Valley History: To Derby And Beyond (Episode #3)

We hope you enjoyed watching the segments on Derby's storied history, and how it relates to the rest of the Valley - during the Revolutionary War in particular.

• Are there other periods of history you'd like to learn more about on future shows?

•  Have you or your family/friends ever been to the David Humphreys House? If so, what did you enjoy about the visit?  Anything you would suggest or add to the exhibits/tours?

•   What do you think about Derby/Valley towns more formally celebrating the anniversaries of positive landmark events city/region-wide (e.g. birthdate of David Humphreys,  dates of incorporations, date when Pierre Lallement patented his bicycle (bike tour already in place), etc? 

Use of technology in schools?

In Part 2 of "Valley Education: Derby", Dr. Tracy speaks to a hybrid model of incorporating internet/online courses into public schools since information is now more frequently obtained from outside the actual building vs. inside. Do you think this is a valid consideration? If so, should schools be redesigned in the future with this in mind? Are online courses an adequate alternative to "traditional" courses? If not, what would you propose to be done differently?

Please let us know. Thank you. :)

Let's take a look at Opening Week's data, shall we?

In its first week online, Episode #1 (Valley Education: Derby, Part 1) has received approx. 350 views, so thank you for tuning in.

Roughly half of the views came on the "Looking Up..." YouTube page itself, while the other half came from the clip embedded into other sites (i.e. on the www.lookingupvalley.com Video Clip page or the Valley Independent Sentinel.) Any thoughts if this is relevant? What's also interesting is that one view actually originated from Germany! Not exactly sure how. Perhaps it was a US-based phone traveling overseas, but who knows? Maybe it's already time to include translated closed-captioning. :)

Meanwhile, 83% of the online viewers were male, the bulk b/w ages 45-54. Any thoughts as to why that was? Any thoughts how to expand our audience, especially to younger viewers?

Thanks for your feedback.

Education in the Valley

Can anyone speak from experience to the Derby Discovery Program, the School Readiness programs, the Even Start Program, the Derby Public Schools or St. Mary-St. Michael ES?

If so, what have you or or your kids found to be the programs' respective strengths? Areas for improvement?

For parents of pre-K children, have you registered your child for Kindergarten in the Fall?  If so, in which program, why, and what expectations do you have for it?

"Valley Education: Derby, Part 1" (Premiere)

The video for the premiere episode can be found in its entirety at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AhMPcrp9hk.

Please let us know what you think regarding the topics discussed with special guests Dr. Stephen Tracy, Derby Superintendent of Schools; Linda Coppola, Principal of St. Mary-Michael Elementary School and Cathy Williams, Director of the Derby Public Library.

Comments/feedback/suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for watching and posting.