Questar III District Superintendent James Baldwin and Tech Valley High School Principal Dan Liebert were in select company on May 8 as they listened to President Obama’s address at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany. Joining Baldwin and Liebert were Capital Region BOCES District Superintendent Charles Dedrick, Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES District Superintendent James Dexter and several local school superintendents.
Baldwin said the 20-minute speech pointed to the value of education and partnerships.
“President Obama, Governor Cuomo and SUNY Chancellor Zimpher all spoke about the value of partnerships in education. Partnership is the essence of BOCES. The President’s message affirmed our continuing work with business and higher education, parents and teachers – to support our students and schools. His visit here underscores that investment in public education and advancement of career and technical education (CTE) and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is critical to our region’s growth as a global technology center,” said Baldwin.
Meanwhile, Liebert said he found inspiration and a message that all school leaders can take from the presidential speech: change is needed and must be accomplished through public-private partnerships.
“The president’s visit was a message about innovation. He came to the Capital Region and CNSE in particular, to say that the future of manufacturing is not to replicate what we have already done, but to apply new technologies is innovative ways. The major problems of the day: pollution, global warming, affordable health care, alternative energy, efficient mass transportation, curing disease; these problems will be solved by creating new and innovative solutions.
“He also pointed out that no one group or institution can do it alone. The solutions of the future will be created through collaboration of business, higher education, government, labor, and education. Schools alone can’t create the workforce we need for the future — it is only when all of those institutions work together that the workforce can be created, trained, and applied to the needs of today and tomorrow.
“What needs to happen in secondary education is similar to what the President says needs to happen in manufacturing: apply creative uses of technology; nurture school cultures that emphasize ethics, responsibility, and stewardship; encourage collaboration and teamwork.”
Students at Tech Valley High School, who watched the speech online, also found inspiration in the president’s remarks.
“I think it is an important boost to the region and what we are doing here,” said senior Kaliel Williamson, who will attend CNSE in the fall.
