Shine Your Light

My goal every year is to find ways for you, as faculty and staff, to feel a sense of accomplishment and success. We know our purpose as teachers is to help meet students where they are and take them as far as they can go, with the idea of at least one year of growth.  

Growth in education can be difficult to measure unlike the business/private sector.  There are a lot of ways to determine growth in the business world, mostly through analyzing data and profit margins, but in education it is so messy!   While we do look at our quantitative outcomes a lot, in our jobs where we work with human beings and children, our success cannot be analyzed in a typical, business world fashion.  Students grow and mature at different rates, go through bad and good times and to each one, success looks different.  My mom was a kindergarten teacher for many, many years and we would talk about students a lot.  She couldn't BELIEVE the successes of some of our students.  "But when I had them, they couldn't read!"  or "When I had them they cried the first week of school!"  or "When I had them, they couldn't sit still for a second!" she would say over and over.  She would also ALWAYS end with the comment, "That is why you never give up on any of them!"

She is so right.  We are so blessed to have a team of faculty and staff who believe whole heartedly in our students and never give up on them.  All of you go the extra mile everyday.  While sometimes our quantitative measurements like ILEARN, SAT, AP exams, etc. don't always give us the results we hope for (and quite frankly are not good measures of success), we know that the qualitative measurements such as work ethic, kindness, love, community involvement always prevail.  

For me, one of the things that brings me the most joy is looking at our senior class and seeing the success and future goals for each student.  We know how they entered into junior-high (some of them we remember more than others) and to see how far they have come is heartwarming and satisfying. I hope all of you can feel that pride as we say good bye to the Class of 2022.  Below is a link to their class bios that will be shared in the Perry County News.  Take time to read them and their future goals and know that their success is because of you!  The Senior Class Moto is, "Shine Your Light".  Thank you for being a light to all of them.

Senior Bios

Important Information: 

* Senior Walk Through - The Senior Walk-Through will begin around 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning.  Here is the path:  Senior Walk Path:   Start at HS Commons - down high school hall into elementary - go upstairs in 2 story - down back steps through lower elementary - then back up to elementary commons past 5th and 6th grades - back up through high school hall - senior hall is last then out the front doors.  We will stop at the front of the steps for a class picture.   

We will make an announcement when we would like you to ask your students to step in the halls. We will be on the south and north side halls only - so please move everyone down so we can fill them up! This is a fun time for students and faculty/staff. (If you have an extra Kleenex this year, I may need it!!)

* Finals - Remember that final exams will be Monday: 2,4,6 and Tuesday: 1,3,5,7

* Last Teacher Day:  Wednesday, May 25th is the last teacher day.  We will start with a retirement breakfast at 8:00 in the cafeteria.  The rest of the day will be yours to work.  I will send an email with a final list of things to do, but here is a rough draft!  :-)  

      * Grades - Please have grades finalized by the time you leave.  It is important we have grades finished as soon as possible for seniors.  If you have a special circumstance, please let the office know.  Please make sure students do not have incompletes!

      * Dual Credits - Please do not forget to put grades in the Ivy Tech system if you are teaching a dual credit class.  Also, please print a copy of your Ivy Tech grades before hitting submit and hand them into Dana.  This helps ensure our records are accurate on transcripts. 

      * Power Standards - Remember, we would like you to please make a list of your power standards (or reporting topics) and provide a percentage of students who earned a 3 or higher on each reporting topic.  HERE is a link to the document if you want to print one off.  Please do this for each different subject area you teach. 

     * Remember we will be cleaning classrooms, so please leave your room in a way that can be easily moved.  (Desks cleaned off, tables cleared, etc.)   

Graduation:  Graduation is Sunday, May 29th at 2:00 in the high school gym.  We will have a small section reserved for teachers on the south side of the gym by the stage.  It is always great to see teachers there to support students as they end their high school careers.   

Professional Development Dates: (I will email everyone this summer as well)

June 16 - English Team

June 29 - Math Team

June 30 - Science Team

July 27 - Social Studies Team

TBD: CTE Team/ Special Education

August 4 - Back to School Cookout!!

