Changes for the district

The school district is continuing to move forward, even though it will soon so do without Superintendent Craig Barringer at the helm.

During Tuesday's Sweetwater County School District No. 2 Board meeting, Superintendent Barringer formally announced his retirement, effective June 30. In a letter addressed to the board of trustees, Barringer expressed his gratitude, saying that it has "been a wonderful privilege" to work in the district and how fortunate he was to conclude his career in such an outstanding district.

With his retirement, Barringer completes 39 years in education, which began in a a third-grade classroom in 1986. Barringer was hired as superintendent in SCSD No. 2 in early 2020, directly before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Many board members thanked Barringer for his leadership in the district during a challenging time, with new board member Michelle Foley expressing her eagerness to work and learn as much as possible from Barringer before his departure.

Barringer concluded his retirement announcement by stating, "I am confident that Sweetwater County School District No. 2 will continue to thrive as long as decision-making remains focused on student success at the local level. Thank you to the Board of Trustees for your unwavering support and for your commitment to providing our students with the best possible education." After Barringer's retirement was unanimously accepted by the board of trustees, they quickly approved an agreement to work with the Wyoming School Board Association to aid with the hiring process for a new superintendent.

Also during the meeting, Barringer shared updates on the district's progress as a whole, and how many changes have been positive. He presented information on the district's work with Governor Gordon's RIDE (Reimagine and Innovate the Delivery of Education) initiative and how it has been successful.

In 2021 the governor announced the debut of an endeavor to guide Wyoming's education system into the future, stating that "the RIDE Advisory group's overarching goal is to help elevate Wyoming's primary and secondary education system into a position of national leadership."

To highlight the district's progress with the RIDE initiative, Superintendent Barringer introduced Lincoln Middle School teacher Justin Lamb. Lamb gave a presentation on how he is implementing elements of the RIDE initiative into his science education program.

Lamb explained that in previous years he traditionally taught thermal energy transfer using a series of slides, vocabulary lessons, quizzes, and the occasional Bill Nye video. He went on to say that as part of initiating the RIDE program he decided to engage and involve students more, encouraging cooperation and teamwork.

Lamb wanted to use hands-on exploration to teach the same concepts while trying to invoke, as Albert Einstein describes, a "holy curiosity." To achieve this, he explained that he used "new" methods including physical demonstrations, labs, the use of different technologies including digital thermometers, increased teamwork, and a design challenge that included students designing and creating a thermal cup prototype. The results of the design challenge were based on which cup held heat the longest. Students also presented their results to Lamb and their peers in a "shark tank" type proposal.

When discussing the success of the program, Lamb said students were continually more engaged than they had been previously, stating that "students would come to class excited to learn. You could feel the energy." Lamb expressed that "reluctant learners" were producing more work than before. Lamb also spoke about how the program changed his approach to teaching.

"I was engaged," he said. "I was more excited to teach, and I felt like what I was teaching mattered and that I was preparing kids for the 'real world.'"

Lamb concluded that he was looking forward to continuing to use the principles of RIDE in future units.