New Beginnings

This week, our last week of the 2016-2017 school year, is an exciting and life changing time for many.  We will be wishing our 2017 graduates and some very special retirees best wishes as they both enter new eras of their lives.  Both groups have tremendously impacted all of us at Perry Central and we wish them both the best.  Just because this phase in their life is over, we know their best is yet to come.  

I would like to take this time to thank Gary Hanan, Becky Genet and Mary Jo Carter for their service to our students and our school community.  Not only have I had the privilege of working with all of them, they also taught/coached/cared for me when I was in school.  Collectively, they have given 98 years to Perry Central.  We will all miss their smiles, jokes, expertise and kindness.  They have all definitely played a large role in each of our lives, and we wish them all of the best.    

I would also like to thank our entire staff for making my first year as principal easy.  I feel so fortune to work with such caring and hard working individuals.  As I thumbed through twitter and Facebook pictures for the year, I was reminded of all of the exciting times and successes we shared, such as our successful PBIS program, Commodore Pride Celebration (it was great!), BPA, FFA and other club successes, athletic team success, being recognized as 1 of 13 Early College High Schools in the state, Governor's Work Ethic Certification, outstanding outcome data and more.  All of these are because of all of the great things you do everyday.  You not only help us be successful in ways that we can measure, but there are immeasurable ways as well.  You have touched so many lives by building relationships, giving hope to students and just being caring individuals.  I could share countless stories of how special students feel when they are in our building and that is also because of all of you.  In my mind, we have had a great year, and I am looking forward to many more.

Thank you for what all of you have done to make Perry Central Jr./Sr. High School a special place.  I hope you all have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable summer. You deserve it!!  

School Notes: 

* Good luck to varsity baseball and softball teams in their sectional play this week!  Also, to our athletes that will be participating in regional track meets!  Go Commodores!!

* Locker Clean-out Schedule:  Monday, 12:05 - 12:25  8th grade clean-out/  Tuesday: 12th Grade - 8:00 - 8:20 a.m./ 11th Grade - 8:25 - 8:45 a.m./ 10th Grade 9:50 - 10:10/ 9th Grade 10:10 - 10:27/  7th Grade 10:35 - 10:55

* Senior Hall Walk - on Thursday at 9:30 a.m., we will start the senior graduation practice with a hall walk.  If your classes are not testing, you are invited to bring your students out into the hall and wish the senior class fair well as they walk the halls for the last time as PC students!  

* Senior Activities: Seniors will spend their last two days of school participating in activities.  On Wednesday, May 24, they will have their senior class trip to Holiday World and on Thursday, May 25th, will be graduation practice.  They will start their practice with a hall parade at 9:30 a.m.  They will end that day at the Leopold Park for pizza.  Seniors are responsible for academic content in your courses before they leave.  If they need to take a final test, please make plans to administer it to them before the last two days of school.

* Final Exams: We will keep the same schedule for final exams.  Finals will be held in periods 2,4,5,6 on Wednesday and 1,3,5,7 on Thursday.  Remember we are blocking periods for finals for every period except 5th period.  For example, on Wednesday, students will only report to periods 2,4,5, and 6.  It is important to keep students busy with educational material all of the way up to the end of the school year!   

* You can find a master calendar in the Teacher Resource Folder on your Google Drive.   

Important Dates: 

Monday, May 22 - Varsity Baseball vs. Heritage Hills 5:00 p.m. Senior Night/ Varsity Girls Softball @ Cedar Crest in Sectional Play at 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, May 23 - 8th Grade Field Trip/ Locker Clean-Out/ Varsity Girls Track Regional

Wednesday, May 24 - Senior Trip to Holiday World/ Varsity Boys Baseball Sectional @ South Spencer 5:00 p.m. vs. Forest Park/ Final Exam Schedule - 2,4,5,6

Thursday, May 25: Graduation Practice starting at 9:30 a.m. (Senior Walk starting at 9:30)/ Final Exams periods 1,3,5,7/ Boys Varsity Regional Meet

Friday, May 26: Retirement Party @ 8:00 a.m. - Breakfast served by the CTA/ Last Teacher Day!  Grades due by midnight 

Sunday, May 28: Graduation 2:00 p.m.  We hope to see all of you there!!  We will have a section for teachers roped off on the south side of the gym, lower bleachers.  