End of the Year!

End of the Year Teacher Memes

We are almost there!  I thought you would enjoy these funny end of the year memes!  Keep smiling!  

Important Information: 

Surprise and Delight -  "It's CRUNCH time!"   Please visit the high school office on Monday to pick up a snack that crunches and helps you get through the rest of the week!!!   Also, I think this week calls for jeans!  

Faculty Meeting - We will have a Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, May 17 at 7:30 a.m. in the high school library.  A light breakfast will be served. 

Feedback - As we end the school year, we are continuing to look for feedback.  This time, if you have had special education assistants in your classroom, we would like to you fill out the survey below.  This survey is not about individual people, but about the system itself.  What are strengths and weaknesses of our current system for assistants.  If you could fill it out by Wednesday, that would be SUPER. (This is for teachers only.)  

      Survey Found Here

Community Service Day - Junior High Community Service Day will be Friday, May 20th.  If you are a teacher helping with this project and need coverage for part of your day - please email me with the periods you need help with coverage by Wednesday.  I am afraid I will forget someone!  Thank you!

End of The Year Reminders: 

          * We will pick up computers for junior high students and seniors on Friday, May 19th.  Rest of the students will turn in their computers by Friday, May 20th.  A detailed schedule will be shared soon.

         * Finals - Monday: Periods 2,4,6    Tuesday: Periods 1,3,5,7    Please have meaningful work for all students during these assigned times.  Please do not "finish" the year early - if you do, have meaningful work.  

        * Ivy Tech Grades - If you haven't already, please make sure you follow all deadlines for Ivy Tech when submitting your grades on-line.  If you need help with this, please let us know. 

        * Data Review - At the faculty meeting on Tuesday, I will pass out a data sheet, asking you to submit your power standard data.  Reflecting on learning at the end of the school year is powerful for learning and moving forward.  You can celebrate success and reflect on strengths and weaknesses from the school year!  Details to follow on Tuesday!

        * SFS Goals - Do not forget to go into the SFS system and upload information about your professional goals that we set at the beginning of the school year.  This is necessary for us to have in order to give you a final evaluation score!

On-Line Students - If you have students planning to take classes this summer, they will turn in their computers according to the schedule.  If we have time, we will re-issue them their computers by the end of the day on Tuesday.  If not, they can pick them up over the summer.  

Seniors Schedule:  Wednesday - Last Internship Day/  Friday - Senior Trip to Holiday World/  Monday - 9:30 a.m. Senior Walk through/Graduation Practice

Feedback

“When you shut down vulnerability you shut down opportunity.”  - Brene Brown

We know that good, honest feedback is the only way to grow and learn in any profession.  That is why I am asking for yours!  Below is a link to a survey about how effective I am at guiding and supporting you as the teacher and our school.  Asking for feedback is very nerve wracking, but I know that when we are vulnerable and open we can find opportunity to grow.   I don't know if there is another school in our area that has such strong, caring and wonderful teachers like all of you - so there is nothing more important to me than ensuring that I am moving in a direction that is supportive to you and our school.

Please use the link here to provide feedback by Wednesday.  This survey will not collect any emails or identifying information, so please be honest.  https://forms.gle/AMZsTmWzeeK7aCXV6                                      

Jennifer Gonazalez author of the Cult of Pedagogy blog stated, "No one likes criticism. It's in our nature as humans to avoid it, sometimes at all costs. Still, hearing what you need to work on is one of the only ways you get better." So, in the spirit of 'getting better,' I yearn for your feedback. I teach my own children to always try to be 'the best version of yourself' and this is one way to accomplish it!"

Important Information:

Open House:  This week our Construction and Marketing students will be celebrating the Container Home with an Open House on May 12^th!   They hope that some of our sponsors will attend and YOU!  We will have pizza down in front of the container home from 11:30 – 12:25 if you want to take your lunch, eat pizza with them and check out the container home.  Josh Craney and his crew have been working feverishly to finish the home.  It looks great!  Hope to see you there.  (Teachers, please make sure you still pull students during WIN and assistants, please cover your WIN groups like normal.)

