Triplains USD 275 in Winona, west of Oakley, south of Colby in Northwest Kansas, is among the smallest school districts in the state with just 74 students last year. But it is one of the top performers in student postsecondary success. District leaders say that’s vital to community survival.
“It's on all of us to make sure these kids are successful because they are members of our community,” said Becky Steiger, who teaches high school science – and adds science to the new preschool program in the classroom next door. “And so we have ownership. Every one of us has ownership from kindergarten on up. Every one of us knows what we have to put into our kids, or our product is not going to keep our town alive.”
State Education Commissioner Randy Watson has been highlighting school districts that have increased their postsecondary success rate since 2015. That measure looks at the percentage of each high school senior class that has graduated and completed or remains enrolled in postsecondary education programs two years after graduation. It’s calculated on a five-year average to recognize that a change in just a few students in each class can make a big difference in a small district like Triplains.
The State Board of Education’s Kansans Can vision emphasizes increasing graduation rates and postsecondary success, because an estimated 75 percent of future jobs will require some education beyond high school, and because more education on average leads to higher income and employment.
I visited Winona and talked with educators and community leaders to learn what they think has been improving the number of students going on to postsecondary programs.
Like other districts with high postsecondary success, the district leaders say a major change has been stressing all types of postsecondary education, not just four-year colleges.
“I think one of the contributing aspects is recognition that it's not always a four-year pathway for students,” said Steiger. “We're really encouraging our population to go on to something beyond high school graduation, and recognizing even if your plan is to come back and work your family farm, that's great, but what skill can you go get and bring back to be more successful? I think it's the recognition that those programs (technical, two-year, four-year) are equal. It's just a different path, not a hierarchy of path.”
Triplains leaders say the district has taken steps to strengthen its career planning process, stressing it has become more “intentional” in working with students, hosting career panels and college visits. But they say the real keys to success is their small size that allows close relationships between every student and every educator, and the ability to respond to students individually. Creating a more personalized educational pathway for each child is a key principle of Kansans Can.
“We talk to the kids. All of us talk with all the kids,” said Sheila Johnson, high school math teacher. “In the past few years, I have done the class schedule. I know the kids. And I feel like I can adjust it year to year so that they are getting the classes they want with the teachers available. We've had a lot of young men that were wanting more shop classes. We've worked that in. We wanted stronger science classes. That has been worked in.” Despite low and static enrollment, the district has been able to expand the courses and activities it offers.
Steiger, who previously taught in a larger high school, agrees. “We're trying to literally tailor our school to meet the students’ needs and that's definitely unique to a school of our size. Coming from a very large 6A school, the best we could do there is academies (smaller student groups within a larger school) and try to have programs that you can fit into. Here, we make the program fit our students.”
Small enrollment forces creativity. This year, the district has no high school seniors. But it has nine juniors – its biggest secondary class – and eight of the nine are taking a college speech course through Colby Community College. “Most of these kids do not have an hour during the day to do this college course,” said Johnson. “So, this is on their own time. Now, when they need an audience, we're all willing to be there. I think one of the girls filmed her speech the other day on a bus going to a volleyball meet. I'm currently administering tests so that several of them can take college algebra next semester. We have worked on getting some general education courses if they want them. A few years ago, we had students interested in veterinary medicine or veterinary nursing. And they did a lot of the SB 155 (postsecondary technical education courses taken at no tuition costs in high school) to get some of those preliminary classes out of the way.”
That means all teachers sharing not just teaching duties but career counseling and other responsibilities. “We had a young man who wanted to be a welder and go work in the oil fields as a welder like his dad. His dad taught him a lot and the student said, ‘I don't need to get any more education,’” said Johnson, the math teacher. “And I told him, it's surprising how much difference in pay you get if you have a piece of paper that says you've done this. He came back and said, ‘Wow. That certificate makes a difference.’ Then, he actually did go ahead and get his associates degree in welding and he is employed. And that's what he wanted.”
“Students and teachers, they build relationships through those conversations,” said school board member Angie Moore, a parent and local businesswoman. “You guys (teachers) all have kids that come back to see you because you built relationships with them. I think that's something we should really be proud of. Like the saying it takes a village (to raise a child) and it all goes together. Those kids know that. They can say hey, I want to do this, and they know Mrs. Johnson's going to help them get what they need. And she's going to be willing to teach it.”