21st Century Learning

What does it mean to have a classroom that is equip with the tools that learners need in the 21st Century?  That seems to be the question that all of us are trying to answer as we are embracing this information rich world.  We know that the old days of straight rows and teachers being the "sage on the stage" are obsolete as all of our classrooms are striving to help students be prepared for the needs of our modern society.  When our students leave Perry Central, we need them to be innovators, effective in the workplace, great communicators, team oriented and life long learners.  21st Century learning is not new to Perry Central as we have embraced full-day internship programs, Early College High School, problem and passion based learning along with 1:1 technology all of the way down to kindergarten. 

As we wrap up another school year, I cannot help but continue to look for ways to better prepare our students.  Mary Roberson is always talking about how we can shift from teaching in silos of math, science, English and social studies to a vision of creating integrated curriculum and student directed learning environments.  Sometimes, even though we have a vision for what 21st Century learning should be, it is hard to find a model that can help us bring these dreams to reality.  That is how I have felt, until Tara Bishop shared this article about Apollo School in York, Pennsylvania. 

Apollo School is actually a cohort of students within Central York High School.  These students do not pick up and move on after first period, as they are engaged in a deep learning, self-paced environment where social studies, English and art standards are all embraced at the same time through inquiry-based learning. Central York High School also offers tracks of traditional and on-line learning creating a smorgasbord of opportunities that meets the needs for ALL of their students.    

I have shared this article with a few of you already, but I believe it is a vision that we should all share.  21st Century Learning should be about choice, creativity, and life long learning and that can happen in many different ways under one roof.  I hope you take time to read this article.  I believe with your leadership and commitment to education that Perry Central can too, be a model for change and a true definition of what 21st Century Learning should look like.        

You can find the article here.     

School Notes: 

*Congratulations to our English teachers and students for the outstanding performance they had in the Southern Hill Writing Contest.  There were around 30 student recognized for their writing pieces and all of the winners, except one, were from Perry Central!  Great Job!

* Last Faculty Meeting of the year - Tuesday, May 16th  7:20 a.m. in the high school library.  A light breakfast will be served. 

* Perry Central will have 53 students earn the Governor's Work Ethic Certification this year.  This is a very rigorous certification and we are very proud of our students.  We will have a short ceremony for them on Tuesday, May 16th at the beginning of third period.  Luke Bawel, Vice President of Jasper Engines, will be here to present students with their certifications.  

* On Friday, May 19th, there will be a remembrance ceremony for Tyler Zoglman at 6:30 in the bottom entrance of the high school gym.  All seniors along with faculty and staff are invited to attend this ceremony.  Tyler was a member of the Class of 2017.    

* Scholarship Banquet will be Wednesday, May 17th.  Lou Ann's daughter, Emily will be our guest speaker.

* Senior Activities: Seniors will spend their last two days of school participating in activities.  On Wednesday, May 24, they will have their senior class trip to Holiday World and on Thursday, May 25th, will be graduation practice.  They will start their practice with a hall parade at 9:30 a.m.  They will end that day at the Leopold Park for pizza.  Seniors are responsible for academic content in your courses before they leave.  If they need to take a final test, please make plans to administer it to them before the last two days of school.

* Final Exams: We will keep the same schedule for final exams.  Finals will be held in periods 2,4,5,6 on Wednesday and 1,3,5,7 on Thursday.  Remember we are blocking periods for finals for every period except 5th period.  For example, on Wednesday, students will only report to periods 2,4,5, and 6.  It is important to keep students busy with educational material all of the way up to the end of the school year!   