Commodore Pride:  The Commodore Pride committee has a great line up for Friday, May 13^th (Ignore that it is Friday the 13^th).  Commodore Pride will be 3^rd and 4^th periods.  Please see details below:

      Grades 9-12:  Will be released to the high school gym after we take attendance 3^rd period.  Students will sit on the north side of the gym (by the coke machines) by grade level. 9^th grade on the visitor’s bench side and seniors on the home bench.    Be ready to be entertained and many of our student groups will be recognized. At the end of 4^th period, students will be released to WIN (but I think the wiffle ball tourney will have their championship at this time – then students can go to lunch).  Students will return to their 5^th period classes for the rest of the regular school day.  (Theme for the day is Careers.  We are asking all teachers to wear their Early College shirts!)

   Grades 7-8:  Grades 7-8 will report to their 3^rd period classes.  You can find a coverage plan HERE. (Assistants, please look at the plan because you will be helping during this time.)   Junior high teachers who want to attend Commodore Pride, should leave sub plans for their 3^rd period class and follow the coverage plan.   Students will stay in their 3^rd period classes for an extended time – at 10:45, students will be released to the football field (home bleachers) for their academic awards program.  We are asking that all junior high teachers please be present for this unless it is a special circumstance.  We will hand out student awards during this time.  Once this is finished, students will be released to lunch.  If you need some certificates printed, please let the office know and we are happy to help!

Please help ensure students have meaningful work periods 5-7 on Friday.  It will help our students make it through the rest of the day with fewer behaviors! 

 

7^th Grade Field Trip:  Thursday, May 12^th, all 7^th grade students will be attending a field trip at the 4-H Fair Grounds.  Thanks to Stephanie for organizing the trip. 

 

Academic Awards Banquet:  May 11^th is our Academic Awards Banquet!  Please stop in and see Sheila this week to check you awards.   The awards program will begin at 6:30 p.m.  Teachers will have a special section to sit on the south side of the gym.  Again, this year, we will ask each department to come up together and help each other present awards.  We will have pins and awards out on the table for you.   Please let us know if you have any questions.  A BIG thank you to Sheila for organizing this special event!

 

Testing:  Thanks to everyone who helped with ILEARN.  It was a great success.  We have just a handful of students that need to finish and I hope to get that finished on Monday.  I think I read where we will get test results in 12 days. . . so we may have them soon.

      AP Exams:  Dana sent lists of students who will be testing on Monday and Wednesday for their AP Calculus and AP Language tests. 

     Biology ECA:  This week, Jill and Jill will be giving the Biology ECA on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Students will test during their Biology period plus one extra period.  So, 2^nd period Biology students will test 1^st and 2^nd period for example.  You can find a copy of the schedule HERE.  Be mindful that this will affect several 9^th and 10^th grade students. You can see the list of students on the last tab of the document. 

House Meeting – If you lead a junior high House team, we will have a meeting Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. to finalize plans for our Community Service Day.  Please meet in the library for this important meeting!

Seniors – I wanted to share the plan for seniors.  Senior’s last normal day of school will be May 19^th.  They will have their senior class trip to Holiday World on May 20^th and we will have the senior walk through and graduation practice on Monday, May 23^rd.  (I may need some help on this day – not sure about having a senior!!!!  I cry during the walk through when they are not my own kids!)  They are getting excited about their last few days of school.  Thank you for keeping them engaged in meaningful work!

Congratulations to Tim Ball for being recognized for CTE Program of the Year for our region!  He will be recognized at a banquet in Indianapolis on Tuesday, May 10^th.  Also, Vivian Galey won the top CTE student spot!  She will also be recognized.   It is a testament to all of our programs here at PC!

 

 

 

 

Teacher Appreciation

 Last week, Vivian Galey and I were invited to the Dubois County Junior Achievement Banquet by Brenda Stallings.  Brenda is the founder and CEO of Matrix Integration and was inducted into the Business Hall of Fame.  We have grown to know Brenda as she has partnered with our students at Perry Central and actually funded Vivan's entrepreneurial project last summer.  

