APS Special Session City Business Leader Offers IVR Education to School Board

Alamogordo Public Schools has announced another “special closed door session” for Monday February 5th at 2 pm, followed by an “open public session” to discuss recommendations from council and actions to take as a result of the closed door session.

The open door session item E is of particular interest to the public. Item E is the consideration of termination of the contract with Arizona State University specific to Dreamscape Learning IVR programs.

Our media organization has run a series of articles related to IVR technologies and why a state of the art technology platform is necessary for the students of the City of Alamogordo and Holloman to equip themselves for 21st Century Learning and gainful employment. 

We began the series with an article titled 
;

Understanding Virtual Reality in the Classroom and Its Potential Impact to Alamogordo Public Schools

We reached out to experts in Silicon Valley, UC Berkeley, MIT, as well as Dreamscape Learning and locally to Michelle Perry as a local expert on the topic.

From our various conversations, research and readings, we provided a series of informative articles explaining VR learning and why it is critical not only to the blueprint created for Holloman Middle School, but for the Alamogordo Public Schools to achieve long term success across its multiple grades and for a diverse mix of students.

Our second article in the series on IVR titled 
The Case for Alamogordo Public Schools Use of Virtual Reality Immersive Technology Enhanced Mathematics Geometry Learning
explained the importance of this technology in order to get through to students as their brains and comprehension skills and methods of understanding and learning is different than when we were adults. 

The most recent article explained that childhood comprehension development is different for children today due to their early exposure to smart phones, tablets and computers and that state of the art IVR products such as those from Dreamscape Learning and others are necessary to develop well educated children with outcomes that meet or exceed the national standards. 

Outcomes and results are the key ingredient to success.

For any program, an emphasis on experience and student outcomes is one of the main considerations for any learning application that should be the priority in consideration.

We absolutely endorse the need for this technology with a proven track record and a proven provider to be implemented into the schools

The question comes down to what is best for the students?

Don’t Alamogordo’s students and the taxpaying parents deserve to be offered the very best product money can buy for their children’s education?

If you had the choice of a paid for by the state Harvard Education or MIT Education or an education from NMSU Alamogordo which would most people choose for their child to have the best education possible? 

The choice is simply a Ford Pinto verses a Lexus.  

Both are functional and both can do a job but which does it better?

Is the new school board making a well INFORMED decision or a POLITICAL decision in the selection of vendors to provide the technology hardware, software, education and support? 

As we have produced our series of articles many of our readers are engaging with us and better understanding the conversation and the reasons for the technology and implementations. 

The school board is obviously feeling the pressure of this public discussion as they have moved the conversation forward to the special meeting of February 5th at 2 pm to discuss potentially canceling a contract with Dreamscape Learning

The school board president is either to busy to respond to emails from our inquiries or has chosen to ignore our emails and lack transparency contrary to her public assurances that she would lead in a transparent and open manner.

We had hoped to run more informational articles and provide an informed comparison between the Dreamscape product and an offering presented on the cheaper side by Michelle Perry but the school board feeling pressure from our efforts to educate the public has pushed the potential cancellation of the Dreamscape contract to the front of their agenda.

The public and the taxpayers deserve a school board to make a decision that is well informed and not political

As such a business leader in this community has offered to pay for every school board member and the new acting superintendent to fly to Arizona State University and to witness the technology first hand, in practice and to meet with the PHDs and the code writers and developers of the Dreamscape Learning System. This offer is made to ensure each school board member and the Néw superintendent is able to witness the use, to test it themselves, to ask questions and to make an informed decision without any expense to the school system? 

Why? This business leader has no skin in the game, no profit to him as he is not affiliated with the company. This business leader wants the best outcomes to student success of a program that is consistent with military training and is a huge part of ensuring Holloman students and Alamogordo students receive an upgraded results oriented state of the art education. 

AlamogordoTownNews.com and KALH Radio secured a copy of the letter presented to the Alamogordo School Board President and members for their consideration.

The new superintendent and new school board has a legal responsibility and a sworn under oath legal obligation to make the most informed decisions possible to enhance the learning environment of Alamogordo Public School Students. 

If the board and the new superintendent chose to ignore this offer, vote to terminate the contract without visiting Dreamscape Learning then the decision is one without due diligence and gathering the best information possible. If they cancel without visiting and seeing the technology in practice then the decision is purely politically motivated and gamesmanship ship. 

Without proper due diligence  they have opened the door to potential constituent litigation and potentially additional legal investigations by the attorney general’s office and by NMPED.  Monday to have any credibility as a legitimate government body they must consider and act upon Mr. Shyne’s offer to visit Dreamscape Learning before either moving forward or canceling the contract.

If they cancel then what?

COMMENTARY 

We are thrilled with the project Michelle Perry is launching with a $1 Million dollar loan from the City of Alamogordo in launching the Inkwell Incubator Project. The city needs this offering to educate workers and to recruit and develop entrepreneurship. 

We equally believe Mrs Perry and her husband are committed and passionate educators and administrators

We also note that while attempting to launch the Inkwell Incubator,

she ALSO committed to opening and operating a Coffee Shop within the Inkwell Incubator,

 she is ALSO is serving on the Board as a “principle” along with her husband Jarret, of the committee attempting to get a Charter School into Alamogordo 

and then on TOP of all of that she

ALSO has petitioned the Alamogordo Public School System to allow her to launch an IVR program instead of the Dreamscape Learning Proposal

All the while Mrs Perry is running the ONLY food service worker state required certification program in Otero County, is working as CEO of Learn New Mexico 

and is still consulting for a variety of school systems per a statement she made to the city commissioners and serves on a few other committees and boards 

We have personal experience in building multiple downtown businesses and know how difficult it can be to balance efforts and to effectively devote attention to building a new business. Ambitious undertakings are respected but the added pressure of using taxpayer dollars to build a business offering adds to the pressure and to the public scrutiny. 

It takes focus and attention to every single aspect and detail. It is easy to be ambitious and overstretch; it takes discipline to go one project at a time, methodically build it for sustainability with a succession plan and then move forward to the next.

We have the utmost respect for the Perry’s dedication, ambition and commitment to the community but we question if they are stretched too thin with all of these projects and bouncing balls?

The Perry’s secured $1 Million in city of Alamogordo taxpayers funds to launch the Inkwell Incubator Initiative. Mrs Perry secured a commitment from the Center of Commerce, her husband is Director of, to place a business development office to be located there per her presentation before the city commission. 

Don’t the taxpayers deserve a 100% of the Perry’s attention to be devoted to a project the City of Alamogordo is funding to the tune of $1 Million dollars? 

Do the taxpayers trust giving her ANOTHER publicity funded project to educate and launch an IVR program for APS at taxpayer expense that could pay her company $100s of thousands of dollars? 

Have the school board members seen her offering in practice and seen the student outcomes or results? 

The new school board should carefully consider its next steps and ensure it is actively working with the best information possible, doing the legwork of deep due diligence and is asking the hard questions and not championing a personal crusade to honor political promises. Real leadership takes time, patience and courage to do the homework and legwork to make the most educated decisions possible for the best outcomes

Does this school board have what it takes to truly lead the school system to excellence or will it speed through decisions for political expediency, yet end with a result of mediocrity? 

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