Self-Care

Life in general can be stressful, and I think that is especially true in the education field.  We all have chosen education because of our strong desire to serve others. Too often, we are forgetting to take care of ourselves.  I am reminded of the words of Jules Alverado, "I cannot give away that which is not mine to give."  She reminds us if we do not take care of ourselves, we are not going to be able to fully help others.  So how can we do this?   Here are a few ideas about how we can learn to self-care/regulate: 

     * Meditation.  Research suggests that daily meditation may alter the brain's neural pathways, making you more resilient to stress.
     * Breathe Deeply.  Slowly inhale through your nose, feeling the breath start in your abdomen and work to the top of your head.  This practice counters stress by slowing heart rate & lowering your blood pressure.
    * Be Present.  Slow Down.  Spend time in the moment focusing on your senses, you should feel less tense.
    * Reach Out.  Talk to others, preferably face-to-face or on the phone.
    * Laugh out Loud.  Laughing lowers cortisol, your body's stress hormone & boosts feel-good brain chemicals, endorphins.
    * Get Moving.   Exercise can ease depression and anxiety by releasing endorphins as well. Take a short walk around the track, shoulder rolls or stretching can be helpful!
    *  Be Grateful.  Keep a journal or note pad to write down the good things in life.

Together, we can make this a focus and continue to lead low and slow lives that can be helpful to our community!


Important School Notes:

* Faculty Meeting - We will have our first Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, August 28th at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library.  You may want to bring your computers.  A light breakfast will be served! 

*Suicide/Mental Health Awareness - Thanks to Kelly, Lauren, Brittany and Maria our students will be getting some Suicide/Mental Health training on Tuesday during their English classes.  We appreciate their efforts during this busy time!  

* Vocational Teacher Meeting - Our Vocational Director, Jarred Howard will be here on Friday, August 31st during 1st lunch to update us on Perkins Money and other vocational information.  We will meet in Josh Craney's room.  If you need help with WIN coverage, please let me know.

* Virtual/PD Day:  On September 4th, students will have a virtual day and teachers will come to school for professional development.  Teachers should give out virtual assignments on Friday, August 31st.  Please remember that assignments should not be due for at least 1-2 days after students return to campus to ensure they have had the resources to complete the work.  A professional development schedule will be coming soon!

* Parent-Teacher Conferences:  We will host Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, September 20th.  Students will be released at 1:00 p.m. and conferences will run from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.

* SAT/ACT Prep Class:  Mr. Linne and Ms. Petty will be offering free ACT/SAT prep classes before school starting this week!  Ms. Petty will teach English on Tuesday mornings and Mr. Linne, math, on Wednesday mornings from 7:05-7:55 a.m.  Please encourage your students to take advantage of this!

Important Dates: 

Tuesday, August 28 -  Faculty Meeting 7:20 a.m./  Varsity Volleyball @ NE Dubois  5:30 p.m.

Thursday, August 30 - Varsity Volleyball @ Home 5:30 p.m.

Friday, August 31 - Fall Homecoming Varsity Football @ Home (Active and Retired Military will get in free!) /

Tuesday, September 4 - Virtual Day for students/PD for teachers   8:00 - 3:00

It's a WIN!

I love high school sports!  For me, it is a time when our community comes together to rally around our student body and cheer for one common goal: a win!  What a great cause!  Being a small, rural, community school, the events often bring back Perry Central Alumni as well!  Once a Commodore, always a Commodore at heart, right?  

This past Friday night while standing along the fence, I felt a tap on my shoulder.  I turned around to see two young men who had graduated from Perry Central just a few years ago.  They each gave me a hug and shared they hadn't been back on campus for a couple of years.  Both of these young men had spent a lot of time in my office for many reasons: conversations about not passing classes, few small discipline issues and of course we had a lot of pep talks about what the future could hold.  Back then, school was not their favorite place to be, to say the least.

As we talked, I learned that both boys had decided to join the Millwright Union.  They found a way to use their charm, intelligence and hard working skills to move their way up to very high paying jobs and even a company truck!  Both were so excited about the work they were doing.  Their eyes glistened as they told me they were actually good at math (even though they didn't get the best grades) and they were proud of their work.  Both even went on to say how they want to share their experiences with others because getting an education and finding a job that they are good at was a life changing experience.  (Their words, not mine!) 