At the banquet, one of the speakers talked about Junior Achievement.  Junior Achievement's motto is "Empowering Young People to their Own Economic Success."   That statement got me thinking.  Not only does Junior Achievement strive for this kind of success for our students, but so do all of you.  Ensuring students have opportunity for a high quality of life, including helping students connect to careers that give them purpose and economic success is the bread and butter of your work! 

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  As you look forward to some great treats this week, I hope you can look at each student and realize the influence you really have on each of their lives.  Even though many of the kids do not realize it yet, they will.  You give them the foundation, encouragement and hope that drives them do great things after leaving your classroom.  

Just like Brenda Stallings has poured into Vivian, you are pouring into your students.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart, not only as a principal, but as a mom and community member who cares about the future of our community and world.  The work you do makes the world go around - I hope you don't forget how important you really are.  :-)  

Important Information: 

Teacher Appreciation Week - You received a post card from Janet with all of the goodies for the week.  We are entering the last few weeks of the school year!  Hope you have a SUPER FANTASTIC week!

ILEARN - I can't express enough to all of you how hard the 7th and 8th grade students worked on ILEARN.  Even some of our students that have been struggling in 8th period to get their work completed put their heart and soul into the test.  Thank you to all of our junior high teachers for preparing our students.  This week, we will be testing math on Tuesday (periods 1-3) and Wednesday (Periods 2-3).   HERE is the ILEARN schedule.  All locations are the same.  

Administrative Assistant Day - Last week, our office celebrated Janet and Sheila for Administrative Assistant day.  We are so blessed to have two wonderful ladies with smiling faces welcome all of our people from the outside and take care of all of the student's needs - and OUR NEEDS!  Thanks, Janet and Sheila!

Spring Calendar - Please find the Spring Calendar HERE for an up-to-date list of activities/testing dates.  We are entering AP exams and Biology ECA exam time as well as other fun activities. 

Keeping Focus - We are in the end of the fourth quarter, the game is tied, and every shot counts!!  Time to dig deep, team!!!!  This is an important time to create fun, engaging lessons that are outside of the box!  Share your favorite past time with them, find a way to give back to the community, play educational games, provide fun labs/learning experiences, have fun with them!!  We all need to come to school focused and ready to work each day so our students will keep up the expectation as well.    

National Early College Week

 

I smiled this morning when I saw this lone iris blooming.  Spring is always my favorite time of the year; the flowers give me so much hope as we start to emerge out of the cold dark winter. 

This week is National Early College High School week.  Just like this flower, Early College programs are giving our students hope for their futures.  Early College provides students the opportunity to earn dual credits, gain valuable skills that will help them transition from high school to college more successfully and saves our students a lot of time and money.  

60% of career opportunities in Indiana will require education beyond high school by 2023.  The Early College program helps ensure all students will have the opportunity for credentials beyond a high school diploma so they can meet the needs of the workforce, which will provide them the quality of life they deserve.  The State of Indiana has been helping us do this by changing graduation requirements and adding Graduation Pathways and Next Level Program (Career Pathways) which promote skills beyond a high school diploma.  

Perry Central is proud to be recognized as an Early College High School since 2017.   This year's senior class alone will graduate 38% of students with the Indiana College Core, which is their first year of college for free (a very high percentage of students).  On average, 20% of students leave with an industry certification and 80% leave with at least 15 or more dual credits aligned to a career pathway.   We also know that less than 10% of students who earn the Academic Honors Diploma require zero remediation in college as well.  Our data is outstanding.  

Our Early College program could not be possible without all of you.  All of the blood, sweat and tears you put into each day, helping students overcome obstacles is making a difference.  Just like this little purple flower, you are giving each of our students hope for their future.  Thank you for your commitment.  

Early College Week Celebration Items:  (Thanks to Dana and Laura for organizing!)

     * All Week - Wear Jeans

Monday - Celebrate seniors earning Indiana College Core.  Seniors will also be making videos for underclassmen about what it takes to be successful in the Early College Program. 

