Commodore Pride

 

This quote caught my eye this week.  Just a great reminder of what all of us need.  Thanks for providing a safe place for students to learn (emotionally & physically), a sense of belonging (your smiling faces), choice in their learning and of course - FUN!  

Remember, if you have any competitions or fun activities in your classrooms and need some prizes we have cards for chips and drinks in the office or we can talk about other ideas!  

I was reading in Edutopia this week about equity and engagement.  I happened across this article, geared towards junior high classrooms.  The author talks about how gamifying her classroom increased engagement and motivation.  It was an interesting article, so I thought I would share!  Thanks!

ARTICLE

Important Information: 

Commodore Pride:  This week, the student council has been working on several activities to engage our student body in, virtually, for the boys basketball sectional.  We wish our coaches and players best of luck.  

    *  Dress Up Days:  We will be taking tally of the number of students in each grade that are participating in dress-up days for the pep session.  Please use this google form to enter the tally during your 2nd period class.  We encourage you to put a student in charge to help remind you!  Here is the FORM.   The grade level that has the most students participate will earn donuts!  

 Dress-Up Days include:

• Monday ~ Pajama Day
• Tuesday ~ Uniform/Jersey
• Wednesday ~ USA
• Thursday ~ Fancy Day
• Friday ~ Black Out
• If we win the first two games and move on to the championship game on Saturday, the theme for the game would be Crazy Green.

* Tic Tok Competition - Students have been asked to participate in a Tic Tok Competition that promotes school pride.  Videos are due to Mr. Zellers by Monday morning and students will be voting on the winners!  

* Virtual Pep Session - Tuesday during 2nd period, we will have a virtual pep session for our boys basketball team.  Teachers, it is important that you make time for this.  We will have an announcement and a video link will be sent to you.  It will not take up much time, but will help us share our Commodore Pride.  More information will come!  

Ron Clark Brainstorm -  Junior High Teachers, we will move our Ron Clark brainstorming session to Thursday morning, March 4th, at 7:25 a.m. in the high school library.  We would like your thoughts about how we should best move forward and schedule some events for students.  All junior high teachers are welcomed and encouraged to attend.  

End of the 9 Weeks:  Teachers, there has been some chatter about the possibility of extending the 9 weeks due to our snow days.  It really wasn't on my mind because we had virtual days.  I wanted to see how all of you felt about it.  Please take 2 seconds to fill out this form and provide feedback.  FORM HERE

Legislative Update:  Here is a quick update on some of the bills we were following.  The legislative process has made it to the middle point.  Basically, the bills have made it through one side of the house and committee work and they are moving on to switch to the other house.  A bill goes through 3 readings along with committee work to see if it can make to the second half of the session.  Some bills are lost in the process, others move to the other side of the house and others get moved to other bills. 

HB 1001 - Budget Bill  - Education items in the Bill: (Education makes up 52% of state budget)

       * Early Graduate ADM Funding - It is in the budget bill that schools will get the second payment for early graduates.  (This is a good thing.)

       * Voucher Expansions/Education Savings Accounts - funding for ESA and Choice Scholarship Expansions are currently written into the budget.  

      * CTE Funding - The funding for high wage/high demand jobs will go up/ anything below moderate demand will not get funded (if you are interested for what this means for PC, please let me know.  It will not affect us much right now.)

    * 100% Funding for Virtual Students - still in the budget and will continue to fund our students at 100% and increases virtual charter school funding to 100% (from 85%)

HB 1005 - Creates Education Saving Counts for students with special needs, active military students and foster children a savings account for needs outside of school/ Expands Choice Scholarships to 90% of scholarship recipients and raises the family income who could apply. 

HB 1008 - Student Learning Recovery Grant - this was money that was left over from 2020 budget because ADM count was down across the state.  Is open to eligible entities to write a grant that would help with learning loss from the pandemic.  They are competitive grants.  

HB 1514 - School Accountability Bill - Will require state board to establish a dashboard of performance.  Schools could determine what is on the dashboard along with state metrics.  It eliminates interventions for failing schools, it allows this us to be held harmless for this year's test results - even though it keeps all testing for this current school year.  State Board will use social studies and science  in indicators moving forward. 

HB 1384 - Will create Civics to be taught in social studies for a semester between the grades 6-8.  They are creating the standards for this course - but it will be integrated into middle school curriculum.  

