Civil Municipal - June 2024

students are not consuming; they’re creating with technology.” EMPOWERING TEACHERS The spirit of creativity in Yorktown also applies to the teaching staff. “We don’t want teachers to lose the sense of freedom and innovation,” Hinshaw proffers. “What I want is for every teacher to meet and exceed the minimum standard for their grade. That’s been an intentional effort. The other side of it is that we have invested in professional development that allows teachers to meet those standards in different and innovative ways. We want teachers to give real thought to how they can teach most effectively and to work to be innovative and inspiring. So, our philosophy is to try and recruit and retain the best, make sure that everybody understands what the core curriculum is, and then give them the freedom to teach in the way that they’ve been trained to.” In addition to compensation levels that are the highest in east central Indiana, plus competitive benefits, Yorktown’s professional development options are responsible for a very low teacher turnover rate and a school system that is fully staffed.“We do not lose teachers to neighboring districts,” Hinshaw relates. “We’re a net importer of labor in that regard. We’ve had all of our teacher positions filled for years. And everybody has been fully licensed for the subjects they’re teaching. We’ve been fortunate to have had the resources to do that.” “On teacher retention, and teachers that come into our district, I have many say that they were not allowed to learn in their former districts,” Cox adds. “That’s a draw for people because they know that they are going to get opportunities to learn -- either here in the district or through grants to go to conferences. About six years ago, we developed something we call a personalized, professional learning platform for our teachers. We have four buildings, and for each of the buildings we put out a monthly calendar of offerings. Some of those are face-to-face; some of them are seminars; some of them are with companies; and some of them are Proud sponsors of the Yorktown Community Schools Health plan and employee benefits. We are pleased to support Yorktown Community Schools and all of their accomplishments. 224 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 06 BUSINESS VIEW AGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 01