T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E
to be quarantined and were virtual at some point. I think parents and the community realized there’s a difference between virtual and face-to-face learning. When you’re at home, there are going to be gaps. To overcome those gaps, it’s going to take a good three to five years, unfortunately. But that’s the reality and the greatest challenge facing us as educators moving forward.” “I’m excited for our students and staff to have the opportunity to have a much more normal year than what we just experienced in 2020-2021,” added Pirtle (PGISD). “I’m excited on the academic side about the literacy initiative we have in our school district. My goal is by 2025 to have 100% of our kids reading on grade level. Kesler (TASD) shared recent changes to their district structure: “We just completed our new middle school north of the interstate, Arkansas Middle School. Our sixth grade will join them this year. That left College Hill Middle School empty, so we made that campus College Hill Harmony—our leadership and music school. Every student will get an instrument to play, and we expect about 400 students to be there. Our junior high, that was known as North Heights, is going to be known as The Heights next year. It will be a MicroSociety school. They’ll have their own mayor, city council and a whole society within the school. It’s a really neat concept, and the parents are excited about it and the accelerated curriculum we will offer there. Every student at The Heights will work a grade level ahead. Our Gifted and Talented program will also be there, and we’ll have about 200 students on that campus next year.” With the rapid growth of technology and the continual expansion of curriculum and activities on our campuses, there is no telling what the school experience will be like for future generations. “When I go out to our schools, I see our kids coding; I see them working in robotics; I see them in art; I see the things they’re doing in music; there are times when I’d like to check myself back in and start over,” said Brubaker (TISD). “If you look at 20 years from now, I think we’re going to see technology giving us the opportunity to tailor experiences to individual needs and interests, and I’m really excited to see how that’s going to unfold.” However, there are core elements to the future academic experience some hope will never change. “There’s nothing that takes the place of a face-to-face teacher,” said Kesler (TASD). “The students would probably say they want to go virtual and do only online learning in the future. But I’m hoping in 20 years we still have classrooms and teachers. There’s always a place for online learning, but I’m old school, and I hope we still have face-to-face learning going on. That relationship is so critical, and nothing will take the place of the relationship between a teacher and a student.” Mr. Pirtle (PGISD) expounded on that idea and reflected on the influence his third-grade teacher, Mrs. Whitney, made on his life. “I don’t really remember what she taught me, but I remember that she loved me. We probably all have someone who had that kind of impact on us. I would like to say to the Texarkana Community: Find a way to love our teachers. They do so much for our kids, so my challenge to you is to love our teachers.” The strength of education in our area and the talented leadership guiding our campuses into the new school year sets the tone for not only a more “back-to-normal” experience for our students, but an extraordinary one.
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C OMM U N I T Y & C U L T U R E
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