BY KAREN BOSSICK

Jamie Vollmer was a successful manufacturing businessman and attorney when he stepped into the world of smelly eighth-graders and bell curves.

As he traveled through institutions of public education across the country, he came to believe that  we must change the system to get the graduates we need. And, he decided, we cannot touch the system without touching the culture of the surrounding town because everything that goes on inside a school is tied to local attitudes, values, traditions and beliefs.

Vollmer wrote about what he learned in the book “Schools Cannot Do It Alone.” And he will recount how he believes the system can be changed to increase student success during a free presentation at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, at Ketchum’s Community Library.

The presentation is being presented by the library and the Blaine County School District. It can be viewed on the library’s LIVESTREAM page during and after the event.

Keith Roark, chair of the Blaine County School Board which oversees the district’s 3,400 students, said that Vollmer is widely read, highly regarded, enlightening and entertaining.

“Everyone who attends will come away with fresh ideas about building a school system we can all trust and be proud of,” he added.

Vollmer is president of Volmer, Inc., and director of the Community Engagement Project, both of which work to halt the erosion of public trust and build support for America’s public schools. He became involved with schools in 1988 when he was asked to become a member of the Iowa Business and Education Roundtable.

He entered as a harsh critic and emerged a defender of America’s public schools. He’s worked with hundreds of school districts, Chambers of Commerce, education associations and foundations to build school-community partnerships that increase student success.

He created and produced the video series “The Great Conversation,” along with such videos as “Why Our Schools Need to Change” and “Teachers are Heroes.”

While in the Wood River Valley he will meet with the public at several other stops:

WEDNESDAY, March 4

8 a.m. Ernest Hemingway STEAM School in Ketchum

12:15 p.m. St. Luke’s Center for Community Health at St. Luke’s Clinic in Hailey

6 p.m. Community Library in Ketchum

THURSDAY, March 5

8 a.m. Breakfast with The Chamber in the Minnie Moore Room at Hailey’s Community Campus

4 p.m. Wood River High School Performing Arts Theater at Hailey’s Community Campus

6 p.m. with students in the Sun Valley Music Festival Music Institute and Nosotros United at Jhony’s Restaurant in Hailey.

Spanish interpretation will be provided at all events.