Youngstown City Schools superintendent shares progress, upcoming goals
Youngstown City Schools superintendent Justin Jennings updated the community about the school district during the annual Good Morning, Youngstown event!
Jennings was one of the headlining speakers at the breakfast celebration hosted by the City of Youngstown and the Chamber of Commerce Thursday morning at Stambaugh Auditorium.
The superintendent shared updates and upcoming goals for students studying in the fourteen schools in the district, as well as an expression of gratitude toward the students and parents in the community.
Here’s a brief breakdown of what he discussed:
Academics
Jennings emphasized improving his students’ academic performance and overall well-being throughout the district.
Recently, the district researched the science of reading and how to help students with reading comprehension best.
“YCSD is committed to improving scholar literacy; please note this will not change overnight. It is a process,” Jennings said.
Jennings also discussed partnerships with Youngstown businesses to expand the district’s health and wellness resources.
“Through our partnership with QuickMed, our campus YOU Care clinics have grown to offer dental and mental health services. We are excited to offer dental services to our scholars, families, and employees. Dental RVs are scheduled across the district’s campuses, and dentists will see patients by appointment. I want to remind families that if their scholars still need to complete medical forms, they must submit those as soon as possible to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Athletics and STEAM
Jennings shared the district’s excitement about new athletic facility updates and improvements.
They broke ground on two new baseball and softball fields at East High School, and a new turf field at the Rayen football stadium.
“The baseball and football fields are part of the District’s plans to develop new athletics facilities, including a middle school football field at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School and track at Chaney High School,” he said. “This update has been a long time coming and will provide an excellent future for our scholar-athletes, families, and community.”
Jennings discussed another program influential in students’ success: STEAM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics.
“The difference between STEM and STEAM is far more significant than tacking on another letter or adding design skills to STEM. While STEM expressly focuses on scientific concepts, STEAM builds on these concepts through the creative process. Scholars engage both the right (creative) and left (logical) sides of the brain to innovate and solve problems.”
Honoring graduates
Jennings closed by congratulating the upcoming senior class of 2023.
“Our Class of 2023 is getting ready to walk across the stage of Stambaugh Auditorium,” he said. “We are very proud of these future graduates and look forward to hearing their stories as they move on to the next step in their lives. We are one YCSD Family and will forever be connected.”
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This story was originally published March 31, 2023 at 12:50 PM.