By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph city officials got a rare opportunity this week to tour two schools to get a bigger picture of the education the St. Joseph School District strives for.
Mayor John Josendale says seeing how the district got students prepared and adapted to going to school was enlightening.
"Seeing the way they teach, whether it be through the electronics with their Ipads and the boards that they use, and then the one-on-one teaching that they do," Josendale tells reporters. "It's very fascinating to the way it works and very encouraging to the programs that they've got in place."
The district welcomed local officials into the new Lake Early Learning Center and Spring Garden middle school after welcoming local legislators into the schools back in September.
Josendale says a key for the city in helping fix the schools after visiting with administrators is keeping up in communication.
"One of the things that I heard from the different city employees, or the different people from the tour today was, what else can we do to help you?" Josendale explains. "So, communicating, being on the same page, listening to what they need, and being able to help them where we can I think is our role at this point."
Josendale says as city officials they can fix crime and can fix blight but the key to making it all work is fixing the schools and they need to work together to figure out ways to do that.
Principal at Spring Garden Megan Gaul says with some negativity surrounding the district, she's glad community members got to come in and see what's happening.
"There are so many good things that are happening in our district and in these buildings, I"m sure you guys saw the happiness of all the kids walking through the hallways and the staff, and I think that it's important for community to come in and see all those great things that are happening," Gaul explains.
Gaul says one thing they try to do at Spring Garden is share the good things that are happening in the district that might not be talked about on social media.
