New Identity Revealed for Downtown Arts Center

By Caitlyn Meyer

Many readers have heard about the current efforts to enhance the Market District in downtown York. The Market District, named for the hub of the Central Market House, has been identified as an area of focus and investment to help attract people to downtown York to spend time and money.


In 2009, the York County Industrial Development Authority (YCIDA) purchased the former Fraternal Order of Eagles building, located within the Market District, and has been working to transform the building into a downtown arts center. As construction nears completion, YCIDA has unveiled the name, tagline and logo of York City’s premier center for the visual arts at 37 West Philadelphia Street.

“Marketview Arts – A studio for creativity” is a 2.9 million dollar facility that will contribute to the downtown Market District by providing gallery space, an arts orientation center and an enhancement to an underutilized property in the heart of York County. Some unique features of the building are the artist studios on the lower level. The studio spaces will allow the public to interact with the artists as well as the artists to interact with each other. The building will create a fortifying interaction between professional artists, York College students, tourists and the general public. Professional artist studios, available on the first floor of the building, will create a vibrant and exciting location for the arts.

Marketview Arts is currently accepting applications for studio space in the center from artists who are serious about pursuing their art in the professional setting of a community facility. A variety of studios are available, providing diverse space options including both natural and artificial lighting. Interested artists should contact Chris Seitz with Bennett Williams, at cseitz@bennettwilliams.com or (717) 843-5555.

Marketview Arts also offers a large unique event and multipurpose space as well as studio/educational space for York College art students, and two residential apartments for rent. In addition, the center has a commercial kitchen and food preparation area perfect for a caterer working events in the facility or catering outside events as the space offers an easy loading area.

The YCIDA is proud to work with the City of York to attract and retain creative businesses in downtown York, as it recognizes that a robust and creative downtown is crucial to economic development, not only for the City of York but also for the entire County. In addition, it is the Authority’s belief that enhancing the quality of place will also aid in attracting and retaining a young, creative workforce. The YCIDA is a governmental entity staffed by the York County Economic Development Corporation.

Marketview Arts is slated to open in February 2012. Questions about Marketview Arts? Contact Blanda Nace, Manager, Redevelopment for YCEDC at bnace@ycedc.org or (717) 846-8879.

Caitlyn Meyer is the business development coordinator for the York County Economic Development Corp. She coordinates YCEDC activities related to the York County Economic Development Plan, seeks to work with local governments through the Municipal Outreach Program and works on business retention. Caitlyn earned her bachelor’s degree in history from York College of Pennsylvania in 2009 and has been with YCEDC since that time. Caitlyn lives and works in York City. She can be reached at cmeyer@ycedc.org or 717-846-8879, ext. 3053.

Getting Better Results in Education

By Bill Hartman and Jane Conover


A wise but unnamed person once said “Vision is Seeing the Opportunity Inside the Challenge”. It is a good reminder that today’s challenges actually create an opportunity to act boldly to achieve significant results. Public education is one of those challenges that is debated in movies, news articles, in books and in the halls of government. The public discourse over school improvement is complex but also incredibly valuable because it keeps the education of young people front and center. More people than ever are willing to consider new ways to resolve problems, making collaboration among educators, parents and policy makers more viable.

With the recent release of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s System of School Assessment (PSSA) data from York County schools, we learned that in the 2010-2011 academic year, every school district had some students that failed to meet the goals set by the No Child Left Behind Act. While some progress is being made, student test scores in the School District of the City of York still lag behind their counterparts in other districts by almost 20 percentage points in math, reading and science.

There are signs of hope. First, PSSA test scores overall are improving slightly throughout the County, including in the School District of the City of York. Secondly, there are many committed and competent education professionals and community members who are eager to dramatically improve these results. Dr. Wortham, the new Superintendent of the School District of the City of York, is leading the charge for a transformation in culture that will create the environment where children and teachers thrive. The Community Foundation has met with Dr. Wortham and her leadership team several times and they are committed and eager to work hard for the children they serve every day. We endorse Dr. Wortham’s priorities to ensure adequate teacher/student ratios, create safe schools, and give educators the tools and skills they need to support the development of the whole child.

While it would be nice if there was one magic solution to fix all of the problems with public education, Elaine Weiss, National Coordinator for Broader, Bolder Approach to Education reminded us at the April YorkCounts Summit to give up that fantasy. The reality is that children, families and schools need many things to succeed. YorkCounts and York County Community Foundation seek to bring all the stakeholders together to identify, research, evaluate and advocate for solutions. Fortunately, the ingredients of success are here…public awareness, competent leadership and community commitment to do better for our students.

Bill Hartman is the President of York County Community Foundation.  Jane Conover is the Vice President of Community Investment at York County Community Foundation and is the lead staff for the YorkCounts Initiative. YorkCounts became an initiative of York County Community Foundation in May, 2011.  