Those two boys will never understand what an impact they had on me Friday night.  It reminded me the importance of NEVER giving up on our students, ALWAYS building strong relationships no matter what, and always looking for the GOOD in others.  Those boys came back to Perry Central that night not only to watch the game, but to touch base with the school that always believed in them as individuals.  Perry Central helped them win in the game of life!  Thanks to all of you who touched their lives! 

Also, congrats to the football team for bringing back the MarCom trophy!  It is finally back in its rightful home!  :-)  Go Commodores! 

Important Information: 

* Faculty Meeting - We will have our first Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, August 21st at 7:20 a.m. in the high school library.  You may want to bring your computers.  A light breakfast will be served! 

* Virtual/PD Day:  On September 4th, students will have a virtual day and teachers will come to school for professional development.  Teachers should give out virtual assignments on Friday, August 31st.  Please remember that assignments should not be due for at least 1-2 days after students return to campus to ensure they have had the resources to complete the work.  A professional development schedule will be coming soon!

* Parent-Teacher Conferences:  We will host Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, September 20th.  Students will be released at 1:00 p.m. and conferences will run from 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.

* SAT/ACT Prep Class:  Mr. Linne and Ms. Petty will be offering free ACT/SAT prep classes before school starting this week!  Ms. Petty will teach English on Tuesday mornings and Mr. Linne, math, on Wednesday mornings from 7:05-7:55 a.m.  Please encourage your students to take advantage of this!

* IREADY Formative Assessment Tool - Perry Central is going to start utilizing the IReady Formative Assessment tool to help us prepare for ILearn testing.  This tool is going to replace Study Island & NWEA.  This Friday at 9:00, IReady will be here to provide us with some baseline training.  Junior High math and English teachers will be a part of the training.  More information will come soon! 

* Welcome! We want to welcome Rachal Mills to our Commodore Family! She is going to be a new assistant in our building!  We will be sharing her with the elementary!  Welcome, Rachal!

Important Dates: 

Monday, August 20th - Data Team Meeting 3:00 pm.

Tuesday, August 21st - Faculty meeting 7:20 a.m./ Varsity Volleyball @ Corydon 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, August 22nd

Thursday, August 23rd - Varsity Volleyball @ home vs. North Harrison @ 5:30 p.m.

Friday, August 24th  - Varsity Football @ home vs. Forest Park  6:30 p.m.

Saturday, August 25 - Varsity Cross Country @ Evansville Harrison Invitational  9:00 a.m.

"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.

Grow Here

I am really excited about Perry Central's theme this year!  It can encompass so much creativity and really describes what Perry Central believes in!  Below are a few ways I believe our theme can capture our vision: 

·        

   Relationships Grow Here:  Building relationships with our students and getting to know them as individuals is one of our foundational beliefs.  We strive to gain a better understand on how we can support our students in their learning.

   

·   Academic Excellence Grows Here:  We expect ALL students to learn and we have developed numerous academic supports for our students including learning lunch, WIN, and tutoring, just to name a few!  Our students can graduate with their first year of college for FREE with our Early College High School program.  By offering over 46 dual credit classes our faculty and staff help our students be a step ahead.
  Individuals Grow Here:  We believe that each individual student has a purpose in this world. We want to equip them with the academic and technical skills that will help them be successful by personalizing their learning and expanding opportunities beyond the classroom.       

·  Social/Emotional Learning Grows Here:      Our entire corporation has taken on the challenge to learn how to be trauma informed, along with developing our own social emotional standards and curriculum for students grades K-10.  We know this is going to help us better support student learning and further develop 21^st Century Learning Skills.

·  Family Grows Here:  We are a family.  Each person that walks through our doors plays an important part in who we are as a school.  We all bleed green and believe in building our future together!

What are some ways you can see Perry Central growing?

I am so excited to grow this year with all of you both professionally and personally.  Please know my door is always open and feedback is welcome as we move forward together to create the best us.  Best wishes on a great school year! 

 School Notes: 

Governor's Visit - Just a reminder the 51st Governor of Indiana will be visiting our own Commodore Manufacturing as his tour highlights learn and earn opportunities around the state!  He will visit Friday, August 10th 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.   Thanks to Josh Craney, our partners at Jasper and Waupaca and our students for making this possible!  You are putting PC on the map!

Schedules:  Maria and I will be working hard to finalize schedules the first two days of school.  We know securing student schedules are important.  Here are a few tips for the start of school: 

  * Students are supposed to have at least 6 periods of classes in their school day (one study hall) - please let us know if you hear of students that have less.  

  * If a student is in your classroom and NOT on your roster, please send them to the office or to Mrs. Sweat so we can make sure the student has a copy of their most updated schedule.   

