萝卜AV视频

The Promise-Keeper blog series is part of AASA's 鈥�Promise in Action鈥� back-to-school campaign, celebrating 萝卜AV视频members who are delivering on the commitments they make to their school communities through courageous decisions, transparent leadership, and student-centered action.

A muted tone sounds throughout the building that is largely unchanged since its construction in 1962.

Groups of teenagers begin gathering their personal items, then shuffling across the hallway of seldom-used lockers as they head to the centrally located cafeteria to grab a tray, stand in line, and await their serving of the daily entr茅e. They will have approximately 30 minutes to eat lunch and socialize before the next tone signals the end of lunch and serves to remind students to begin returning to the next room located down a different corridor.

In 1962 America, this educational model served students well as they transitioned from a K-12 system solidified just 15 years earlier to meet post-World War II social changes and manufacturing job growth. However, in 2025, with rapidly evolving technologies like generative AI and the rise of remote work, we must question whether this model still serves our best interests. While it helped America become the world's leading economic superpower and drove unprecedented growth in productivity and social mobility, we need to seriously consider whether it truly benefits today's youth and future workforce.

Is public education still preparing students for an uncertain future by equipping them with skills for a happy, productive life while empowering democratic participation?

Since its 1640's New England beginnings focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic, public education has promised a pathway to prosperity and social stability. These core skills still dominate curricula today, supplemented by science, social studies, and numerous other subjects. However, as society has evolved from agricultural to industrial to information age and beyond, schools must evaluate whether they're equipping graduates with the necessary skills for our current era and futures they cannot yet imagine.

Reimagining Real Skills at Bunker Hill CUSD

What this looks like could be very different among different learning communities.

At Bunker Hill CUSD #8 in rural southern Illinois, our district embarked on this reimagining of real skills six years ago with the help of administrators, board members, parents, faculty, community leaders, major employers, and students. The result for our district was a backward mapped list of real skills for real life eventually becoming known as the Portrait of a Bunker Hill Graduate.

...as society has evolved from agricultural to industrial to information age and beyond, schools must evaluate whether they're equipping graduates with the necessary skills for our current era and futures they cannot yet imagine.

These durable skills, essential to community-defined 鈥渟uccess,鈥� became the guiding vision for all major district decisions, investments and alignments. Global awareness, communication and collaboration, innovation, confidence, critical thinking, and adaptability became the new 鈥�3 R鈥檚鈥� for Bunker Hill CUSD 8. We then defined each of these six pillars and worked across multiple groups to align specific competencies with each one.

Surprisingly, traditional skills like memorizing multiplication tables and state capitals did not emerge as essential competencies for post-secondary success. Instead, community members recognized that even in remote rural settings, technology proficiency can create meaningful employment opportunities. This could encourage students to remain in the district as they begin their careers, ultimately achieving economic stability and better life outcomes鈥攁 key objective of the public education promise. 

As school districts across the nation open their doors this fall, welcoming back millions of children of many different backgrounds and circumstances, schools will soon face an overwhelming array of student needs, both academic and social-emotional, alongside the typical pressures of the noblest profession: education of our future. The time is now for us to consider assessing exactly which skills are going to be the most needed by our future generations so that America continues to keep the promise of public education alive and well.