Across the board improvements have been made at Michigan City Area Schools (MCAS) over the past three years and officials there are making the community aware.
A video recently posted on YouTube will soon be accompanied by a brochure and web page in hopes of informing the community on the great strides the school district has made since the hiring of Superintendent Dr. Barbara Eason-Watkins.
"It is a very creative video," said Betsy Kohn, director of communications at MCAS. "Jack Kilnk Productions out of Lafayette came here for one day, visited several of our schools, interviewed lots of people and took a lot of footage. The video is nice because a lot of people have not seen the inside of the High School in years. It gives you a glimpse of some of the things going on."
The video, titled "Michigan City Schools - City's On the Rise," signifies the many improvements MCAS has seen recently. "It's symbolic of us going places," Kohn said, noting the 13 percent increase in ISTEP scores in mathematics since 2010 and the 16 percent hike in language arts scores over the same time.
"We still have room to grow, but the gains are outpacing the state and other districts we have looked at as becnhmarks," she said. Since the hiring of Eason-Watkins, who Kohn calls "a phenomenal leader," improvements have also been seen at the school system's A.K. Smith Career and Technical Education Program, which offers students real-life experiences in several trades and fields.
"They have really grown," Kohn said, pointing out that the number of dual-credit courses being offered at Michigan City High School has tripled since 2010 thanks to a partnership with Purdue University North Central. A 3+1 program is planned for the near future to allow students with the ability to complete a full-year of college credit before they graduate High School at little or no cost.
In addition to the video, a brochure will be sent to members of the Michigan City Area Chamber of Commerce with the aim of showing realtors the benefit of MCAS when they are in talks with people who are considering a move to the community.
To Kohn, the brochure is "another positive tool" to "show what's going on and the different programs we have here." The funding for the brochure came from the Chamber's community development division.
A web site is also currently in the works to convey the same message. Kohn said an intern is working with MCAS until December to help with that effort.
"The site is going to have a lot of good stuff and we just want to get the message out there to people who may want to move here," Kohn said.
With the slogan "City's On the Rise," Michigan City Area Schools have shown they are indeed heading in the right direction. While the improvement has been "all hands on deck," Kohn credits Eason-Watkins' efforts as an instructional leader and motivator for the school-wide improvements.
"She (Eason-Watkins) is really turning it around," Kohn said. "She keeps all school employees focused on instruction, college pathways and program options.
"But she also stresses the 'safety net' for the kids who are not succeeding. She has an intense focus on individuals and wants to find out on a 1-on-1 basis how to help them," Kohn said.
Rising test scores, having more programs available and a safety net plan in place are only some of the tremendous things MCAS has in the works. The 'spread the word' campaign regarding "City's on the Rise" is paying off as well, Kohn said.
"We want the community to realize great things are happening."