Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. ~Henry Ford
Week 4 in Review
It sure was nice to have Monday as a holiday; it makes the week seem to fly by even faster. I want to thank everyone for their work this week in getting our seniors signed up for the ACT Academy and for reviewing their Arrow Forms. It’s really important not only for our school improvement (to raise ACT scores), but it really helps guide the conversation with our students on what they want to do when the graduate. I hope you will continue that conversation with them all year long. In the senior survey, it’s one of the most noted items that students remember in getting them ready for their future after graduation.
I want to share with everyone the information I collected from what we are now calling the “Student Congress,” which is the collected group of students you sent to the auditorium – one representing each CAMP. We learned quite a bit from the students in this meeting. Their number one stated goal for improvement will not surprise you. They want better lunches. I told them we would work on that immediately, and we are. I had a meeting with nutrition staff and district nutrition director on Thursday. They are committed to improvement along with the rest of us, including different ways to serve CAMP lunches on early out (perhaps offering family style or ordering “themed” meals for you to serve as a CAMP). We also discussed offering healthier options, and I think you should see the changes very soon including a salad bar, taco bar and/or potato bar. I know they are going to put out a Suggestion Box too, in order to get a more accurate feel for what they could do to improve.
The next area of improvement that our students talked about – and they were passionate about this – was how you all are conducting CAMP. They LOVE the teachers who offer team-building activities, interact with them and work on learning about them, and continue to work with them on their future goals. There were at least 1/3 of the students in the congress who raised their hands and claimed that their CAMP teacher could and should improve. Are you one of the teachers they were talking about? How can you change to make sure your students are getting what they need out of CAMP? Don’t be surprised if they are shy about telling you in front of each other – it’s cooler to say they don’t care and don’t want to do anything than to admit it’s important. Please be a teacher who steps in and makes a difference. I think it means more to your students than you can ever imagine.
Week 5 – Looking Ahead
This is going to be a busy week. We have JEPD on Wednesday, and it will include all the information for our Super Assessment Day. Be ready to learn where you will contribute as well as another literacy tool. CAMP information is also on the agenda – we are trying to constantly keep everyone up to date on what we need to accomplish in CAMP – especially when our students continue to say it’s so important. We will send out more information prior to Wednesday, so look for the agenda and schedule for block period and location of your PD.
One other important event this week is the Southside Parade. If you can join us in representing Benton High School in the parade, please take a fun moment on Saturday to bring your family and jump on our BHS trailer. Luke is working hard to get a good group together, and we have candy enough for everyone to toss to the crowd. It’s always a fun time. You will not regret bringing your family to this to ride along with us, waving to the crowds, and enjoying all the festivities. Go Cardinals!
Images in Creative Commons on Flickr: Motion gears-team force by ralphbijker; Pencil Blossom by a.c.muller