Tinker hosts first town hall with Mid-Del Schools Published May 3, 2012 By Rich Tarbox 72nd Force Support Squadron Tinker School Liaison TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- In what has been hailed as a great "first step" in building on the collaborative partnership between the base and the local school district, Tinker hosted its first-ever town hall April 24 at the base theater with new Mid-Del Superintendent Dr. Pam Deering. The event allowed students' families a platform to present their ideas and questions to the new school district leadership. It also enabled them to discuss spotlight issues that are of particular importance to military families. In return, the superintendent and two of the district's school board members, Jimmie Nolen and Le Roy Porter, spoke about new developments in the district. "On behalf of the Mid-Del Board of Education and school district, we were so pleased to have the opportunity to meet personally with Tinker families at the town hall meeting," said Dr. Deering. "We are committed to listening and responding to the educational needs of our military families. This meeting represents a first step in our renewed educational partnership with Tinker Air Force Base." While the questions and ideas at this event covered a wide spectrum of topics from curriculum to testing to youth sports, several key areas emerged as essential to base families. Among them, academic rigor and the differences in curriculum difficulty from base to base factored highly. While this is an area that the district plans to take back to work internally, Dr. Deering said the way forward is through the new Common Core, standards that provide a basis for what students are expected to learn, which has been adopted by 40 states. Combined with what she noted as excellent suggestions from the event's participants it will undoubtedly help families achieve that goal of academic excellence and critical thinking families are seeking. Prior to becoming as the Mid-Del Schools' superintendent, Dr. Deering served as the state commissioner for the interstate compact on educational opportunities for military children. In that position, Dr. Deering has played a very active role in smoothing the transitions of military children into Oklahoma schools over the last couple of years. As a result, she is uniquely positioned to bring a level of expertise and rapport with state education officials that can only mean greater visibility for military-specific concerns. To that end, Dr. Deering's invitation for input from military families isn't limited to just this one -time event. "We will continue to partner together in future venues and idea forums over the coming months to better meet the needs of Tinker personnel," she said. As Tinker and Mid-Del Schools continue to move forward in meeting the specific academic needs of base families, potential stakeholders are encouraged to be involved in the process. Participation in the process is the catalyst for real improvement. For more information or ask questions, call 739-2747.