Arlington School Board Interview: Terron Sims

1. Who are you and why are you running for Arlington School Board?  What skill sets would you bring to the School Board that would make you a valuable member?
My name is Terron Sims, II. I am running for a seat on the Arlington County School Board to eliminate the Achievement Gap. My motivation for running comes from the students who work with as volunteer at Wakefield HS, Drew and Harvey Hall Community Centers, and the Teen Network Board. My years of mentoring Arlington's youth caused me to realize that, as great as APS is, there is still a void that our school system is not filling.

I plan to eliminate the Achievement Gap through increased parental and community involvement. In order to accomplish this ambitious goal, all of us in the community must make a concerted effort in making all parents feel comfortable in going to their child's school and becoming an active participant in their education. Also, because Arlington's schools truly are community schools, it is imperative that we invite our local businesses, non-profits, and community organizations to become full participants of the education process. Carlin Spring's parent outreach program is a perfect example of a school utilizing community and business resources to embrace parents who were not active in their children's education.

I have a wide range of skills and abilities that I will bring to the School Board. As a West Point graduate and an Army Iraq War veteran, I bring a host of leadership traits; I am decisive, mission focused, goal oriented, and I am a broad thinker.

My leadership in Baghdad's Tisa Nissan district was crucial in getting its schools back up and running effectively. Through the district's Women's Committee, I oversaw our schools' weekly assessments: focusing on curriculum, resources, and security. Due to the poor children not having proper school supplies, I co-founded and operated Operation Reach Out America, a school supplies drive where I collected and then distributed nearly 2000 lbs of school supplies to the schools in our poorer neighborhoods.  

My work on behalf of Tisa Nissan's schools led me to work alongside the Iraqi school system, USAID, CPA, and various NGOs. Our cooperative undertakings led to us making great strides in the lives of Tisa Nissan's students, teachers, and school administrators.

From December 2004 to April 2005, I designed, selected the site, and oversaw the initial phase of a $29 million project to build a combat training village at The Joint Readiness Center. My leadership foresight allowed my team to end the design conference a day early and keep the project within budget.  

Currently, I serve on Arlington County's Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee. My time on the committee has taught me the intricacies of the budget process and the care with which our elected officials must take in order to provide services for the county.  

2. What do you believe the Arlington School Board is currently doing well?  How could it be done even better?
APS is arguably the best school system in the country. We are extremely fortunate to live in a county where our children have all of the resources available in order to prepare them for the best colleges and universities our nation has to offer. APS continues to recruit and retain the best teachers to educate our children. If a parent wants their child to achieve success by attending the best public schools, then move on to the best colleges and universities in the US, Arlington County is where they ought to live.  

The dream or belief of attending college starts in the home. As a third generation college graduate, attending college was never an option; it was a fact. Attending college was the next logical progression after high school. Unfortunately, not every child is brought up in such a manner; not every child has parents imparting in them at a very young age how important it is to attend college. In our efforts to eliminate the Achievement Gap, one step we can take is to enforce the importance of college onto our students at the earliest age possible: even in elementary school. We cannot afford to wait until high school to begin stressing college. So, instead of asking a child if he is going to attend college, ask him which college is he going to attend.

3. What, if anything, do you believe the Arlington School Board is not currently doing well?  How would you address this issue/these issues if you're elected (or re-elected) to the Board?
What APS can do better is put some real focus on those students who either do not plan, desire, or cannot fathom attending college. Our school system is so focused on the accelerated and college prep aspect of high school that it inadvertently overlooks those students who are not college bound.  

APS has listed eliminating Achievement Gap as number two of its top four priorities, yet the numbers have not approved over the past few years. I plan to implement two plans to aid in the effort of eliminating the Achievement Gap: Parent outreach and partnerships with local businesses, non-profits, and community organizations.

Education begins at home, but unfortunately many parents do not feel comfortable going to the schools for various reasons. Some parents do not speak English well. Others work such strenuous hours that they are either too tired or just not physically able to actively participate in their child's education.  

Instead of recreating the wheel, we should have every school, especially those not making AYP, use the Carlin Springs model of parent outreach. It is imperative that we truly show the parents that the schools are friendly and inclusive; thus, enabling the parents to gain access to Arlington's numerous programs and resources for themselves and their children. In addition, all of Carlin Spring's funding for the program was through local business contributions and grants, which shows that we can reach out to the parents and still remain fiscally responsible.

Second, I plan to partner with the local Chambers of Commerce. Through the partnership, we would link all APS students at the end of their 8th grade year with a company that focuses on the career or personal interest of their choice.  

There are two points to the partnership. One, it would serve as a motivational tool for the students: to keep them excited about the prospects of their future. Keeping our students motivated about their futures and learning is one of the two key factors towards eliminating the Achievement Gap. Two, the partnership would serve as a way for our local businesses to become an integral part of our schools: reference my plan to reach out to the parents.  

4. What would you say are the top three challenges facing Arlington County school system right now, and what should be done about those challenges?
Eliminating the Achievement Gap is APS' number one challenge. It is imperative that APS put real fervor and action behind eliminating the Achievement Gap. We must reach out to all parents and assist them in becoming an integral part of their child's education. Additionally, we must incorporate the aid of our local businesses, non-profits, and community. These organizations have vast resources that we can use to uplift the lives of our students.

APS must ensure that it remains fiscally responsible. There are ways in which APS could save money in its budget, but it would require cooperation with the County Board. Additionally, APS must ensure that it is properly investing its dollars, in that we ought to stress substantial teacher pay increases over forming new programs and curriculum that do not benefit every student.

Educating our students is not just a school issue, but a community issue. It is imperative that we reach out to the community to assist in furthering the education of our children. Everything our children need to learn to achieve success in life is not gained in the classroom. The community, serving as mentors, both personally and professionally will strengthen the growth of our children and further enlighten our schools.  

5. Anything else you'd like to add about your vision for the Arlington County school system?
When it is all said and done, I want APS graduates to leave our schools the most productive citizens our nation has to offer: having skills and abilities, coupled with desire, motivation, and passion to go forth into the world and fearlessly strive towards their dreams.

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