Business & Education Partner for a Strong Workforce

On October 7th, the York County Economic Development Corporation (YCEDC) will host the first annual Business & Education Partnership Roundtable. The event will bring together the business and education communities to discuss how to better work together to ensure student’s preparedness for the workforce. Positive business-education partnerships can provide students with relevant classroom and out of school experiences to help them step into the careers available within our community.

In 2009, YCEDC’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD) kicked off their Career Pathways/STEM initiative with Superintendents and business leaders. A list of recommendations was created and a leadership team was established with representation from the business and education communities to prioritize and oversee the implementation of the recommendations. The Business & Education Partnership Roundtable addresses the following recommendation:

     “The OWD will create a Business and School Collaboration Committee with a broad

     stakeholder group of business and education leaders (secondary and

     post secondary) to exchange information, establish needs, define expectations,

     set goals, determine the measures of accountability, and support the 

     CareerPathways/STEM Model. The model will be flexible, respect local

     control and allow for all levels of participation.”

The committee will meet annually in the fall for the Business & Education Partnership Roundtable. The information exchanged during the session will be tabulated and acted upon by the OWD and other relevant community partners. A mid-year status report will be presented at the Annual York County Workforce Development summit in May.

The 2011 Industry Cluster Analysis Update for York County will also be presented at the event. The analysis, updated every 5 years by YCEDC staff, identifies growth industries and is used as a planning tool. Context will be gained by framing the conversation of the Business & Education Partnership Roundtable around the cluster analysis, increasing the value of the discussions and its inevitable outcomes.

A highly skilled workforce is imperative for companies to remain competitive in today’s economy. This event will provide an opportunity for employers to work with educational leaders to impact the development of a high quality relevant workforce. We will be looking for creative ways for the employer community to support the schools and ultimately the students to build the future workforce for York County.

Those interested in attending the Business & Education Partnership Roundtable, on October 7, 2011 from 8:00AM-2:00PM at the Holiday Inn and Conference Center – York, should RSVP to Caitlyn Meyer at cmeyer@ycedc.org or (717) 846-8879 by September 23, 2011.

Caitlyn Meyer is the business development coordinator for the York County Economic Development Corp. She coordinates YCEDC activities related to the York County Economic Development Plan, seeks to work with local governments through the Municipal Outreach Program and works on business retention. Caitlyn earned her bachelor’s degree in history from York College of Pennsylvania in 2009 and has been with YCEDC since that time. Caitlyn lives and works in York City. She can be reached at cmeyer@ycedc.org or 717-846-8879, ext. 3053.



Affiliation Strengthens Pipeline of Workers

By Caitlyn Meyer

July marked the one year anniversary of York County Alliance for Learning’s (YCAL) affiliation with the York County Economic Development Corporation Office of Workforce Development (OWD). YCAL works with businesses and schools to provide career education, relevant academic experiences and work-based experience for K-12 students in York County. The affiliation furthers the YorkCounts recommendation that the OWD sustain initiatives that would systematically build a pipeline of entry level workers and more directly affect the youth population.


While the mission of the OWD touches many populations/groups throughout York County, this recommendation directly affects the youth population. The affiliation connects YCAL’s strong relationships with the education community and YCEDC’s strong relationships in the business community together to improve the implementation of programs, ultimately improving the quality and quantity of opportunities for youth.

YCAL programs have had great success and touched many in York County over the past year. Since the affiliation, YCAL has impacted 8,272 students, 391 educators and 117 employers through its events and programming. 
One such YCAL event was the Career Opportunities Day held at HACC-York Campus. At the event, 195 high school juniors and seniors learned about the knowledge and skills needed for careers in the 16 National Career Clusters. Another important program offered by YCAL is the student mentoring program with local companies. This past school year, YCAL held nine mentoring programs, impacting over 130 students. YCAL also hosted events offering continuing education credits for educators, such as the Career Education and Work Standards Symposium with over 170 York County educators in attendance.

To learn more about other events and programs offered by the York County Alliance for Learning, visit www.ycal.us.

Caitlyn Meyer is the business development coordinator for the York County Economic Development Corp. She coordinates YCEDC activities related to the York County Economic Development Plan, seeks to work with local governments through the Municipal Outreach Program and works on business retention. Caitlyn earned her bachelor’s degree in history from York College of Pennsylvania in 2009 and has been with YCEDC since that time. Caitlyn lives and works in York City. She can be reached at cmeyer@ycedc.org or 717-846-8879, ext. 3053.

