By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
“I have been nothing but welcomed,” enthuses NRHEG’s teaching and learning coordinator (TLC) Jason Toupence. “I am loving the environment I work in and the people I work with.”
Precisely what that work is, Toupence warns, is hard to nail down. “A teaching and learning coordinator wears many hats,” he begins.
For one thing, the “teaching” he coordinates is for both staff and students, as is the “learning.”
On the one hand, Toupence provides assistance to teachers who are looking for classroom materials–everything from sets of worksheets or classroom “manipulatives” to a textbook “curriculum” which guides student learning across a number of grades.
On the other hand, he works with the “staff development” program which brings in speakers and training opportunities meant to help school staff members expand their skills and keep teachers’ licenses up to date.
Also on his list is the “World’s Best Workforce” initiative. State leaders have declared that students who graduate from Minnesota schools must have met standards which will help them become productive, capable members of society, whatever career path they may select. To collect evidence about student progress toward the standards, learners statewide take the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) tests each spring.
Toupence explains he will be following in the footsteps of former teacher, now school board member Terry Engel, who had previously performed the tasks of acquiring, administering and reporting on those assessments.
Given his degree in “education leadership,’ Toupence believes he has much to contribute to all the programs he’s responsible for.
Because he works with teachers and staff at all grade levels, Toupence has an office at both the elementary and secondary sites. He has set a schedule which has him at each for two days of the week, and has made Thursdays his “floating” day.
His journey to NRHEG began with a Texas teaching license acquired in 1999 and a year each teaching in North Carolina and Wisconsin. After something of a break from the teaching environment, he took up a position at St. Peter where he taught science to elementary students. While doing that, he worked through Concordia St. Paul to earn his degree in administration.
Toupence and his wife of nine years, Marlene, live in Mankato. They have a blended family of five adult children.
Although he and Marlene had been working for years toward a “summer away,” when Toupence saw NRHEG’s advertisement for a TLC last spring, he said he had to apply. When he was chosen for the job and informed he would begin on July 1, some diplomacy was required.
Still, Toupence feels everything is working out for the best. With students in the buildings for the last few weeks, he is enjoying interacting with them in the hallways and visiting classrooms where they are being taught.
“I was afraid I would miss out on that aspect in my new job,” Toupence comments, “but I am glad to say that’s not the case.”
He is also using the early weeks of the school year to acquaint himself with the practices and materials already in place, so that he can be helpful when they are updated and improved. He is also interacting with numerous state agencies regarding the requirements for various “teaching and learning” procedures–both for students and teachers.
He says he is looking for ways he, in his position, can support and assist others in doing their jobs. He notes that people have expressed gratitude there is now someone in place to research and examine the benefits of various curriculum programs. “That’s an area that has been somewhat neglected,” he admits.
“I’m looking forward to providing support and assistance to many people in many different ways so they can focus on their own priorities” he says. “People are already reaching out to me for input on many different elements of the teaching and learning process.”