At the annual School Board retreat last Monday, the volley of data and technical reports was broken by something about “planting seeds of knowledge.”

The moment arrived when Douglas Wagoner, new principal at Lakeland High School, spoke about how he hopes to turn around the school’s fortunes.

Lakeland is currently accredited with warning, and Wagoner was presenting on the school improvement plan required by the state.

He said he was watching from his porch recently as “Reggie,” his friend and neighbor, was “taking care of his cotton field.”

“Educators are also planting seeds,” Wagoner said. “The seeds are knowledge.”

He returned to the analogy throughout his presentation, making what could seem like pretty dry material a lot more accessible — depending on your knowledge of raising cotton, of course.

Speaking this past Monday from behind his new desk, Wagoner described a school improvement plan as a work in progress.

“This plan is reviewed by the state at least on a quarterly basis,” he said. “It’s using the data, assigning interventions, and following up with that.

“Response to interventions is pretty much what it comes down to. We identify students needing intervention, provide intervention, then follow up on results to see if we’ve had the desired impact.”

That’s the essence of the plan as Wagoner sees it.

But drilling down, the plan sets out a series of specific tasks apparently aimed at equipping teachers, engaging students and boosting school spirit.

Many tasks aim to lift the quality of teaching, such as conducting at least one peer observation for educators every nine weeks, surveying teachers to assess professional development needs, and increasing professional development opportunities.

Another focus is math, the main subject where Lakeland has been let down. There’s a call to use nine-week assessment data to guide interventions, and not only for math.

Meanwhile, Wagoner plans to establish a new student advisory council which “may or may not” overlap with what has already been in place.

“These are going to be some students I’m trying to provide empowerment to,” he said. “They are also going to have tasks to accomplish. Some are working right now making recommendations to me for a motivational speaker to be considered early in the new school year.”

In the end, Wagoner said, “It’s difficult to teach kids if they don’t want what you are teaching.

“They need to know they are in the market for the best education they can get. That’s going to be up to the entire school, all the stakeholders.”

Former King’s Fork High School principal Suzanne Rice also presented its school improvement plan during the board retreat.

Kings Fork’s new principal, Stenette Byrd III, wrote in an email that he hopes to discuss the plan with Rice later this week before commenting.

King’s Fork High School is also accredited with warning.