"Whatever you are, be a good one!" Abe Lincoln

One of my favorite quotes of all time is, "Whatever you are, be a good one." by Abe Lincoln.  Even though I think about this quote often, it really struck me this week as we had a couple of visitors into our school, including Tim Hayden, COO of the Indiana Chamber and of course the honorable Governor Holcomb.  Both of these individuals visited on different days but had the same goal, to learn about our Internship Program and Earn and Learn (Commodore Manufacturing) opportunities.

It is exciting that people of this caliber recognize the work all our of faculty and staff are doing each day.  They are amazed by the opportunities our students have, especially in our small, rural setting and they recognize the economic impact that programs like this have on our economy.  They leave with the goal of taking ideas back to replicate. (Even though the secret to any success is not the program, but the people - and they can't have any of you!  ;-))   

Even though economic development is important to me (I am a geek), the real power of these programs that visitors just cannot fully see is that we are changing lives. Many schools across the state only celebrate and value high academic success (4-year college) but we are pushing for so much more.  We know that students need both academic and technical skill to be successful and that level of skill can look different for each student. Visitors cannot see the impact we are making on different demographic levels (homeless, foster children, free and reduced lunch, etc.) because all of our students look the same: successful. 

One of my core beliefs in life is that everyone has a purpose in this world.  We are all here for a reason.  I am so proud to work in a school that values each child, who are at various levels of skill, and helps to push them to find their own level of success.  To me, we are embracing the Honorable Abe Lincoln's beliefs and instilling that into our students. THAT is AWESOME! 

School Notes: 

* Congratulations to Andrea Clark and her family.  They welcomed Nora Grace at 11:28 p.m. on Friday, August 10th.  She was 7 lbs, 4 ounces.  Hank is very excited to be a big brother, but Dean wasn't as sure.  Andrea told Dean on the phone that he had a new sister and he said, "No!"   Best wishes to the Clark family!  

* WIN Assignments - We were able to assign all students to a WIN location through Skyward this weekend.  Individuals covering WIN should please take attendance using this system.  If you notice any mistakes on our end, please let us know so we can fix them!  

* Schedule Changes - Maria is finishing up schedule changes.  We will not make any more changes unless it is a special case.  Please do not allow students to report to the guidance office for this purpose.  Thanks to Maria for all of her work.    

*Assistant Meeting - I would like to meet with assistants on Wednesday during their lunch time in the new teacher meeting room (the small room behind the ISS room).  We just want to touch base about how things are going, answer questions and help with Skyward.  Please bring your lunch to the meeting!  

* Conscious Discipline- Thanks to all of the teams that are working on watching the Conscious Discipline videos.  The username and password was attached to this email.  Helping our students develop socially/emotionally is so important.  Thanks to everyone for being on board!
Here is the schedule:  (Some of you had overlapping dates and we can only log into the system from one computer.)
* Math Team - Next Three Mondays
* Biology Team - Next Two Fridays (They started on the 10th)
* Special Education/Social Studies - Next three Wednesdays (maybe the two groups would want to figure out where they can meet together)
* English Team - Next three Thursdays
*Islanders - /Next three Tuesdays

Please have this complete by September 14th at the latest. 

*Virtual PD Day - September 4th will be a virtual day for students and professional development day for our teachers.  More information will be forthcoming!  Looking forward to a great day of learning!

* Parent-Teacher Conferences - September 20th will be our Parent-Teacher Conference night!  Students will be released at 1:00 and we will be open for conferences from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m. 

Important Dates: 

Monday, August 13:  School Board Meeting 6:30 p.m./ Varsity Volleyball 5:30 p.m. @ Boonville

Tuesday, August 14:  Varsity Volleyball 6:00 p.m. @ home vs. Cannelton

Wednesday, August 15:  Data Team Meeting 3:00 p.m.

Thursday, August 16:  Varsity Volleyball @ Home vs. Orleans  5:30 p.m.

Friday, August 17:  Varsity Football Game    Perry Central vs. Tell City  7:00 p.m. 

August 21st - Faculty Meeting 7:20 a.m.