Learning Through Real World Experiences

By Dayna Lauer

In today’s system of education, we frequently hear the phrase, “Teaching to the test.” Unfortunately with the addition of the adoption of the Common Core Standards, many teachers around the county are tossing out any ideas of weaving together the standards, the test preparation, and solid classroom instruction. Many are, in fact, simply teaching to the test. It is a regrettable effect and one that can be reversed.

I propose that standardized test preparation and common standards can be combined in a classroom centered on authentic instruction. By this I mean, instruction that has a connection to the real world in which we all live, advocates for higher order thinking, encourages conversation, and promotes depth of knowledge for ALL students. These factors can also be enhanced by technology integration. Thus it is imperative for teachers to begin structuring lessons around authentic tasks.

Recently I spent time working with teachers who intended to structure a task for students that would integrate multiple classes, meet multiple standards, and give students the skills needed to perform well on the state standardized tests in the Spring. I was amazed at their product! While it would take me much longer than this blog to describe all of the elements that were involved, here is the summary: students will visit a local arboretum during which they will receive instruction on the flora and fauna of the arboretum. While there, students will be measuring slope and distances on their walk. They will also be calculating their heart rate as they walk at various speeds around the arboretum. The students will then be responsible for producing a local field guide to the arboretum that incorporates QR codes. Included in the field guide will be student produced digital pictures of the plants, as well as student created artwork of the species. Students will also work collaboratively to create a Google Map walking tour of the arboretum and create a website dedicated to the history of the arboretum.

This authentic, interdisciplinary unit took these teachers three solid days of planning to create and they are excited to implement it in the fall. I am sure the results will be equally exciting. It is important to note, that the summer is the perfect time for authentic planning to begin, because while teachers may not be in the classroom during the summer months, they certainly spend countless hours preparing for the students they will meet in the fall!

Dayna Laur is a 13-year veteran social studies teacher at Central York High School and is a National Faculty Member for the Buck Institute for Education. She has her National Board Certification, a bachelor’s degree in history from Virginia Tech, a Master of Arts degree in education in curriculum and instruction from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Science degree in 21st-century teaching and learning from Wilkes University. Over the past four years, she has worked closely with the Classrooms for the Future initiative in Pennsylvania, presenting to teachers, instructional technology coaches, administrators, and higher education faculty members on ways in integrate project-based learning in a technology-rich classroom environment. She has been featured as the model teacher for Authentic Based Classroom Instruction as produced by the National Institute for Professional Practice and as a model teacher for the Schools that Work Series as produced by Edutopia.

No Question About It...Early Childhood Education Prepares Children for School

By Christy Renjilian


The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) released the outcomes for children attending Pre-K Counts, Keystone STAR 3 & 4 early childhood education programs, and state funded Head Start programs. The findings are very impressive.

For Pre-K Counts, a program for at-risk three and four year olds, 99%, of the children showed age-appropriate or emerging age appropriate language, math and social skills on a standardized assessment tool. These children are entering kindergarten with appropriate academic and social skills and ready to learn. Less than 25% of these same children entered the Pre-K Counts program with age-appropriate skills. Currently, 254 York County children, or 1%, attend Pre-K Counts programs. The programs are administered by Crispus Attucks, KinderCare, York Day Nursery, York JCC, York YWCA, and the York City School District/CPC.

Keystone STARS promotes quality improvement among child care programs through quality standards and increased requirements for ongoing professional development for teachers. Nearly all children enrolled in Keystone STAR 3 & 4 programs showed age-appropriate or emerging age-appropriate language, math and social skills. Less than one third of the preschoolers began the school year with age appropriate skills. In a 2010 survey of more than 7,000 parents whose children attend a Keystone STAR 3 or 4 site, approximately 96% reported that the program and teachers’ experience met their expectations. OCDEL monitors compliance with Keystone STAR program requirements through a system of reporting, site monitoring and classroom environmental ratings. Independent assessors evaluate individual classrooms using the nationally recognized Environmental Rating Scales. In York County, 31 programs are either a STAR 3 or STAR 4. From 2006 to 2011, the number of York County STAR 3 programs has increased from zero to fifteen. A listing of STAR 3 and STAR 4 programs can be found at http://www.pakeys.org/

Less than one in five preschoolers enrolled in state funded Head Start began the year with age-appropriate skills. By the end of the school year, nearly all showed age appropriate or emerging skills. Head Start is a comprehensive program serving low income children and their families. On average, these children are at a high risk of entering kindergarten developmentally behind and of failing in school. Approximately 0.4% of York County children are enrolled in state funded Head Start. The Community Progress Council (CPC) operates Head Start.

Area kindergarten teachers report that children who attend high quality early childhood education programs make a smoother transition to kindergarten and have the necessary language, math and social skills to be successful. In fact, one elementary principal noted that the curriculum has been revised to address the fact that children are entering with more skills.