Tuesday - Celebrate Teachers!!  Please wear your green Early College T-Shirt.  We will have a staff (assistant) picture taken at 8:45 on the front stairs and a faculty picture taken on the front stairs at 11:25 a.m.    We will also serve Subway for lunch to everyone on this day. 

Wednesday - Highlight our Internship Program

Thursday - Early College Mentor Lunch Meeting with students

Friday - Celebrate Ivy Tech with Desserts in the high school office 

Hope you have a fantastic Early College Week!

Important Information: 

ILEARN - This week! You can find the schedule HERE.  Please make sure all students know where to go.  ILEARN packets will be in the high school office for pick up on Tuesday morning. Teachers who are proctoring the tests, received a detailed email Sunday evening.  Please let us know what questions you have!  

Grading Practices - Last month, Dana and Ty shared our grading practices at the SIEC to several school administration.  Crawford County Schools were so excited about our grading practices, they are working to implement them in their school setting.  They asked Ty and Dana to come back and present to all of their staff on May 3rd.  Thanks to Dana and Ty for their leadership.  

Professional Development (Teacher Only):  We are working on our Professional Development Plan for this summer.  Below is a doodle poll link that will help me schedule a one day training for each of our teams.  All teams, except for the English Team, should please fill our the form.  (English, I will send you a separate email, as we already have dates set-up with Carrie Rosebrock for your team.) 

Doodle Poll:  https://doodle.com/meeting/participate/id/elYXlPVa

School Visit:  A small team is leaving on Monday, April 25th at 10:00 to visit White River Valley school corporation.  They are a rural school, like Perry Central, who is pushing the envelop by adding more enterprise programs like Commodore Manufacturing to several of their Career Pathways.  Our team of Michael Jarboe, Carrie Guillaume, Dana Harris, Ray Niehaus, Jody French and Tara Bishop are going to visit for a couple of hours to learn how we can continue to grow these innovative pathway opportunities!  

Self-Awareness - This week, I am going to present to 8th grade students and teach them about self and social awareness.  (Panorama data suggests that students are weak in these two areas.)  Preparing for this presentation was good for me, because it reminded me of the importance of brain states in our decision making daily.  The states include:  executive state (upstairs brain), emotional state and survival state (downstairs brain). 

 I realized this past week, that I spent a lot of time living in my emotional part of my brain (sorry to those I was in contact with!)  Sometimes stress gets to all of us.  To try to overcome this, I worked hard this weekend to take time for myself.  I tried to take extra walks, enjoy watching Jace play golf, spending time with my mom and taking many deep breaths.  Recognizing our own brain state is so important - being conscious of where we are making decisions from and then having the discipline to make changes so we can stay in our upstairs brain (where we make the best decisions) is vital.   This is a busy time of the year - don't forget to take time for you!  

Congratulations to Mrs. Poehlein and her art students for a fantastic art show last week!  The Holidays never looked so good!  

   

Week of April 18

 

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend.  We had a great Easter gathering at the Etienne (my maiden name for those who don't know) plantation.  It is always good to be with family and friends.  

We are getting close to the end of April.  Only 5 full weeks left of school, but they are sure to be eventful!

As the weather gets warmer (hopefully),  the sun begins to shine, and we get closer to the end of the school year, our students also bring a little more energy.  It is VERY IMPORTANT that we work hard to make sure our students are in their assigned locations and we are all working together for strong supervision.  It is important to never leave a class of students unattended, be in the halls during passing periods, and always make sure you have meaningful work for students to engage in these last few days of school.  All of this will help ensure the safety of everyone.

Thanks for all you do for our students!  I hope you have a wonderful week!

Important Information: 

Faculty Meeting - We will have a faculty meeting on Tuesday, February 19 at 7:25 a.m. in the high school library.  It is important that everyone is there, unless you drive a bus!