* You can find a master calendar in the Teacher Resource Folder on your Google Drive.   

Important Dates: 

Monday, May 15: English ECA Testing 9:00 a.m. (students who need to test are aware of the schedule.)/ Varsity Baseball @ Tell City 5:00 p.m/ Varsity Softball @ Orleans 5:00 p.m.

Tuesday, May 16: 7:20 a.m. Faculty Meeting HS Library/ Work Ethic Celebration 9:40 - 10:05 a.m./ 7th Grade Field Trip to Perry County Fairgrounds/ AP Pizza Party during 1st WIN/ Girls Track Sectional @ Perry Central

 

Wednesday, May 17: Varsity Baseball @ Springs Valley 4:00 p.m./ Scholarship Banquet 6:00 p.m./ Junior High Top 10 Pizza Party during WIN/Lunch

Thursday, May 18:  Academic Team Pizza Party during WIN/Lunch/ Boys Track Sectional @ Perry Central/ Varsity Golf @ Springs Valley 4:30/ Varsity Softball @ South Spencer 5:00 p.m.

Friday, May 19:  Commodore Pride Celebration periods 5-7/ Tyler Zoglman Dedication 6:30 p.m. lower gym entrance/ Varsity Baseball @ Forest Park 5:30 p.m./ Varsity Softball @ NE Dubois 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 20: Unified Track Sectional @ Central High School

Wednesday, May 24: Senior Class Trip to Holiday World/ Final Exams periods 2,4,5,6

Thursday, May 25: Graduation Practice starting at 9:30 a.m./ Final Exams periods 1,3,5,7

The Art of Curation

In the world of 1:1 computers, cell phones, ipads, etc., we are all a finger tip away from a plethora of information. Tony Wagner reminds us of this in his quote to the right when he talks about how free and available information is.  Even the good textbooks do not even shake a stick at the wealth of rigorous information that is readily available for our consumption.  When I think about how I would maximize these resources for students, I myself get a bit overwhelmed!    Jennifer Gonzalez's blog, To Boost Higher-Order Thinking, Try Curation, talks about ways to engage students into their own curation of information. She links these ideas to higher-order thinking skills that are needed in this 21st Century economy.  You can find the article here.  It is an empowering article and for me, provided several models that I could use in the classroom.  Hope you enjoy it!

School Notes: 

* Academic Awards Night will be this Wednesday, May 10th at 6:30 p.m. in the high school gym.  A BIG THANK YOU to Sheila and Janet for helping organize the event.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

* Tuesday, May 9th, several students will be recognized at the Southern Hills Writing Awards Banquet.  Thank you to Abbie Brockman, Amy Rasche, Jennifer Ball, and Lisa Lutgring for preparing our students so well!

* This Friday, May 12th is a busy day!  We will have several students participating as graduates in the Ivy Tech Graduation Ceremony at the Ford Center.  It is also the FFA Banquet, Coffee and Conversations @ the Pour Haus and Mary Jo Carter's Retirement Party!  It will be a great Friday!!

* Scholarship Banquet will be Wednesday, May 17th.  Lou Ann's daughter, Emily will be our guest speaker.

* Senior Activities: Seniors will spend their last two days of school participating in activities.  On Wednesday, May 24, they will have their senior class trip to Holiday World and on Thursday, May 25th, will be graduation practice.  They will start their practice with a hall parade at 9:30 a.m.  They will end that day at the Leopold Park for pizza.  Seniors are responsible for academic content in your courses before they leave.  If they need to take a final test, please make plans to administer it to them before the last two days of school.

* Final Exams: We will keep the same schedule for final exams.  Finals will be held in periods 2,4,5,6 on Wednesday and 1,3,5,7 on Thursday.  Remember we are blocking periods for finals for every period except 5th period.  For example, on Wednesday, students will only report to periods 2,4,5, and 6.  It is important to keep students busy with educational material all of the way up to the end of the school year!   

* You can find a master calendar in the Teacher Resource Folder on your Google Drive.   