  * There have been updates made to schedules the last few days.  Please encourage students to log into their Skyward accounts to view their schedules as soon as they can to ensure they have the best copy. 

Welcome New Members to PC Family:   

Adam Stowe, Social Studies/History Teacher - Adam is originally from Perry County but has been teaching in KY for several years.  He is bringing his family back home.  He has a son, Brayden in the 10th grade and Emma in the 5th grade.  

Brennan Malone, Math Teacher -  Brennan is a graduate of Tell City High School and Indiana University (yes, we can still let him in, even though he is not a Boilermaker).  He has a degree in Economics and is in the process of adding education to his license.  Brennan is also helping coach football.  Green seems to be a good color for him!

Hailei Gehlhausen, English Teacher - Hailei is a graduate of Forest Park High School and soon to be graduate of USI.  Hailei will be starting the year off at Perry Central and then transitioning over to Jasper High School to finish her student teaching.  She will be teaching mostly 8th and 9th grade English this school year!  

Seth Gehlhausen, English Teacher/Remediation - Seth is a graduate of Tell City High School (his brother is Adam Gehlhausen who graduated from PC) and USI.  He will be filling in for Hailei while she is off to student teach first semester and then moving to a more supportive role second semester.  Seth has a history education degree.  Hailei and Seth did not know each other prior to PC, but they are going to make a great Gehlhauen & Gehlhausen team!

Melissa Toothman, Special Education - Melissa isn't a new face.  She will be taking Kris Walsh's place in the Life Skills room.  She has been working hard re-designing her classroom and making plans for our students!  We are excited to have Melissa in her new role!

Tim Ball, Diesel Technology - Tim is a graduate of Perry Central as well and has decided to leave industry and return back to his alma mater.  He has replaced Mr. Malone as our bus mechanic and will be teaching one period of Diesel Mechanics as we work to develop a new vocational program.  We are so excited he will be sharing his expert knowledge of the diesel engine with our students!

Sara Hubert, Instructional Assistant - Some of you may better know her as Sara James, as she graduated from Perry Central.  She will be helping in classrooms in the junior-senior high building. We are excited she has decided to join our team!

Kelly Fields, Instructional Assistant - Kelly recently moved to Perry Central school district.  She has a son who will be entering the 6th grade.  She has a lot of experience working in schools and aspires to be a teacher.  We are excited to welcome her!

Important Dates: 

Monday, August 6th - Teacher Day!

Tuesday, August 7th - Students return!

Thursday, August 9th - Varsity Volleyball scrimmage @ Perry Central at 6:00 p.m.

Friday, August 10th - Governor Halcomb visits from 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m./  PBIS Kick-Off/ Varsity Football scrimmage @ Southridge 7:00 p.m. 

July Updates

Did you know?  

 - Research shows there is a 58% increase in narcissism and 40% decrease in empathy among college aged students?
   - The average child is "plugged in" 7.5 hours a day, losing face-to-face connection.
   - Experts observe more cheating & weaker moral reasoning in youth (70% admit to cheating as they feel it is necessary to get a head.)
   - Teen stress is at an all time high due to our plugged-in culture

This past week, I had the honor of listening to Dr. Michele Borba, a globally-recognized educational psychologist and parenting expert whose aim is to strengthen children's empathy and resilience.  She has authored over 24 books and appreard on the NBC Today Show over 135 times.  She has recently written a book called "UnSelfie".  Her book is her attempt to bring focus to our self-absorbed society in hopes to help our children learn how to develop empathy for others. 

Her presentation really struck me.  I think we all feel the world is changing and our students are coming to us with more stress in their lives than ever before.  She shared startling data, such as 20% of our students think about suicide on a daily basis.  Her research also showed that previous generations of students always aspired to be doctors, firemen, teachers, counselors because they wanted to help people, in contrast to the current generation who is looking for a high paying career that is focused more on their own success! 

Dr. Borba knows that empathy starts with human connection.  Building relationships with our students is more important than ever before. Research also shows that empathy is not something that we are born with, but it is something that can be learned.  The work we are doing with our Social Emotional Learning Curriculum is necessary as we help our students develop emotional literacy, self-regulation, perspective taking and a moral identity.  We know that school is no longer about only teaching reading, writing and math.  We are challenged to provide a holistic educational experience, teaching students how to navigate their social/emotional health as well as 21st Century skills. 