The United Way of York County, through Focus On Our Future, provides training and technical assistance to help programs improve their quality, offers scholarships for early childhood educators pursuing higher education, and works with families to support their efforts to ensure that their children enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed. Over the past 16 years, the United Way of York County has invested over $6 million dollars in high quality early childhood education. This investment is clearly paying off.

For more information go to:

http://www.pakeys.org/pages/get.aspx?page=home

http://www.pakeys.org/pages/get.aspx?page=Programs_PreKCounts

http://www.pakeys.org/pages/get.aspx?page=Programs_STARS

http://www.pakeys.org/pages/get.aspx?page=Programs_HeadStart

http://www.unitedway-york.org/index.html

Christy Renjilian is the Director of Focus On Our Future for the United Way of York County. She has a Masters degree in Social Policy Analysis from the University of Chicago. Christy has more than 20 years of experience administering early childhood education programs and has been with the United Way of York County for more than five years.  She lives in Springettsbury Township with her husband and two children. Christy can be reached at renjilianc@unitedway-york.org or 717-771-3808.

Parenting in a Digital Age

By Ben Smith and Jared Mader

Not too many weeks ago, following a weekend hiking and camping trip, my daughter was excitably searching the web for a Camelbak hydration pack -- just like the one that her friend had been drinking from over the last few days. At age seven, she is quite savvy with her devices, so, of course, I told her to Google “Dick’s” (Sporting Goods) as a good starting point...at that very moment, I realized that her literal interpretation of my instructions were filtered neither by experience or by digital awareness. Her innocence was not to blame, but rather the uncensored content that is just one click away. So, what could I have done differently -- that brings us to the scope of this post.

First, we as parents need to make sure that we’re having the conversations about the dangers of online activities at home. This cannot just be a message that is heard in school, but it must be a cultural understanding. Don’t know where to start, that’s okay, http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ has done a great job of posting the top ten things parents need to know when talking with their kids about Internet usage and safety. We cannot talk about cybersafety without addressing Facebook. Children can officially sign up for an account beginning at 13. Once the account is created students post information to their wall with any web enabled device. Parents can find guidance for their children at http://www.facebookforparents.org/.

Second, it’s time to arm yourself with all of the information that you need to know, from cell phone safety to web filtering and everything in between. CyberSmartParent is a Google Site committed to providing current information about how to keep your family safe in an increasingly more connected world. Simple things, although challenging to enforce, like requiring your kids to share all of their online passwords with you, checking their cell phone usage, and using web filters to monitor or regulate the times of day that they are online are all ways that you can show your kids that your are active and interested in their web presence. In our house, all of the computing devices remain in the common area. No web surfing gets done behind closed doors. We also talk about who you can tell your password to and how to handle emails soliciting information.

Third, it’s never too late, but preferably before your children ever begin to engage socially in the web, you need to become more aware of the dangers of cyberbullying, online predators, and the acronyms and language that they use to mask their real message. The Better Business Bureau has done a nice job of describing Cyberbullying, as well as has provided some of the most commonly used acronyms when translating these digital conversations.

Finally, and most importantly, you need to be vigilant. Our digital footprints are extending far beyond the walls of our homes -- protect them. Have regular conversations with your kids about the lasting effects of what they post and how they act, when working online. If they are using Facebook, create your own account and become friends with them so you can see their posts. Adding a filter to your computers is not enough, as we know that the filter will one day not be there, and the choices that your kids make will be the result of your vigilance along the way.

The web is an exciting place, filled with opportunity and new ideas. We just want to be sure that we are protecting our families from those elements that exist to do them harm. Hopefully, some of these tools will guide you and your children in this new journey that you will be embarking on with them.

Ben Smith is a physics teacher and science chairman at Red Lion Area High School, where he has worked for the past 22 years. He is also a partner in an educational technology consulting practice called EdTechInnovators (http://www.edtechinnovators.com/). His work with schools has taken him across the U.S. and overseas to work with the Singapore Ministry of Education. Ben serves on the Board of Directors for the International Society for Technology in Education, a nonprofit international organization. Ben lives with his wife Lottie in York Township with their two children – Caitlin, 14, and Ian, 10.

Jared Mader is the Director of Technology for the Red Lion Area School District. He has served in this position for four years, after teaching Chemistry for nine years. In that time, he has led technology integration professional development initiatives. He is a member of the Discovery Educator Network and has been identified as a PDE State Keystone Technology Integrator. He also serves as a partner in an educational technology consultancy, EdTechInnovators, providing professional development to districts across the United States and abroad. Jared lives in York with his wife Janell and 7-year-old daughter Emma. You can contact him at maderj@rlasd.k12.pa.us or jared@edtechinnovators.com.