Important Dates: 

* Monday, May 8 - Varsity Baseball and Varsity Softball @ Home vs. Crawford County 4:30 p.m.

* Tuesday, May 9 - Southern Hills Writing Awards Ceremony, St. Paul's Church/ Physical Night/ Varsity Softball @ Home vs. Wood Memorial 5:30 p.m.

* Wednesday, May 10 - Academic Awards Night @ 6:30 p.m./ Captain's Club Top 10 Banquet grades 9-11 @ 5:30 p.m.

* Thursday, May 11 - Boys and Girls Varsity Track and Varsity Softball @ Mitchell 5:00 p.m./ Varsity Golf @ Christmas Lake 4:30 p.m.

* Friday, May 12 - FFA Banquet 6:00 p.m./ Ivy Tech Graduation Ceremony, Ford Center/ Coffee and Conversations @ Pour Haus

Everyday Heroes

Earlier this week, Bill Amos shared with me that he had stopped at the nursing home to see his 1st Grade Teacher.  He said he would have never recognized her, as she was over 90 years old,  but how great it was to see her and remember his days of grade school.  What a touching thing to do; to not only remember someone who has impacted your life, but also take the time to visit her.  What an impact she must have made on him as a young child.  

His story warms my heart as we embark on National Teacher Appreciation Week. This is a week that we can recognize our teachers and the impact they made on our lives.  Teachers that not only taught us science, English, math, etc. but taught us how to have grit, believe in ourselves and helped us find purpose in life.  Teachers that provided opportunities to learn and grow as a person. The teachers who have made a tremendous impact on our world and community. 

This week, we will celebrate our teachers at Perry Central Jr./Sr. High School with a LOT of food and praise.  I would like to express my appreciation for their dedication to our school and our students. I want to thank each of them for working so hard to reach students, for spending countless hours to make sure that ALL students are learning and feel supported, for the numerous times they have taken time to stop in and discuss a student they are concerned about, for being a cheerleader when students are down, a role model to follow and for providing students with experiences that will change lives.  There are not enough words to truly express my appreciation. Each of them make Perry Central a very special place.  

I would like encourage everyone to take time this week, like Mr. Amos, to reach out to a teacher who has impacted your life.  Teachers are our everyday heroes and it is important they know just how special they really are!!  

School Notes: 

* ISTEP testing is almost over!  This week, Biology and Social Studies will be testing during their classroom periods.  We have a handful of students that need to finish up.  Thanks to all of you for your help with this process!

* We are very excited to offer several opportunities for our students and families during summer school this year.  Some special activities include Dual Credit Courses, Drone Flying Workshop, STEM Camp/Math Enrichment, French Lick Field Trip, Downtown Indy Experience, College Visits and more.  If you have students that you would like to have a special invitation to some of these opportunities, please send their names to Jody.  

* You can find a master calendar in the Teacher Resource Folder on your Google Drive.   

* Several AP Exams will be given in the next two weeks - thanks to Lou Ann and the AP teachers for providing this opportunity to our students!

* Perry Central will host the PLAC Track meet Friday night!  Good Luck Commodores!!

* Don't forget about all of the food that will be served this week!  Thank you for all you do!

Important Dates: 

* Monday, May 1st - Varsity Golf @ Sprigs Valley 4:00/ Varsity Baseball @ Paoli 4:45

* Tuesday, May 2nd - School Board Meeting 6:30 p.m. HS Library/ Varsity Golf @ Lucas Oil 4:00/ Varsity Softball @ home vs. North Harrison  5:00/

* Wednesday, May 3rd - High School Band Banquet 6:30 p.m./ Varsity Baseball @ Home vs. Tell City 5:00/ Varsity Softball @ Lanesville 4:30

* Thursday, May 4th - Varsity Baseball @ Springs Valley  4:30 p.m.