I am excited about the work that all of you are doing to learn and grow in this area!   If you are interested in reading this book, please let me know.  I will share!  :-)   

Here are a few quick ways to help our kids become emotionally intelligent children that are tuned into their feelings: 

1. Face to face contact is the best way kids learn to read emotions and develop empathy.
2. Kids use digital devices at least 7.5 hours a day, which robs them of not only connecting with their family but also developing crucial empathy habits.
3.  Real, meaningful, emotion-charged, up-close-and-personal experiences work best to help kids understand feelings.
4.  Kids need an emotion vocabulary to discuss emotion, and guidance for using it, to become emotionally literate.
5.  Parents discuss, explain, and encourage daughters to share feelings farm more than they do their sons. 


   
School Updates: 

Skyward - I am working on getting the grade books set up so you can see your class rosters.  I hope to have this finished by late next week.  As you know, schedules will continue to bounce around, especially through the Back To School Night.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

Master Schedule/Class Rosters - In the email you can find a copy of the updated Master Schedule.  Also, we are working on doing some work on the back end so you will be able to see your class rosters soon.  I will let you know when that work is complete. 
             
Updates from "501" (Jeremy) - As some of you know, the key updating machine has not been working this summer due to Matrix making some changes.  We have learned that it has been fixed, so you should be able to update your keys!  The custodial staff is still working very hard on getting the building to look nice for the new school year.  We appreciate their work! 

Computer Updates - The computer tech team has been working hard to clean up computers and update them for this upcoming school year.  They have also unpacked 400 new chrome books.  This school year, all students will be receiving a chrome book, unless they are enrolled in a course that requires a laptop.  If you teach a course that has been identified to need a laptop, you will have laptops in your classroom with student names on them.  We will let you know what the plan for distribution will be closer to school starting.  Also, teachers who have not picked up their laptops in the office will now find them in their classrooms. 


Summer Professional Development Opportunities: 

* New Teacher Orientation - New teachers are invited to attend New Teacher Orientation and learn more about our Perry Central Family!  We will meet in the high school library at 10:30 a.m. on July 19th.  Agenda items include:  Central Office News, Perry Central Philosophy, Standards Based Grading and Grading Practices Overview, Student Supports, PBIS, Trauma Informed Care, School Safety and Skyward!  We are looking forward to working with everyone!  Lunch will be provided.

* Math Teacher Workshop - Laurie Ferry will be at Perry Central for three days to work with math teachers in grades K-12.  Junior/Senior High Teachers will meet on July 26 & 27.  We will be looking through data, discussing our Visible Literacy Mathematics book, working on vertical alignment and updating our standards based grading scales!  Looking forward to a couple of great days!

* Special Education Transition Work - Melissa Toothman will be leading two days of transition work for assistants and students.  We appreciate her leadership and work to help make sure our students have the best learning opportunities!

* Back To School Retreat - Our Back To School Retreat will be July 31st from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. for our entire corporation. We are excited to bring Lori Desautels to Perry Central.  She is an assistant professor at Butler University, engaging her students through neuroscience education, integrating mind-brain teaching and learning strategies. She will bring us great information that will help us continue to learn more about Trauma Informed Care and how we can further impact learning at Perry Central.  We look forward to seeing everyone at this event!

* PowerED Up Conference - This conference will be a one day event this year on August 1st!  Our E-Learning Team has put together a great day of learning.  If you haven't registered yet, please use the link below to register for the event and see the agenda for the day.
Registration Link
Agenda Link

* 7th Grade Orientation - We will be welcoming incoming 7th grade families on August 1st at 5:30 p.m.  It is a very exciting and important program for our students.  If you teach 7th grade students, we would LOVE to have as many 7th grade teachers at the event so you can meet your students and parents.  We typically have about 85% of all students attend.  It is a great time to build relationships with both parents and students.

* Back To School Party - Our annual Back To School Night will be Thursday, August 2nd from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.  The school will be full of students and families.  If you are able to join us for this exciting time we would love to have you!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Important Dates:

July 19 - New Teacher Orientation   10:30 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.
July 26 & 27 - Math Team with Laurie Ferry and lunch book study
July 31st - Back To School Retreat  8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
August 1st - PowerED Up    8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m./  7th Grade Orientation 5:30 p.m. - meal
August 2nd - Back to School Party  5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Happy June!

I hope this finds all of you finding time for some relaxation and rejuvenation!  This summer continues to be busy as we have been hosting summer school and professional development at various levels!

