Dara Lee
Petersen who came in
to talk with us
about the Relay for
Life that is coming
up. This event will
be May 11-12, 2012,
and will be held at
the Auburn High
School track. The
Relay for Life
raises money for the
American Cancer
Society. She is a
team leader and the
Leadership Alumni
support her team
every year. Dara
gave quite a
touching
presentation on how
nearly everyone will
be touched by cancer
in some way in there
lifetime, stating 1
in 3 people actually
get diagnosed with
cancer. She is
looking for team
members, so please
contact her at
acsevents.org and
click on “my events”
if you are
interested in
participating this
year on the team.
Many
thanks to all the
presenters who took
their time to share
with our Leadership
class this month! |
