Who is Jim Smith?
Click the above link, see all the candidates and make an informed choice
-
30+ years as a Forest Lake Community member​​
-
I would rather be Outdoors than Inside
-
Entered public school at age five and am still involved today
-
High school GPA 1.73! (did not care)
-
11th-grade history teacher believed in me and got me to believe in myself
-
University of MN GPA 3.7! (what a change)
-
-
Became a 7th grade history teacher myself (go figure!)
-
Decided, with my future wife, to get married after only being together two weeks
-
Great decision - we have stayed together for decades
-
-
My own experience in high school directed my career to provide the best possible learning experience for ALL kids
-
Love being a father (it keeps me from taking myself too seriously)
-
Laughter may not be the best medicine, but it sure helps
-
Believe that a community working together to support students and their families is much more productive than a community in conflict
-
Life long learner and teacher/educator
What I Believe
The central mission of the Forest Lake Area School District is to provide students with a rigorous and successful learning experience. A mindset of continuous improvement, centered on learning outcomes, is necessary to support the district’s vision of “Excellence for Every Student Every Day.”
​
Lets Talk about Learning
We must search out and support the best research-based solutions for any challenges the district encounters, especially when it comes to student learning. Sometimes this means supporting current ways of doing things that work. Other times it may mean trying something new and different that may be at odds with what is familiar and comfortable. Change can be difficult but in our modern world change is ongoing. Instead of fearing change we must respond to it.​
​
Using "Data" About Learning
Does it Inform
or Mislead!
I believe that data about learning is important when used properly. It can also be used to manipulate and misinform. The graph below shows math proficiency across time in some local districts. Notice the lines all feature a large drop in proficiency between 2019 and 2022, something no one is happy about, here or across the country, where this pattern has been repeated almost everywhere. What happened everywhere? COVID of course. A disruption to schools like no other in our history. Schools, teachers, parents did their best in a very difficult situation to limit the learning damage, but the damage was deep and could have been worse except for the folks mentioned above.
Another school board candidate is using this type of data about Forest Lake Schools to talk about graduation rates and to subtly blame the district for the drop in proficiency. The drop did happen, but it happened everywhere across the nation. The candidate makes no mention for the halt in testing in 2020 because of the disruptive impact of COVID on the schools. The only real thing that can be learned from this graph is how disruptive COVID was.
​
The good news is that wonderful things are happening to recover from the learning disruption of 2020 and 2021 and Forest Lake Schools can be recognized as a state leader in implementing a plan for continuous growth of learning opportunities.
I did not include cell size. That info is available on the MDE report card site. The numbers of students testing has reduced dramatically from pre-covid time. Absences and opting out of tests since 2021 has drastically reduce these numbers of students testing, reducing the legitimacy of the proficiency levels.
Unethical data hints for graphs
How to mislead and manipulate conclusions from a graph (please do not do this).
1. Do not tell how many individuals are included in a data point, also called the cell size! When percentages across different cells are listed, and when no cell size is included, this results in misinformed and distorted conclusions. For example, looking at the percentage of change in the number of students in a school of say 1000 to 1100 students (10 percent increase) and comparing this to the percentage of change in numbers of principals in that school, likely two principals to three (50 percent increase) is very misleading without the cell sizes listed. This allows you to sway your audience by not giving them the complete and correct picture. Unethical of course, and if you get called out it destroys the legitimacy of your graph and looks like you are hiding the truth. (you are hiding it of course).
2. Don’t include your data source! When you do this no one can tell is your numbers are made up or not. Also unethical and results in your data being labeled as misleading.
The Ranger Team
It is my honor to be a part of the Ranger Team running for School Board in Forest Lake. The team of four is made up of three school board veterans who have given so much to the district, Julie Corcoran, Rob Rapheal Gail Theisen and then the newcomer, me.
​
One of the main reasons I am running for the board is that there are so many great things happening in Forest Lake schools and I want to be a part of it.
For many years Julie, Rob and Gail's leadership has been a critical piece of what makes the Forest Lake School District shine.
​
I am proud to be a part of the Ranger Team
​
The Book List - A Disclaimer
This is simply a list (see green column) that I have collected from asking folks in our area to recommend a book. The books may be novels, memoirs, self-help, fiction, non-fiction, teen, picture books, children's books, or just about anything. I have not read most of the books, so I cannot offer my personal recommendation or appropriateness for you. Beware... books are risky things, they can anger, confuse, frustrate or offend. They can also enlighten, delight, challenge thinking, and change you.
Books are important. Community support of our student readers, our "learning to be readers," as well as their families, will only help to strengthen the literacy and critical reading skills of our kids.
​
Can our community be their reading role model? Yes, It will help parents, as well as teachers, build strong readers. We are all in this together.
Book List - A sampler
A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
A Repair Kit For Grading, Ken O’Connor
A Rover’s Story, Jasmine Warga
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, Bill Bryson
Accountable, Dashka Slater
All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot
American Prometheus, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
Archer’s Voice, Mia Sheridan
Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez
Attacking Anxiety: From Panicked and Depressed to Alive and Free, Shawn Johnson
Bear Town, Frederick Backman
Beneath a Scarlet Sky, Mark Sullivan
Blind Your Ponies, Stanley Gordon West
Brain Rules, John Medina
Brunelleschi's Dome, Ross King
C.J. Box Series, Joe Pickett
Chop Wood Carry Water – How to Fall in Love with the Process of Becoming Great, Joshua Medcalf
Connections Over Compliance – Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline, Lori L. Desautels
Dave Webb Books
Dragons Love Tacos, Adam Rubin and Danial Salmieri
Dragon Master Series, Tracey West
Educated: A Memoir, Tara Westover
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
Focus – Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning, Mike Schmoker
Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger
Go Set A Watchman, Harper Lee
Hacking School Discipline, Nathan Maynard & Brad Weinstein
Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling
Homerun Leadership – Your Guide to Better, Faster Team Decisions
How To Be An Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi
I Am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes
Jack Carr Series, Jack Carr
Last Hope Island, Lynne Olson
Launch: Using Design Thinking to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student, John Spencer & A.J. Juliani
Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus
Make Your Bed, Admiral William H. McRaven
Matchless: The Life and Love of Jesus - Bible Study Book, Angie Smith
Mom Brain: Proven Strategies to Fight the Anxiety, Guilt, and Overwhelming Emotions of Motherhood―and Relax into Your New Self, Ilyse Dobrow DiMarco
Onward – Cultivating Resilience in Educators, Elena Aguilar
On Writing, Stephen King
Peace Like a River, Leif Enger
Pickle-Chiffon Pie, Roger Bradfield
Pink and Say, Patricia Polacco
Poverty in America, Matthew Desmond
Quality, Russell Leo Robinson
Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
Ruthless Equity: Disrupt the Status Quo and Ensure Learning for ALL Students, Ken Williams
Sanderson, Brandon, multiple titles, fantasy, science fiction
The God Equation, Michio Kaku
The Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus, Dusty Bowling
The Martian, Andy Weir
The Out-of-Sync Child – 3-Book Series, Carol Stock Kranowitz
The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
The Safest Lies, Megan Miranda
The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
The War That Saved My Life, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The Wild Robot Series, Peter Brown
The Women, Kristen Hannah
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Verity, Colleen Hoover
Warrior Cat Series, Erin Hunter
Wolf Hollow, Lauren Wolf
Collaboration
We are stronger working together. Collaboration must be fostered among and between teachers, parents and the community in order to provide the best learning experiences for all of our students. These can be contentious times. We must say NO to divisiveness while also finding common ground in order to plan what is best for learning outcomes of our kids.