SB 54 - FAFSA Requirement:  Says that all seniors must fill out the FAFSA to graduate with a process to allow for waivers or opt out form.  

SB 413 - Education Matters Bill:  has the senate version of hold harmless school year (no letter grades) and establishes a committee to research charter school funding.  

(Bill information comes from the IASP Podcast.) 

Keep Walking

 

This week, I was helping my son, Justin, with his English assignment and I came across an inspiring story that he and his fellow classmates were reading called, "A Long Walk to Water" by Linda Sue Park. Their assignment this week was to watch a TED Talk from Sylva, the main character in the story. Salva was one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan”.  At 11 years old he was forced out of his village by the civil war between north and south in Sudan. He and thousands of other boys walked thousands of miles across the desert, facing attacks by lions, crocodiles and soldiers, and death by starvation and lack of water. Salva found his way to refugee camps where he lived for ten years.

Sylva made it through this tough time, eventually resettling in the US, where he started the nonprofit organization Water for South Sudan, drilling water wells in South Sudan for over 10 years. Salva shares how with faith, hope and persistence he kept walking throughout his life. This allowed him to accomplish a great deal, even in the face of great challenges. 

Salva's message on TED Talk was clear: “keep walking”.  Hardships will come and go and even when it seems unbearable, putting one step forward and focusing on our hope, growth mindset, and resilience is necessary.  Just like Sylva, I encourage you to keep walking.  Some days, the steps may be small, but being able to move forward, even a little bit, is so important.  Also, remember you don’t have to walk alone - your friends and family at Perry Central are here to walk with you when you need that love and support.  Together we can be strong and continue to make a difference in our own community.  

It has been another tough week in Commodore Nation.  I am so grateful for our Commodore Family.  We will continue to get through this together.  Please know that all of you are loved and an important part of this community.  

Keep Walking!

(Here is a link to the YouTube Video if you are interested in Sylva’s story.  I am sure Abbie would be very interested in sharing a copy of the book too!)

Important Information:

Support for Students and Staff -  We were all very sadden to hear about the passing of Aiden Alvey. Losing a student is never easy. Please know that we are here for you this week (and always) if you need extra support:

For Students: If you have students that appear to be upset in your classes, please contact the high school office or help the student find the teacher’s lounge.  We will have counselors and support staff in place to meet with students on Monday.  

For Teachers: This can be a very tough time for all of you, as well.  Please know if you need a break from your classroom we can help!  You can contact the office and we will provide coverage for your classes.  There is a quiet location for staff in the room next to Kelly Cash’s office if you need it. 

* Suicide Prevention Tips Indiana Youth Institute:

                

• Prevent. Create a physically and emotionally safe environment for your teens. When teens and those around them have the necessary skills to regulate their emotions, and have opportunities to practice these skills and connect with others through positive relationships, we create a safer environment. Through suicide prevention efforts, we can reduce risk and promote resilience and coping.
• Recognize. Be aware of the warning signs of youth suicide (increase anger, loss of interest, increase irritability, depression, poor academic performance, etc.) . Learning the signs and taking part in mental health awareness campaigns is important, as is ensuring that teens have open channels for talking about their emotions. Actions such as these will help us recognize when something is off, while reducing any stigma around seeking help for mental health issues. Every young person needs someone to confide in about their thoughts and feelings.
• Respond. Learn to be comfortable supporting those who appear emotionally distressed. #BeThe1To offers five action steps for communicating with someone who may be considering suicide: (1) ask in a non-judgmental and supportive way; (2) be there so they feel connected; (3) keep them safe; (4) help them connect to supports; and (5) follow up to see how they are doing. Respond is also about putting additional strategies in place, such as increased regular mental health check-ins, during times of increased stress and reduced coping.

 

**  All of you do a FANTASTIC job of building relationships and creating safe space for your students.   Keep up the great work and know you are helping so many students.  Our students love and adore you and so do Phil and I!

Special Education Accommodation/Modification Resource:  Thanks to all of our teachers and assistants that attended our meetings about special education on Friday.  I think all of you picked out one student to really focus on in the next three weeks, thinking about modifications/accommodations you can do for students with special needs.  Remember, your special education teacher is a GREAT resource and we look forward to hearing about your results in a couple of weeks.  

       HERE is a copy of the resource that Kim Waninger built for us.  It gives MANY ideas about what appropriate changes could look like.  Please let us know how we can support you through this challenging work!