Student Mock Interviews - Thanks to Mike and Dana, all of our juniors will be going through an interview this week on either April 20 or 21st with a business partner.  This is a great opportunity for students to learn interviewing skills.  Some will also be interviewing for internship positions and the Work Ethic Certification.  There are a few seniors that will be interviewing for a job as well!  Also, a shoutout to Jennifer Ball and Alyssa Howe for helping students practice their resume writing and interview skills!

Calling all Teacher Leaders - Next school year, it is our goal to develop more structure for our PLC process.  We will be looking for someone in each PLC group to step up into a leadership role.  Some of the requirements of the PLC Leader would be:  attend a training in Jasper in June, create agenda's for each week's team meeting, meet with me twice a month to discuss goals for your team, and be willing to lead your group to collaboration and success.  There will be a stipend for this position.  We are looking for leaders in: English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Special Education, CTE, and Fine Arts/PE  

        We will use an application process to determine who our leaders will be.  If you are interested in taking on a leadership role, please fill out this quick google form by Friday, April 22nd.    

Surprise and Delight (cookout):  This Friday is our cookout for students in grades 9-12. This will happen within the lunch/WIN hour. Details will be shared at our faculty meeting on Tuesday and then through email.  Assistants, we will be asking you to help with supervision in the cafeteria for junior high and in other places as well.  Crossing our fingers for a beautiful day!

Why to Students Disengage?

 This week in San Diego, I had the honor of listing to education guru and author, Dr. Douglas Fischer.  (You may recognize him as the Fisher in the Fisher and Frey books that we read all of the time.)  He is an education researcher and author of many books.  He also still teaches one section of English 9 in the San Diego school systems. 

His presentation was on SEL and the importance of it in our school systems.  He shared many great things (and I am sure will be in a book we will need to purchase, soon.  Lol!)  that I will try to share with you in the next few weeks.

One of the articles he mentioned was about student engagement.  The research he shared talks about student disengagement and the  9 identified  challenges for students and what we as teachers can do to help our students with these struggles.  

To the left, you will see a chart that lines everything up in an easy to read way.  I would encourage you to read the article as well - it is short and sweet and you will find the link below! (You can read the chart easier in the article as well.)  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Article is HERE.

Important Information: 

House Leader Meeting - Monday, April 11th - First WIN- Lauren said it would be quick.  We appreciate and are excited about the great things to come for House thanks to all of you! Rock, Paper, Scissor activity this week!!!

RECN Meeting - This week, Dana, Laura and I will be traveling to Indy on Tuesday for another RECN network meeting.  This meeting is for the Early College Grant that we have.  We will share with you what we learn!

Container Home Raffle - Just a reminder that we are in the last days to purchase tickets for the container home our construction class is building!  You can buy one ticket for $20 or 6 for $100!!!  Raffle will be the 15th!

Faculty Meeting - Our next faculty meeting will be Tuesday, April 19th at 7:25 a.m.  

Student Interviews - Dana and Mike are gathering up business partners for our annual interview program.  All juniors will have a 15 minute interview with a business partner on either Wednesday, April 20 or Thursday, April 21st.  This interview will serve many purposes including: work ethic certification requirements, internship opportunities for next year, jobs for students going straight to work and just good experience!  Thanks for Jennifer Ball and Alyssa Howe for helping pull together lessons about how to interview and Dana for helping students with resumes!  A schedule will be shared soon. 

Surprise and Delight - We will have a cookout for students on Friday, April 22nd during their assigned lunch periods.  In the past, this has happened during Commodore Pride day, but we are spreading the wealth a bit.  Be on the look out for a lunch-time whiffle ball tourney and some other fun activities during lunch!  

Celebration: 

Congratulations to Josh Craney, Blake Tucker and Jolene Lagrange for making it to the state level for the construction Skills USA Contest.  They not only received a high ranking at the district level that led them to the state, but they also received a scholarship from Vincennes University!  GREAT JOB!

Congratulations to Andrea and our high school band for earning a Gold Rating at their contest Friday night.   They didn't think they sounded very good - but they are wrong.  They were AMAZING!!  The band banquet is May 5th if you would like to catch their wonderful sounds!