From the Desk of Mr. Mike Shukis
What Can Marian Do?
It certainly can be a rocky road for any young person entering the “real world” in 2023. Yes, young people today have more options than in the past decades. More students than ever before are pursuing college education, and employers are hungry for workers. However, having many options without the knowledge on how to pursue them can be overwhelming. This could be why there is such a low college completion rate.
Many young people seem to enter college without truly being prepared to do college-level work. It is evident today that many students will need to receive more guidance-or more skills- in high school to help them in their path to a satisfying future. This is where Marian shines. The way our teachers teach (college prep), and how hard we all work at developing student leaders helps our students take on the challenges they will face – whether in college or career training, or with their personal interactions.
Most in education will agree that schools need to equip students with skills beyond those needed for traditional school success. According to one expert, “this generation will need more than grades and scores to thrive in an unpredictable new world. Critical thinking, creativity, and social-emotional skills are central to a needed skill set.” Marian will continue to work hard at preparing students for this modern world full of unpredictable and complicated problems. Marian will help our students become more sophisticated, flexible thinkers by integrating into their schoolwork the practice of inquiry, design, evaluation, argumentation, and systems thinking.
As Marian continues on this path and as we recover as a society from the worst effects of the pandemic, we realize that we must be successful at both teaching students essential skills and helping our students by illuminating their path – even if it’s sometimes rocky.
Mike Shukis
Superintendent