Junior Scheduling - Dana will be scheduling Juniors after the ISTEP test on Monday.  Please find the link to the schedule HERE.  She is doing scheduling differently this year, scheduling students by career pathway interest.  Thanks to Dana for all of her hard work.  Thanks to all of our teachers for your flexibility and understanding.  Remember, teachers have a lot of influence in your student scheduling decisions, so please do not hesitate to help students with these important choices!

FFA WEEK - This is National FFA Week and our FFA Chapter has some exciting activities planned to help promote their cause.  The FFA Mottos is: Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live and Living to Serve.  Thanks to all of our FFA members for their service to our PC community!  Also, thank you to Carrie Guillaume for her leadership.  

Valentine’s Day Treats - The snow wouldn’t allow us to celebrate Valentines Day in a timely manner, so we are going to celebrate this week!  Morgan Judy made some sweet treats for all of you!  Please visit the High School Office Monday morning and enjoy some goodies!  

ISTEP Testing - We will be testing this Monday and Tuesday for ISTEP.  Please find the schedule HERE.  

7th Grade Mini Rotation: Monday will be the last day in this 7th grade Mini-Rotation. Please help your students know where they should report to on Tuesday!

Surprise and Delight Highlights:    On Friday, several of you met about Surprise and Delight opportunities with our students.  Here are some of the highlights: 

* Shamrock Scavenger Hunt - Lauren Blake will hide Shamrocks in the building for students to find for treats 

* Virtual Pep Session - Student Council is working on Pep Session.   We are looking for teachers to do Tik Tock Videos to surprise the students with.  Phil and Heidi will be getting us more information soon - so keep a look out for it and get your dance moves ready!  Students will have dress up days as well as we get closer to sectional.

* Flash Mob - Jennifer Ball will be leading a surprise Flash Mob very soon!  Check with her about details.

* Commodore Pride: Vanessa Johnson will be leading us to a Commodore Pride Celebration this spring that will be outdoors.  She will be asking for help soon to help coordinate the event.  

    * Junior High Teachers - we will have a Ron Clark brainstorm on Friday, February 26th at 7:30 to figure out what is best for this group.  We would love your input!  Hope you can make it! We will meet in the high school library.

Have a great last week of February!

Maslow before Bloom

 

Last Wednesday, at our faculty meeting we started talking about the needs of our students during this stressful time.  Many of you are seeing the high needs our students have and you are responding so well.  I found this Edutopia article this week, "How to Maslow Before Bloom, All Day Long" and felt it was a great article to follow up our conversation with!  

Highlights of article includes: 

    *Maslow before Bloom reminds us the basic need for safety an belonging must be met before challenging academic work.

    * Brain Breaks, Brain Smart Starts, 10x10 strategies, etc. do not take away time from instruction - they are in fact necessary for student learning to occur

    * Positive greetings/strong relationships matter

Thanks for all you do for students.  I hope you take time to read this article as it will give you ideas for how to create your own personal tool kits for helping students. 

"How to Maslow Before Bloom, All Day Long" Article by Tom Berger

Important Information: 

Let is Snow - Between COVID and the snow, we are having a hard time getting back to school!  Virtual days have been a struggle for all of us, including the students.  Our plan this week is to take it one day at a time, but depending on the severity of the storm, we plan to use a combination of virtual days and good old snow days that we will make up later. We do have a small handful of students that do not have Internet Access.  I am reaching out to those families and will be emailing all of you as well, if they are in your classes.  We may be asking you to help us pull together some packets that can be delivered.  Thanks for your help!

Surprise and Delight - We will have a Surprise and Delight brainstorm opportunity on Friday morning at 7:20 a.m. for anyone that would like to join us.  We will be looking at fun things we can do with the students in high school and middle school (Ron Clark).  Please watch for a change in time if the weather holds this week.  

ISTEP Testing - Juniors were supposed to test this week on Tuesday, Wednesday.  Students know that the first day we are back to school, we will be testing!  Tests will begin first periods and could run through 4th period for math on both days.  I will send an updated schedule as it unfolds.  Our last day in the testing window is February 26th so we appreciate your help!

Special Education Team Meetings - As a follow up to our conversation with Kim Waninger about working together to meet the needs of our special education students, we have team meetings planned on the following dates this week.   If we are not in school on these days, we will reschedule as soon as we can - so please watch your emails about possible date changes and details for the meeting.