One of the biggest projects we have going on this summer is the development of our Social/Emotional Learning Curriculum as we continue to work towards being a Trauma Informed School.  We have a team of about 25 teachers in the elementary and junior/senior high school combined learning and working together to develop this curriculum.  Our first few days were spent with viewing many professional development videos on Conscious Discipline.  It was really a great training and we cannot wait to share more with you.  Here are a few of my take-a-ways so far:

• To Discipline means to "teach" or "train"/ Punishment is not teaching
• Student cannot learn unless their brains are regulated.
• Will require a Transformational Change - a change to mindset and skill set!
• Students learning from how adults interact with each other (especially parents) is more important to child development than how you treat a child
• Q-TIP - Quit Taking it Personally! 
• Shift from making judgement statements ("That behavior is bad.") to noticing statements ("I like it when you ask questions in class.")
• Important to understand our brain states and know how to stay regulated and how to help our students stay regulated.
• 2 parts of discipline students need: quality relationship building and skills to help solve problems
• Emotions are mirrored (contagious) - make sure we are creating a positive image for others to take on!  

Our goal with this curriculum is to teach lessons across grades K-10 that are aligned to this work.  In our building, Ty Guillaume and Adam Stowe will be delivering most of the lessons through the history courses, with help of counselors and PBIS (Commodore Pride) along the way. Even though most of the curriculum is delivered in history courses, it will take our entire team to ensure we are supporting and teaching students skills throughout the day.  We all look forward to sharing more with you and learning together!  Together we can make a strong impact on student learning!


Perry Central Updates:

Commodore Manufacturing - Josh Craney's Commodore Manufacturing/Advanced Manufacturing pathway continues to make news across the state as we continue to find ways to embed Work Based Learning (authentic learning) opportunities in the classroom!
          * Commodore Manufacturing was nominated by a community member for the Perry County Chamber Applause Award!  A team will be attending the banquet on June 21st to see if they are winners!  Congratulations to Josh and his students!
          * Mary Roberson, Josh Craney, Susan Miller (from Jasper Engines), and Jody attended the EWIN Career Pathway Summit on Wednesday in Indianapolis.  We were invited to present our Work Based Learning (Internship and Commodore Manufacturing) opportunities as well as a presentation about Commodore Manufacturing.  We were the only school asked to present twice!  It was a great event!
          * Summer School: Josh has been running summer school through Commodore Manufacturing.  Students received their first pay check this week as they are working and earning in the classroom!

New Chromebooks - The IT student crew is hard at it!  They are working on unpacking and setting up 400 Chromebooks for next school year!  Thanks to this team, along with Jason Barnett, Phil Zellers and Jamie Guillaume for their work!


We are excited to welcome some new faces to our Perry Central Team!

Brennan Malone was hired for our junior-high math position!  He is a recent graduate from Indiana State University and Tell City High School.  He is excited to return back to Perry County to teach our junior high students and help with coaching!

Hailei Gehlhausen will be a USI graduate in December and graduated from Forest Park High School.  She will be student teaching in the fall at Jasper High School, but has already been in the building this summer working on developing her scope and sequence and lesson plans for her classroom.  She is very excited to be at Perry Central to start her teaching career!

Melissa Toothman is a familiar face that will be moving to the special education life-skills room!  We are excited to move Melissa to this role.  She has a passion for students and many great ideas!

Adam Stowe is a Tell City High School graduate and has been teaching for several years in Meade County, KY.  He will be teaching several history courses this upcoming school year.  We are excited to bring him back to Perry County!

Professional Development -  Thanks to everyone for spending their summer learning!   

* Maria Sweat attended the Indiana Youth Institute College and Career Counseling Institute in June!

* Bo Gibson to PLTW CEA Training in June!

* Jason Barnett, Brennan Malone & Dawn Lynch will attend ILEARN at the SIEC in June!

* Mackenzie Petty & Abbie Brockman will attend ILEARN for ELA at the SIEC in June!

* Josh Craney - MSSC Instructor Training in July!

* Carrie Guillaume - State FFA Convention in June!

* Kelly Cash, Lauren Blake, Adam Stowe, Ty Guillaume, Dana Harris, Abbie Brockman - SEL Curriculum Development June and July!

* Phil Zellers, Ray James to bus driver training in June!

More to come!!

Important Summer Dates:

July 19 - New Teacher Training - 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. High School Library

July 25 - 27th - Laurie Ferry work for math teachers (detailed schedule will be coming out soon - High School will not meet everyday)

July 31st - Back to School Retreat  - Lori Desautels

August 1st - PowerED Up Conference

August 1st - 7th Grade Orientation

August 2nd -  Back to School Cookout

Don't forget your Book Study!! 