* Friday, May 5th - PLAC Track Meet 4:30 @ Perry Central

Carrots and Sticks: Student Motivation

Motivating students can be one of the biggest challenges in education.  Students come to us with many different backgrounds, interests, and experiences.  Jennifer Gonzalez writes about motivation in her blog, "5 Questions to Ask Yourself About Unmotivated Students."  (You can click here to find the article or go to www.cultofpedagogy.com for her podcast.)  Jennifer tells us that we cannot make excuses about how technology, home lives, or millennial work ethics are the problem. As professionals, we must embrace our society and take a look at ourselves and what we are doing in schools and in the classroom that stifles the motivation.  She suggests that research talks about the importance of building strong relationships, offering choice in a lesson, how grades really are not motivating, but growth is, and the importance of relevance to students when learning.   I highly encourage you to read the article!  

We are fortunate, at Perry Central, to be providing opportunities for students that help motivate them. Programs like Commodore Manufacturing, Project Lead the Way, Internships and Problem Based Learning lessons all help foster motivation in our classrooms by providing real-world experiences and choice. In individual classrooms,  I believe our teachers are finding ways to collaborate, build relationships with students and continue to work on developing a growth mindset everyday. 

But, we cannot stop here.  As professionals in the field of education, it is our job to teach each and every student and to motivate them to want to be life long learners.  We need to be consumers of research and blogs like Jennifer Gonzalez to help us continue to find ways to reach all of our students!  What are some ways you have found to motivate your students? 

School Notes: 

* ISTEP Testing Week!!  Please remember students will be testing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.  Thank you for your flexibility and patients during this testing window.  

* Exciting opportunities for summer school will be posted soon!  

* You can find a master calendar in the Teacher Resource Folder on your Google Drive.   

* Thank you to those who have turned in your 4.5/9 week assessments for the 4th Quarter!

Important Dates: 

* Monday, April 24 - Varsity Golf @ Lucas Oil/ Varsity Softball @ Paoli 4:30

* Tuesday, April 25 - Varsity Track @ NED invitational/ Varsity Baseball @ H vs. Paoli 4:30

* Wednesday, April 26 - Varsity Baseball @ Lanesville 4:30/ Varsity Softball @ H vs. Cannelton 4:30

* Thursday, April 27 - Varsity Golf @ Paoli  4:00/ Boys Varsity Track @ Home 4:30/ Girls Varsity Track @ Southridge 5:30

* Friday, April 28 - Varsity Baseball @ Home vs. Wood Memorial/ Girls Softball @ Home vs. Tell City/ 

Golden Opportunities

It is hard to believe that I have been out of 4-H for twenty years and even harder to believe that my own children are old enough to participate!  4-H was a very big part of my life.  Showing cattle, spending time in leadership camps and learning how to give back to my community became a favorite past-time of mine.  I had the opportunity to travel, learn leadership skills, meet people from around the state and developed my passion and interest in youth development.  Through my many trips as a high school student to Purdue's campus, I found myself feeling at home and desiring to further my education there. I owe a lot to this program and hope  my own children gain as much as my husband and I did.

I think sometimes, we forget the value of organizations like 4-H, Key Club, BPA, Student Council, FFA, etc.  When we think of teaching professional skills (or work ethic/soft skills) and how to work hard, these organizations provide real-world opportunities and foster the growth of a child.   I think we are fortunate at Perry Central to have a long list of clubs and organizations that provide these opportunities for our students.  Students have the opportunity to be involved in Business Professionals of America (BPA), FFA, Math Club, Student Council, Commodore Manufacturing, Art Club, Commodores in Christ, Band, Literature Club, Robotics/STEM, and the list goes on and on.  We all need to encourage our students to get involved.  I believe that it is a very important component in developing the whole child.  

While in 4-H, I was privileged enough to earn the I Dare You Award.  The award allowed me to travel to California for a leadership seminar, and also gave me a book on how to be a leader by William H. Danforth.  One quote I will always remember from this book is " You have a four-folded life to live: a body, a brain, a heart and soul.  To use and develop these is not a task, but a golden opportunity."  

