Johnston School Board Approves Contract With Teaching Channel, Sarah Wessling

One Johnston teacher and her students will be in the national spotlight this year.

The school board voted 5 to 1 to approve a contract with the Teaching Channel to feature Sarah Wessling and her students in an online series. Board member John Dutcher cast the lone no vote.

The series, "Sarah Wessling and the Johnston Community School District: Improving Teacher Practice," will delve into teacher growth and development by following the 2010 National Teacher of the Year winner.

About once a month the Teaching Channel will film Wessling in her high school English classroom, or teachers she is coaching, for the series. Filming will also be conducted when Wessling works with district administrators.

The project will run for the remainder of the 2011-12 school year, ending on June 30, 2012.

Jan Hook-Miller, financial director for the district, said the project is new and very interesting.

"It's exciting for the district to be a part of this and Iowa," she said at the meeting.

Under the contract, the Teaching Channel will pay for half of Wessling's salary, totaling $28,585. The district will also continue to pay for her benefits.

The board first discussed the contract at its Oct. 10 meeting.

At the meeting associate superintendent James Casey said Johnston was one of about five school districts approached for the opportunity through the Teaching Channel. Johnston was the only district he knew of in the Midwest that was sought out.

At Monday's meeting, several board members expressed concern over filming in the classroom.

Dutcher questioned whether the filming could be a distraction to student learning.

"Are there waivers," he asked. "Has administration run this by students currently in these classrooms? What kind of education do we need for parents and students?"

Parents and students will have to sign a waiver allowing their likeness to be presented on film, said Bruce Amendt, executive director.

"If there are one or two students in a section that don't want to be filmed, we'd have to ensure that no video would be taken or they be edited out," he said.

Board member Greg Dockum said he hopes the opportunity affords Wessling additional knowledge and experience that she wouldn't get otherwise.

Casey said he didn't see a downside to the project.

"We think it will allow us to be better at professional development than we were before," he said. "How we use those things, if we film to show staff, they can watch that and see it and implement it better. That can have a huge implication on how we deliver professional development."

Board member Julie Walter abstained from the vote. She said she didn't feel she had enough information or time to properly vet the project.