Long before the COVID-19 crisis, the West Bloomfield School District (WBSD) had fully embraced an initiative called “Portrait of a Graduate,” which seeks to move beyond pushing students to attain certain grades or academic milestones and focus on setting students up for success in their pursuits after high school. It teaches students four personal skills (also known as the 4Cs) that will allow them to be successful in life’s various endeavors: Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Contribution.
Dr. Gerald D. Hill, who was named Superintendent by the West Bloomfield Board of Education in 2012, said the district’s implementation of this initiative helped smoothly guide the mandatory and historical move to virtual learning this spring.
“In early March, we realized we were going to potentially be faced with some unusual challenges, so we had our District Learning Design Team meet, and using ‘Portrait of a Graduate,’ we thought about and discussed what our district would need to have in place if students weren’t physically in school tomorrow,” Dr. Hill said. “We needed to be prepared, just in case.”
Little did anyone know that March 16 would end up being the first day of the statewide school closure; nevertheless, WBSD’s “Cloud Learning” was prepared to move forward that same day.
“We actually had class on Monday, March 16, and after Chromebooks and Hotspots were distributed to students and families in need of them, we averaged the same face-to-face attendance we’ve always had,” Dr. Hill explained. “The amazing thing to me is that not only are the teachers able to carry on real learning, but also the parents, who have their own work and are not necessarily trained or equipped to be the teachers, have been our partners in this, collaborating ever since.”
Dr. Hill said that the switch from face-to-face to virtual learning was able to happen “on a dime” because a culture of trust had already been set.
“We didn’t start our planning from scratch, but rather we activated a capacity that we had built over the past few years of working collaboratively, which proved to be invaluable as we faced this crisis,” Dr. Hill said. “Looking forward, we’re working on the what-ifs now. How do we start school back up in the fall if we’re still in a distance learning mode? Or even with social distancing? What if things are more normal again? What are we going to do with the learning gaps that will be larger than normal?”
Prior to his role in the West Bloomfield School District, Dr. Hill had 16 years of previous superintendent experience in Illinois, as well as a background with decades of both teaching and administration roles.
“My wife and I wanted to be in a community that is rich in diversity (racially, religiously and economically), values education and is involved in education,” Dr. Hill explained about their decision to come to West Bloomfield. “We enjoy the community and are very involved in the community. It’s a gratifying place to live and work.”
Dr. Hill said his favorite part of being superintendent is attending student performances or activities (something he and his wife regularly do), where he enjoys not only watching the students’ joy on the stage or on the field but seeing the pride in parents’ faces, too.
In addition to being Superintendent, he is also serving as this year’s President of the Rotary Club of West Bloomfield, a group of 30 service-oriented men and women who want to make a difference in our community and in the world. Provided that one of the Rotary’s mottos is “Service above Self,” it is no surprise that Dr. Hill, an educator, found his way to becoming a Rotarian.
According to Rotary International, Rotary members believe people have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues. The 35,000 clubs from all over the world work together to promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water/sanitation/hygiene, save mothers and children, support education and grow local economies.
Dr. Hill said the West Bloomfield club focuses on Orphan Medical Network International (OMNI) in Zambia, as well as its local programs like supporting “at-risk” students through the STRIVE scholarship program; Team Turkey, which provides fully-cooked Thanksgiving dinners to families in need on Thanksgiving Day; Rotary Readers, a dedicated group of volunteers who spend time in classrooms reading to students; and much more.
In fact, Dr. Hill said that Rotary District 6380, which includes West Bloomfield along with 53 other clubs in Southeast Michigan and Southwest Ontario, is donating money, so that 100,000 N95 masks can be distributed to predetermined hospital frontline workers in the area; it’s called the “100K Mask Challenge.”
For more information about the Rotary Club of West Bloomfield, visit westbloomfieldrotary.org.