At Perry Central, it is our goal to fully develop these parts of life for all of our students.  Let's help all of our students take advantage of these golden opportunities and get them involved!  

School Notes:

- ISTEP testing - An email was sent out this week with the ISTEP schedule for the end of the month.  Please review it!  Our first test will be Thursday, April 20th!

- End of School Year Calendar - Click here to find calendar.

- PLC Data - Just a reminder about your PLC Data being due on April 14th.

- PLC Assessments - reminder to turn in 4th quarter 4.5/9 week assessments by April 20th in google classroom

- Faculty Meeting - Tuesday morning at 7:20 a.m.


Important Dates:

Monday, April 17: Varsity Boys Baseball vs. Cannelton @ home  4:30/ Varsity softball @ Forest Park 5:00/ Varsity Golf @ Lulcas Oil 4:15

Tuesday, April 18: Faculty Meeting 7:20/ Varsity baseball vs. Boonville @ home 6:00/ Girls Varsity Track @ home 4:15

Wednesday, April 19: Varsity baseball @ Orleans 5:00

Thursday, April 20:  ISTEP Testing - first ELA session!!/ Girls varsity softball @ home vs. Southridge 5:00/ Boys & girls varsity track @ Tell City 4:30/ Varsity golf @ Christmas Lake 4:30

Friday, April 21: Varsity baseball @ Mitchell 4:30/ Varsity softball @ home vs. Tecumseh 5:00

Dependability

This month's county Work Ethic theme is Dependability. Dependability can be defined as the quality of being reliable and worthy of trust.  In the workplace, we know that having a staff of dependable employees and managers helps a business run more smoothly and ensures that tasks will be complete. Learning how to be a dependable individuals is important for ones own success.    Perry Central Jr./Sr. High School is full of dependable teachers who are role models for students everyday.  Parents trust all of our teachers with their most precious gems, their children and depend on our teachers to help them educate their child so they can be successful.  We are fortunate to have so many dependable individuals working at Perry Central that ensure learning is taking place.   Just the other day, we received a thank you note from a parent: 

I want to Thank you all sooo much! I love that when students even Juniors in high school don't complete an assignment they must attend learning lunch and then 8th period if they still don't get it done. I love that if the student doesn't come prepared to class like have jeans for welding they have to do other work to replace what is being taught in the shop. Or that the PE teacher takes time from his day to email me and let me know when my student is not dressing out for class. I appreciate a teacher who takes time out of his busy schedule to check up on my student who in Flex time is not getting anything done and willing to discipline him to teach him what inappropriate behavior is. 

Thank you all for your help with my student. For the first time in his life he has a bunch of people caring for him and holding him accountable! Together, we are making a difference and hopefully developing a productive adult for society.

Thank you all at PC for everything you do!  

It is important to be dependable.  Thank you to our teachers and staff for being a great role model of this work ethic skill.  

School Notes:

- ISTEP testing - An email was sent out this week with the ISTEP schedule for the end of the month.  Please review it!  Our first test will be Thursday, April 20th!

- End of School Year Calendar - Click here to find calendar.

- PLC Data - Just a reminder about your PLC Data being due on April 14th.

- Thank you to everyone for turning in their Domain 1 & 3!


Important Dates:

Monday, April 10 - Boys Varsity Baseball @ Cannelton 4:30p.m./ Girls Varsity Softball @ Tell City 4:30

Tuesday, April 11 - Boys & Girls Varsity Track @ Home 4:45/ Varsity Golf @ Christmas Lake 4:30

Wednesday, April 12 - Captain's Club Top Ten Banquet @ Patio

Thursday, April 13 - 10th Grade Boys and Girls ASPIRE Event/ Boys Varsity Baseball @ Crawford County 4:30/ Boys & Girls Varsity Track @ Home 4:30

Friday, April 14 - GOOD Friday!!  PLC Data Due (remember to let me know when your team is meeting!!)