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I am inviting our community to what I think is the most important meeting of the year. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, May 12, the district will conduct a Student Success Summit at Fairfield High School.

We will work to define what we mean by a "successful student." We know that we all want all our students to be successful. But defining what that means to us, as a community, will help shape a lot of decisions we make in the coming months.

The meeting is open to any interested residents, parents, district employees and older students. (We're not setting an age limit ... if a student wants to come and contribute, that's all that counts.)

The district's administrators will be there, but not to lead the conversation. We've hired an outside facilitator to do that so we can concentrate on listening to what people who come have to say.

We'll be talking about what part test scores, grades, extracurricular activities and life outside of school should play in defining student success. We want to discuss how student success can be quantified and measured. We want to look at the challenge in teaching critical thinking skills and complex problem-solving skills. What should the role of vocational education be? It has long been an important part of district. How will the role of the teacher change in the coming years?

The role of technology will likely be a major focus. We know that dizzying changes in technology are a major force in shaping the way our world is changing. We need to talk about how our teachers will use technology, how our students will use it, and how we will teach technological skills themselves. At the same time, we can't lose sight of fundamental educational concepts and the core courses of our curriculum, in which a successful student by any definition must be proficient.

One way to summarize the question is this: For today's younger student, what will high school look like?

In the past, students learned about the rest of the world in a social studies or history or geography class and it was easy to think about foreign places as far away and not really part of our lives here. Globalization has changed that. To use the phrase that has become popular, the world is flat now. India and China may be on the other side of the globe, but their daily lives and jobs and economies are now inextricably woven together with our own.

We have to provide an education that will send our students out into this new world prepared and confident.

There is an announcement on our district Web site, www.fairfieldcityschools.com, about the summit. It includes a video about how the changes in the world around us will challenge our students. There are some incredible statistics cited in the video. I encourage you to visit the Web site and watch it. I also encourage you to attend the Summit.

Cathy Milligan is the superintendent of the Fairfield City School District. She can be reached at milligan_c@fairfieldcityschools.com.

How to go

What: Student Success Summit

When: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, May 12

Where: Fairfield High School, 880 Holden Blvd.

More info: (513) 942-2999; www.fairfieldcityschools.com

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