Random Act of Kindness Day!

"Kindness is a language in which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."  Mark Twain

Monday, February 17th is National Random Acts of Kindness Day!  For the past 20 years, research has been studying "positive psychology", the analysis of how uplifting emotions such as gratitude, love, joy and inspiration affect our well being and improve our lives.  One of the easiest ways to provide these positive feelings to ourselves and others is through kindness.  Research shows that kindness can help boost ones immune system, decrease stress levels, providing feelings of meaning and purpose and a sense of connection.  

National Random Acts of Kindness Day is a day to focus on the simplicity of empowering others.  As you go through the day today, I encourage all of you to be intentional about spreading kindness to others and helping our students understand the power of these simple acts.  Below are a few ideas of how you can spread kindness today and everyday!! 

• Pay for the coffee or meal of the person in front of you in line.
• Leave a kind note for someone, no explanation needed.
• Share words of encouragement. You never know who might need them.
• Put your skills to work for someone in need. For example, offer to create a résumé for someone seeking a new job.
• Drop off a load of groceries at the local food pantry.
• Mail a “thinking of you” card to someone you’ve not to talk to in a while.
• Order a bouquet of flowers to be delivered to anyone in the hospital. That means, call the florist and tell them to pick a hospital or nursing home and deliver flowers to the person the front desk thinks needs it the most. It could be a sick child, an elderly person with no family or college student down on their luck.
• Send a thank you note to the local fire department, police departments or any military personnel.
• Just smile.

Important Information: 

Faculty Meeting - Just a reminder we have moved our faculty meeting to Wednesday, Feb. 19th at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library!  We will have a light breakfast and enjoy the morning for learning!  Hope to see you there!

Discussion Meeting - For those of you on the Discussion Team, just a reminder that we will meet on Thursday morning at 7:30 in the high school library. 

Commodore Awards - Congratulations to Josh Craney and Commodore Manufacturing as they will be recognized on Tuesday at the Department for Workforce Development at an awards banquet in Indianapolis.  Commodore Manufacturing will be recognized for their strong business-education relationships.  Also, Chase James will be recognized as an outstanding CTE student!  Way to go, Commodores!

ISTEP Testing - We will begin ISTEP testing for all 10th grade students the week of February 24th.  Students will take the first round of English tests February 25 & 26 and then Math on March 2nd & 3rd.  Please look at the attached ISTEP Schedule HERE.  The schedule shows who will be helping administer the test and provide coverage for classrooms.  For those of you administering the test, just a reminder we will meet Tuesday at 3:00 to go over the details and training requirements.  

Classroom Reminders - Just a reminder we are focusing on writing strong learning objectives, utilizing formative assessments (assessment strategies that inform us if students are learning) and posting classroom expectations this semester!  I have been in almost everyone's classroom more than once and many great things are being noted.  Thanks for your diligent work!!

Creative Minds - If you haven't had a chance to watch these videos of our students, please do so!  They are utilizing the skills they are learning in Mr. Gibson and Mr. Gehlhausen's classroom to develop products of their own!  Each of these teams will hopefully participate in the Innovate WithIN Entrepreneurship Contest at U of E on March 6th and gain the chance to move on to the state and win some cash prizes!  We are proud of these Commodores!