6 minute read
Changing and Growing
With new leadership, USD 232 focuses on students and their future careers.
Article by Jackie Hostetler
Photos courtesy USD 232
The De Soto School District has long had a stellar reputation in local and national education circles, often celebrated for its high graduation rates, academic excellence, and quality facilities. This reputation has been years in the making. Recent developments within the district only serve to reinforce the well-deserved reputation.
The start of the 2023–2024 school year saw a significant transition for the district as the new superintendent, Dr. Cory Gibson, came on board. Gibson comes to the district with vast experience across the educational spectrum. He has worked as a custodian, district maintenance employee, Latchkey assistant director, paraeducator, teacher, consultant, counselor, principal, and assistant superintendent.
Gibson previously held the title of superintendent for the Valley Center, Kansas, school district, where he served for 11 years. He wasn’t exactly pursuing a change. De Soto came knocking following the retirement of superintendent Dr. Frank Harwood.
“He wasn’t looking for the job. Our board of education hired a recruiting firm, and one of the recruiters told Dr. Gibson, ‘You need to check out USD 232.’ He did,” says USD 232 assistant superintendent for administration and communications.
As part of Gibson’s transition into the district, he engaged in a months-long listening tour, which involved meeting with hundreds of stakeholders. Throughout these tours, several themes arose, including staff retention and recruitment, professional learning, and communication.
“The information shared by stakeholders helped us to develop a new, five-year strategic plan to move the school district into the future,” Gibson says.
Gibson then presented the themes to the De Soto Board of Education for further discussion. It was determined that the themes would be the focus of the district’s strategic planning.
The Empty Chair
“With every decision we make, I remind our staff and board of education to remember the Empty Chair. It’s a philosophy I have used for many years, and it guides our every step. I place an empty chair in our meetings to remind us to mentally put any student we know in that chair and to consider that student as we make decisions. If we can continue with this mindset, then we can succeed in fulfilling our mission of preparing all students for their future,” Gibson says.
Additionally, the district maintains a strong focus on creating and sustaining strong connections with community businesses and continuing support of the fine arts program.
Mill Valley High School and De Soto High School offer vibrant fine arts programs, including theater, chorus, band, painting, drawing, sculpture, pottery, digital design, and photography. Each school maintains its own performing arts center, each with an audience capacity of 750. Mill Valley completed construction on its center in 2020, and DHS opened its center in spring 2022.
Many of these initiatives began under the leadership of Harwood, who, in his retirement, has gone on to support the Kansas State Department of Education as deputy commissioner of fiscal and administrative services.
“Harwood provided stability, as well as growth for the district. As a result, we had a bond issue. We completed the Performing Arts Center and Cedar Trails Exploration Center. Now that Dr. Gibson is here, we’re (again) moving forward,” says Cater.
Cedar Trails Exploration Center (CTEC) opened in 2021 in Lenexa. In addition to housing the district’s early childhood program, the facility is also home to CTEC CAPS (Center for Advanced Professional Studies). The program is dedicated to providing high school students with the academic and technical skills, knowledge, and training necessary to succeed in a variety of career pathways. There are three strands offered at CTEC: bioscience, design, and emerging technologies.
“With the three strands, the idea is to expose students to as many jobs and careers within those fields as possible. We want students to have an idea of their interests when they leave high school,” says Cater.
Guided by these strands, students can explore several avenues related to future career paths. The district starts this focus as early as elementary school in some cases.
“We begin career exploration starting in elementary, going into middle school, and then into high school. By the time students get to ninth grade, they have an idea of what their interests are, and then they know what kind of courses they might want to take,” says Cater. “The idea is that they don’t go to college and waste two or three years of tuition trying to figure out what they want to do.”
With the three strands, the idea is to expose students to as many jobs and careers within those fields as possible. We want students to have an idea of their interests when they leave high school.
-Alvie Cater, USD 232 assistant superintendent for administration and communications
Client Projects
Another important piece of the strategic plan for students within the district involves exposing students to client connected projects such as job shadowing and internships.
Kevin Jeffries, Real World Learning Business to Education coordinator for the district, assists in connecting students with opportunities that fit their interests and skill sets. Rather than simply funnel students into jobs, the program is customizable to allow students to earn college credit, gain work experience, and experiment with possible future career paths.
“Last semester, we had 15 opportunities for students, and next year we’re looking at 30 or more,” says Jeffries. “We look at everything from HVAC and commercial plumbing to pre-med-type programs to early childhood (education). We even have some students working as interns with some of the teachers here in the district.”
The district has been fortunate to connect with one of the larger business operations in De Soto, Huhtamaki, which manufactures on-the-shelf and on-the-go packaging.
“Connecting Huhtamaki with the district shows that, as a company, it wants to embed and give back to the community. We are hearing the same thing from Panasonic, as well,” says Cater. “These organizations want to get connected to the school district because they want to develop that workforce. If we can support our business partners by connecting them with students who have an interest in that career field, it just continues to grow the community. Investing in the school district is investing in the future of the community.”
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USD 232
35200 W. 91st ST., DE SOTO, KS 66018
913-667-6200