“And just because there’s no seniors, that doesn’t mean teachers have more free time,” said Moore. “I mean that our staff doesn't say oh, we have no seniors so I'm not seeing your class. No, they say, what can we teach them? What do they need? So, I just can't stress enough what our staff does, and I think that speaks to the numbers you're looking for as far as (postsecondary success).”
Another component of the district’s success is student activities, which as in many small districts involve virtually every student. “I think the small school and kids being involved in everything makes them feel a part of something,” said Cindy Gfeller, who teaches a combined first and second grade class and serves on the school accreditation team. “They feel important. And I think that builds the community; that builds their self-esteem. No kids are left out.”
“I think we have 100 percent participation in a program called Kay Club (a character-building, leadership training, service program directed by the Kansas State High School Activities Association). I see the older kids help interact with the younger kids and that supports being involved. I wouldn't say it's peer pressure, but that helps them go on to do other things because they have been involved,” said Gfeller. “That's what their friends are doing. And that gives them some self-satisfaction and respect out of involvement with sports and with clubs.”
Activities not only positively involve students, but they also actively prepare students for postsecondary success, as well as academics.
“My experience with my own kids,” said Johnson, “was, they graduated from Brewster (a nearby small district), and they went to Kansas State. In both cases, they had roommates and friends who graduated from a very large school district. They struggled in college, these kids. My boys felt like they had learned how to manage their time, because of their involvement with sports. Our volleyball girls had volleyball meets this week. They've missed classes, but they know they have to get their work done. Now we do work with them a little bit on that, but they're learned through high school to manage their time and the ones that don't, mom and dad kick in. I have seen kids from our smaller schools that have been involved; they know how to study better and manage their time when they get to college. They say, I only have this class three days a week? Wow!”
District leaders also say area technical and community colleges have increased their own marketing and outreach. “They (the colleges) are really working hard,” said Jana Gfeller, K-12 school librarian and senior scholarship advisor. “They are implementing programs like athletics, and at North Central Technical College in Hays, they have a partnership with Fort Hays (State University), so their students can utilize all the things that a Fort Hays student can do. These technical colleges are changing that ‘stigma.’ That should change perceptions to it's okay to go get that one-year certificate.”
Gfeller also noted expanding scholarships are available for these programs and says costs are rarely mentioned as a barrier. “We try really hard to look for avenues if anyone says something like that (not being able to offer college). I rarely hear that. But look at those juniors that are taking (college) classes. You know who is paying: it's those their families, because they can't use federal student aid money. You see the family support. They're getting that head start on those classes.”
The attitude of the community also supports the district’s success, says Guy Gaskill, who wears multiple hats (like everyone else) as executive vice president of the Bank of Winona, mayor, and school site council member. “I think one thing that's maybe a little different, is what we understand very well in this town. Everybody all the way through knows if we lose our school, we lose the town. If we lose the community, it's gone, and it'll never come back. And I think the teachers all know it here. It's their jobs. The leaders of the community all the way through everybody knows whatever you have got to do to save the school, you do it and. I think that's pretty well ingrained.”
Asked to name the biggest challenges facing the district, Superintendent Lamar Bergstein, who also performs more than a dozen additional duties in his primary job, lists first the teacher shortage sweeping across the state and nation. With a “veteran” staff, how will the district find eventual replacements for teachers who are willing to wear so many hats?
The other big concern school and community leaders in Winona expressed is that the state will stop supporting small school districts. Despite multiple shared positions, a district like Triplains operates at much higher cost per pupil than most districts. Those leaders know that allows them to do things other districts can’t.
“There used to be a big push to get rid of any ‘inefficient schools,’ said Gaskill, the mayor. “I don't think that's been the case for a long time. But I think if there were anything coming out of this discussion, it would be that there is a reason to have little schools.”
“So yeah, you want the secret sauce?” asked science teacher Steiger. “My perspective is different just because I was at a big school and now I consciously chose to teach here. I consciously chose to go from biggest to smallest because our big schools are trying desperately to create what we have. And to kill us off is to kill the model that you desperately need in the big schools.”
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