Learn, Live, Lead

Luverne School Board members finished one of their homework assignments they have been working on for more than a year.
During last year’s superintendent search, board members decided to update the district’s mission and vision statements. However, they wanted to wait until after the new leader was hired.
“It seemed silly to us to do something of that magnitude with a new leader coming in,” said David Riphagen, the former board chairman.
Craig Oftedahl began as superintendent with the district in July.
A vision statement describes an organization’s long-term goal while the mission statement sets out the goals, purpose and work of an organization.
At their Thursday evening, April 28, meeting the board adopted a shorter vision statement and made the mission statement more in line with the district’s current goals.
Instead of 17 words the new vision is three words: Learn, Live, Lead.
Board member Colleen Deutsch spearheaded the change in the vision and mission statements. She said the board last made revisions five or six years ago.
Having served 16 years on the school board, Deutsch is its most senior member and explained what the board wanted its new, shorter vision to mean.
“We all need to be able to live a productive life and hopefully, by providing quality and comprehensive education, they (students) will also lead and share with others the knowledge and skills they have learned,” she said.
“I really feel that the vision statement should be clear and concise and be the focus of why we provide education,” Deutsch said. “We felt that it was important to have goals to guide our decision-making for programs and education for everyone.”
Work on the revised vision and mission statements was completed at their most recent board workshops.
Along with keeping the same goals, the board also discussed assigning measureable outcomes to those goals, Deutsch said.
Luverne’s new mission statement is “Luverne schools will engage students in lifelong learning to achieve their maximum potential in becoming productive citizens.”
The district has four goals:
1.) Evaluate the needs of individual students to promote students’ achievements.
2.) Cultivate community partnerships to maximize resources and enhance student opportunities.
3.) Promote innovative and effective teaching through professional development to meet all students’ needs.
4.) Engage members of the community by creating opportunities for community involvement and provide up-to-date information.