Public Involvement Sought for Education in Heartland Visioning

Come participate in the public forum held by the Education Foundation Team of Heartland Visioning from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 29, at the Marvin Auditorium 101BC, Topeka Shawnee County Public Library.

The purpose of the meeting is to update the public on what the Education Foundation Team and its Alliances have been working on and then ask for feedback. You will hear about:
1. How Washburn Institute of Technology will benefit our community,
2. What is being done to prepare students for work at local companies,
3. What is being done to encourage graduating college students to stay in the Greater Topeka Area,
4. Other ideas on how education can become a part of a better Topeka.

“The spirit of having a community-wide vision is that the community is involved throughout,” said Patrick Woods, member of Topeka Public Schools Board of Education and co-chair of the Education Foundation Team of Heartland Visioning. “The Strategic Alliances have been working hard and now it is time to reflect for a moment.”

As indicated in the Heartland Visioning Strategic Plan, the vision for education in our community is to “promote development of broad based skills to prepare students for lifelong learning that is globally competitive: intellectually, socially, economically, culturally and personally.” The Education Foundation Team has been working on the strategies in the Heartland Visioning Strategic Plan since November of 2008.

“The community created the plan and it has to be the community that makes the vision happen,” said Bill Moore, co-chair of Heartland Visioning. “We encourage all foundation teams and alliances to go back to the community regularly. By doing so, we just might find another solution not yet identified.”

Heartland Visioning is working to make the Greater Topeka Area a growing, dynamic and trusting community that maintains a superior quality of life.

Heartland Visioning is a community-wide initiative to develop and implement a shared strategic vision for what we want our community to be in 5, 10 or 20 years. Our community is defined as Shawnee County which includes: Auburn, Rossville, Topeka, Silver Lake, Willard, and unincorporated Shawnee County.

A copy of the plan is available online at www.heartlandvisionoing.com or by contacting the Heartland Visioning office at (785) 231-6006.