Wyandotte County Community Conversation

A letter to Wyandotte County participants

On behalf of all the Planning Team members, thank you for your participation in the recent Wyandotte County Community Conversation that took place May 5, 2008, at Kansas City, Kan., Community College regarding the METS Initiative. We have compiled all the information that was recorded in the breakout sessions and your input is now being summarized. As soon as the summary is completed we will provide you with a copy to review.

Where do we go from here?  Obviously, the conversation was a first step and there is much more to be done to reach the goals of the initiative. After the summary is reviewed we must decide what the next steps will be. Although each breakout group had its own distinct conversations, there were three major areas of common ground shared by all the groups:

  • Local businesses really need to be involved in the educational process to truly recognize what students need to learn or to study to accommodate employers' needs centered on the METS issues.
  • Parents must be involved with their children's educational process for both the student and the school district to be successful.
  • Teachers and educators need to be supported in new ways in order for them to be successful in giving our students the METS education they need for success in life.   

Now it is time to decide where we go from here. Some things we may want to consider as follow-up activities include, but are certainly not limited to:

  • Deciding to whom we report our outcomes — school districts, media, businesses/corporations, other community leaders, etc.
  • Creating small working groups centered around these specific issues
  • Determining long- and short-term goals around these three areas of consensus
  • Determining what kinds of follow-up efforts around these areas need funding and which issues can be advanced with existing resources
  • Developing specific plan(s) of action
  • A representative from each group meeting to again summarize input for presentation to the overall group
  • Coming together again as a large group after issue-specific groups have met
  • Creating a task force to seek funding for further conversations

There are lots of possibilities for us to explore. After reviewing the summary we can then communicate via mail or e-mail to decide what is next. The important thing is to not let this effort stop here. We must follow through with what we've started.

Again, thank you for your participation and you will hear from us soon with the summary, and with opportunities for everyone to continue with this important initiative at all levels. Please be thinking about what your role will be.

Respectfully,

Wyandotte County METS Community Conversation Planning Team