On Feb. 29, St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page visited the school to hear a presentation from superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain, answer questions from students, and tour different classes around campus.
Rockwood School District Communications Director Mary LaPak said that the event was set up at Page’s request to learn more about the district and how it relates to the community.
“Dr. Page’s office reached out to us in November to schedule a visit. Dr. Page wanted to see one of our schools, visit with students, administrators and Board members to learn more about Rockwood, what kind of opportunities there are for community partnerships and how they could help support the work we do in our schools,” LaPak said.
The visit discussed different classes with a focus on workforce preparation, which principal Dr. Emily McCown said she was proud to show off.
“I think it’s always nice to highlight our school and our programs, especially our academic programs. It’s nice to be able to invite outsiders into our classrooms and just knowing the purpose of his visit and feeling like the district felt that we had good examples to share with I felt was very complimentary. [The focus] was high school opportunities that offer job embedded skills for students to be prepared for post secondary,” McCown said.
Senior Margaret Schnieders, who watched Cain’s presentation and asked Page questions, said that it was interesting to talk to Page but also learn about the school community alongside him.
“I thought it was an interesting presentation because we were able to learn about what was going on in the Rockwood School District that students don’t see as much, and then we were also able to see how the county was impacting the decisions that Rockwood was making,” Schnieders said.
After the presentation, Page walked through the school, which LaPak said gave him more knowledge about the programs offered within the district, as well as how the county can support them.
“We were able to share some of the great opportunities we provide for our students through a variety of courses from Geometry in Construction and Project Lead the Way classes like cyber security. We were also able to introduce some of our outstanding educators to Dr. Page and overall have him see the great things happening for students at Rockwood Summit. We also learned there may be opportunities to partner with the county to provide job shadowing and internship opportunities for students,” LaPak said.
McCown said that these classes are important to the school because they show students how the material learned in school can be practically applied to their lives.
“Kids always ask, ‘how are we going to use this later in life?’ Those are classes that I think really have some specific skills that you would either use in a post secondary training program or a specific job. So I think they can see the purpose of those classes a little bit more clearly,” McCown said.