       7th Grade Core Teachers - (Math, Science, Social Studies, English) 10:45 - 11:15 Wednesday, February 17th in Teacher's Lounge - Lunch will be provided as we use this time to brainstorm

      8th Grade Core Teachers (we will email the list of students out - so please come if you have any of the students in your classes only.) - 7:20 a.m. - 7:55 a.m.  Thursday, February 18th Teacher's Lounge (Light Breakfast Provided)

     9th Grade Core Teachers - Thursday, February 18th  11:15 - 11:54 - Teacher's Lounge - Lunch Provided

Be sure to take time for yourself this week!!!  Play in the snow, read a good book, take a nap, dance in the kitchen like no one is watching!

From the Classroom

 

From the Classroom:  Jennifer Ball shared her inner Mike Schmoker classroom experience this week.  Mike Schmoker talks a lot about the importance of reading, writing, discussing in the classroom and the positive impact it has on learning.   Last week, she had her students reading the book, "I've Lived A Thousand Years" and Jennifer led her class in a debate; deciding if the murder in the story was justified.    Students picked sides, developed their argument and debated the topic.  The conversation was heated and students were still upset with each other the next day! (That is when you know it is good!) :-)  They were also ready to read and discuss more when they returned the next day!  Thanks, Jennifer for sharing your classroom activity with us!

Lunch Schedule Changes - After some review, we have decided it is safe for students in grades 9-10 to all eat in the cafeteria at the same time.  Starting Monday, all 9th and 10th grade students will eat in the cafeteria during first lunch and 11th and 12th grade in the cafeteria during 2nd lunch.  Junior High will keep their same lunch schedule.  Please find the updated schedule HERE.  

Lunches also mean that we will have some extra help during Learning Lunch.  If you have students that need extra support during this time, please let us know and we can send an assistant to you.  

ISTEP Testing - Reminder we will be testing 11th graders (and a few 12th grade students) Monday and Tuesday this week and Tuesday and Wednesday next week.  Please keep your students in your classrooms and try to keep passing periods quiet.  You can find the testing schedule HERE.  Teachers who are proctoring the exam can pick up their materials in the high school office in the morning.  

Virtual Day/Faculty Meeting:   Wednesday is gearing up to be a busy day.  Please see the schedule below and let us know if you have any questions/concerns.    

          8:00 - 9:00 a.m. - Faculty Meeting High School Library  (Schwartz Cinnamon Rolls for                                                                                                                                      Breakfast!)

          9:15 - 10:00 a.m. - CTE Teacher Meeting, High School Library

         10:00 - 10:45 a.m. -  Junior High Math Data Discussion - Jason Barnett's Room(Jason & Brennan)

         11:30 - 12:00 p.m. - Special Education Team Meeting - Heidi's Room

         12:00 - 1:30 p.m. - Readable English Meeting (Readable Lady is coming.  High School Library)

         1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - MTSS Meeting - Phil will send a schedule for this time to our team

         4:30 p.m. - Leaders of Learning - High School Library

COVID Friendly Spring Events - We were able to get the following approved by the health department.  This will give us some guidelines about spring activities.  Please share your COVID plans with Jody or Phil just so we can be on the same page before each event.

General COVID Guidelines: 

* Major banquets/program should be held in the high school gym.  At this time, it is important for us to maintain 25% capacity only.  (If our county color changes, it may open up room for more.)

* Students should be seated at least 3 feet apart (further if possible) and facing the same direction.  Masks are required. 

* Presentation:  Please think through presentation of materials and work to eliminate hand shaking or close contact (this will be hard for me!)

* Food:  Food must be COVID friendly.  Cake/punch may need to be eliminated.  Food served in containers to individuals sitting could be a possibility. 

Program Changes/Notes: 

* National Honor Society - March 9th - High School Gym 

* Honors Night - We will only celebrate students in grades 9-12 at the banquet on May 13th.  Please purchase pins and awards for junior high students - we will celebrate their success during the school day.  This will help with numbers on this night. 

* Commodore Pride - We feel like we could possibly plan an outdoor Commodore Pride event.  Maybe one that is a little shorter with awards, skits, games that are outside and COVID friendly.  This would be for 9-12 at this time.  

We will continue to work together as the end of the school year moves closer!  

           8th Period and Learning Lunch are filling back up!  Thanks for all of your patients with students during this trying time.  It has been a difficult year for both students and our teachers.  Keep up the great work!

Valentines Day Treats - Stop by the office Friday morning for your Valentines Day Treat!   ENJOY!