Thanks for volunteering! Earn a Plank Owner’s Certificate
Parents and other members of the general public: it’s your effort that counts, not any form of commemoration that HSe4Metrics can offer.
Nonetheless, as a personal thank you for your role in helping generate a sponsor for the HSe4Metrics platform, we hope the “Plank Owner’s Certificate” (below) will one day remind you of your K–12 student performance effort—a potential turning point for hard-number results in public K–12 education, thereby helping to propel the United States itself.
Ask Congress to arrange sponsorship of the free-access HSe4Metrics platform innovation. In theory, and ideally with overwhelming bipartisan support, Congress could relegislate the U.S. Department of Education with a compelling focus on K–12 student performance, pass the act, and simultaneously conduct due diligence to initiate HSe4Metrics implementation and testing.
Click the + to see more and the — to see less.
Plank Owner's Certificate—a personal thank you
Welcome, future plank owners!
Traditionally, a plank holder is someone who was present at the official champagne bottle-breaking commissioning ceremony of a Navy ship—a milestone that often occurs weeks or even months after the ship’s initial launch. In fact, only a small percentage of U.S. Navy members ever have the good fortune of becoming plank holders.
I’m not one of them.
The closest I ever came was watching from a shipyard parking lot as Jackie Kennedy christened the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy in 1967.
Although I served aboard a Navy ship for several years shortly after high school, I missed its commissioning—by about 20 years. On the day the ship was launched, I was in a Navy hospital with my mother. It was the day I was born.
Over time, the term plank owner has taken on a broader, more metaphorical meaning. It’s now often used to describe someone who is part of the foundational stage of launching something new—something that may even be transformational.
A perfect example is the HSe4Metrics innovation for K–12 student performance.
Your role? Starting today, or at anytime you want to apply yourself, you can help the HSe4Metrics platform in any number of ways (a list of ideas is included below).
Or, if a $5 fundraising campaign is ultimately launched, you could donate $5.
Thank you,
Vernon A. (VA) Baker, Jr.
How the certificate will arrive—as a download link
If a limited fundraising campaign is launched, we hope you’ll consider making a donation. But if donating isn’t the right fit for you, we warmly invite you to explore other meaningful ways to get involved. Take a look at the title below, Volunteer! Here are some ideas. Your time and talent could make a real difference.
Whether you donate, volunteer, or both, you’ll become a Plank Owner. Your certificate will arrive by email as a simple link. Over the years, volunteers have forwarded the link to a big-box store for printing on certificate-grade paper. It cost just a few dollars—but results have been remarkable. A volunteer in Oregon discovered she could also have the same store frame it. The result was a standout certificate—one that kind of reminds me of the certificates I received in the 1960s when my ship crossed the Equator and the International Date Line.
If you have any questions about volunteering, click the “Be part of shaping the future” blue-gold button at the end of this page and complete the form.
(As always, your contact information will remain confidential.)
Contact us! Three ways
- Phone: Call (540) 644-1776 and press #1 to connect with Vernon Baker.
- Email: vabaker@hseverywhere.com
- Contact Form: Click this link to send us your thoughts or inquiries.
Volunteer! Here are some Ideas
- Always great:
- Spreading the word can be powerful!
Encourage anyone who cares about K-12 to visit www.HSe4Metrics.com.
- Likewise important:
- Help HSe4Metrics with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or other functions to boost the fundraising site’s visibility and organic traffic
- Help with designing a fundraising campaign
- Share posts, videos, or content wherever you can
- Use email to connect with others
- Manage a chatbot
- Help HSe4Metrics volunteers handle inquiries
- Help keep records
- Ask media to contact Congress
- Be a media rep
- Be the blog manager
- Talk to your favorite politician
- Talk to school boards
- Talk to teachers
- Do outreach to PR or connect with influencers and organizations in the education space