John Jungmann brings a creative approach to business at Springfield Public Schools, and the district’s board of education appears to be impressed.
This month, the school board extended the superintendent’s contract through the 2017-18 academic year after only six months on the job, in part for his immediate “passion for moving our district forward” and commitment to meeting with stakeholders to gather input toward that goal, SPS board President Denise Fredrick said in statement earlier this month.
During Springfield Business Journal’s 12 People You Need to Know live interview series this morning, Jungmann outlined the immediate and long-term needs of the district and emphasized moving away from tradition in favor of a forward-looking environment.
“I think I was paid to come in and offer fresh perspective,” said Jungmann, who left the smaller Liberty Public Schools to succeed Norm Ridder in July as leader of the 25,000-student SPS. “What I brought to the table is just asking some questions.
“What does 21st-century learning look like? What does an engaged classroom look like? It’s not only project based, it’s very collaborative, and it’s where kids are moving more instead of stationary.”
An example of Jungmann’s approach can be seen at the nearly
$18 million buildout of the new Sherwood Elementary School and Boys & Girls Clubs space at 2524 S. Golden Ave., slated for completion in August. While the project already was taking some futuristic approaches - such as designing the facility to where it can be connected to solar panels or other alternative energy sources to reduce its energy demands - Jungmann set to work on the interior of the finished project. He challenged the district to complete the school with added collaborative opportunities - such as garage-door style openings between classrooms - and environments more conducive to learning, including carpeting instead of concrete.
A father of three, Jungmann said he’s observed the way his own children learn and it doesn’t fit with the status quo.
“Very rarely do I see them sit up straight in a chair and face the chalkboard. That’s not the way they’re comfortable, that’s not the way they engage. They engage on the floor, they engage in a soft chair, they engage around a table, on their knees. They need different levels for learning and they need movement,” Jungmann said this morning at Hilton Garden Inn. “So how do we think about the furnishings, how do we think about how we structure things so that we provide that learning in a much more moving environment?
“All the research will tell us kids aren’t designed to sit, they’re not designed to stay in one spot for a long period of time.”
In the Internet age, Jungmann said kids are preparing for a digital workforce, so their education needs to follow suit.
“How do we begin to evolve the classroom experience to make sure that’s it’s preparing our kids for their future, not our past?” he said. “I’m not sure a Big Chief tablet and the five-year textbook rotation schedule is the right model of stuff for those kids who are going to work in that environment.”
As children approach the workforce, Jungmann said real-world experience is key in helping kids understand that education matters.
Jungmann concedes that a new environment brings new costs, and with a state K-12 funding formula that’s $500 million short, districts have to get creative. According to Jungmann, that means working more efficiently, perhaps decreasing staff so salaries can be raised for the most passionate teachers and getting businesses involved.
“We’re not even funding adequacy,” he said of the current situation. “I think it starts with some of the things that are going on right now - a strong business culture that creates a robust job market that creates good revenue.”
He’s leading an initiative dubbed Imagine SPS, a conversation among community and business stakeholders based on the EPIC concept, or every person inspired to create, which he helped develop in Liberty. The project-based learning model calls on smaller classes for elementary students to work in a collaborative environment. A 300-student school in Liberty based on the EPIC model had 900 signups, he said.
In the business community, Jungmann said students can get needed experience that will help them survive beyond the walls of high school. The idea centers around the business collaboration model that calls on internships and work-study programs.
“We had a collaborative conversation with - I think it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve been a part of in my time in education - 10 regional school districts and probably 15 to 20 business partners at the chamber about a month ago to talk about, ‘How do we work to make sure that we’re not doing fake work at the K-12 level that’s not preparing our kids for what you need?’ We need to listen to our business partners and then we need to ask them to engage with us in that process,” Jungmann said. “They have the ability to offer our kids something that we can’t on a daily basis in our schools, and that’s relevance.”
For now, he said business owners should stay tuned. The district will start small and gain ground during the next few years, he said.
“That’s what sticks for kids - experiences,” he said.