I will send more information about Professional Development Opportunities in early July for your planning.  :-) 

Relationships Matter

It is hard to believe we have finished another school year!  If you are like me, you are excited to see the end come but at the same time will miss many of the smiling faces in your classrooms as you have built strong relationships over the last 180 days. 

Brittany Harth shared an article with me this week.  It was a reminder about the importance of understanding the stresses our students face daily and the power of a meaningful relationship.    One of my favorite parts of the article reminds us how we sometimes expect so much out of our students.  They sit in classes 7 hours a day and many work or play sports through the evening or go back to homes full of other stresses, like wondering where they are going to get their next meal.  While we still want to encourage students to do their best, we cannot forget that they are human, just like us, and exhibit the same emotions and struggles that many of us face daily.  Taking time to learn about students can be one of the most valuable investments you make in their learning, as we are reminded that students cannot learn until all their needs are met.  

This week, Abbie Brockman shared a story about a student in her STEAM class.  This young lady wanted to learn how to sew, but she needed a sewing machine.  Another student (older) in the class brought in one from home and gave it to this young lady.  This seems like a small act of kindness, but Abbie talked about how it was life changing for the girl.  Abbie could see the how that small investment gave this student hope as she realized that people really do care.  Her attitude changed towards others and the class. She suddenly wanted to work hard to be successful. 

Luckily, there are many stories just like this at Perry Central.  We are fortunate to have such kind teachers, students and community members.  I encourage you to read the article below as we continue to work together to empower our students and meet their ever changing needs.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/high-school-kids-are-not-all-right

Important Information:

Locker Clean Out:  Locker Clean Out will be Monday, May 21st at the following times:

12^th Grade – Last 15 minutes 1^st period

11^th Grade – First 15 minutes of 2^nd period

10^th Grade – Last 15 minutes of 2^nd period

9^th Grade – First 15 minutes of 3^rd period

^7th Grade – Last 15 minutes of 3^rd period

^8th Grade – First 15 minutes of 4^th period

Scheduling: Lou Ann and I will be calling out students by last name to answer questions about schedules, starting on Monday.  We will try to keep the interruptions at a minimum.  If you have students working on a project or testing and they cannot leave during that time, we will catch the student later.  Thank you!

Computer Pick-Up:  Computer pick-up will begin on Tuesday for seniors and will continue throughout the week.  If you have finals that require computers, that is okay.  Students will be encouraged to turn in their computers after their last final. Please remind students this week they need to bring their computer and chargers to school!   Here is a rough schedule: (we will be making announcements)

Seniors: Tuesday 6th & 7th periods

7-12:  Thursday 6th & 7th periods  (after last final)

Teachers:  We will pick your computers up at the end of teacher day on Friday.  Remember to back up all of your documents to a hard drive or H: Drive.  We are hopeful to have computers re-imaged by the first or second week of June if you need one for the summer.  

Seniors:  Monday and Tuesday will be the final days for seniors to be in your classrooms.  Wednesday, they will be going to Holiday World for their senior class trip and Thursday is graduation practice.  On Wednesday at 9:30, we will have our Senior Walk-Through.  Seniors will begin in the elementary and work their way up through the high school.  We will hold bells at the end of 2nd period until all of the students make it through the halls.  We will announce when we are going to start.  We would ask that all classrooms come out to the halls and wish our graduates well.  

End of Year Notes: Please make sure all of the following are completed by the end of the day on Friday: 

 - Dual Credit Grades uploaded in Ivy Tech website.  Also, please make a copy of the grade rosters and turn them into Mrs. Backer so we can update transcripts

 - Make sure all of your grades are finalized and correct in Skyward.  Please also make sure you do not have any incompletes.

- Please make sure you take inventory of any textbooks you may have given students.  Textbooks should please be stored in your classroom for the summer. 

- Leave your laptop in the tech room before you leave!

Hope you have a GREAT summer!!  Enjoy your time off - you deserve it!

Important Dates: 

Monday, May 21 - Varsity Baseball @ Heritage Hills  4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 23 - Seniors to Holiday World/  Finals for students in periods 2,4,5,6/ Baseball Sectional @ Tell City - PC vs. Mater Dei @ 5:30 p.m.  / Softball Sectional @ Forest Park  PC will play the winner of Tell City/Tecumseh at 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 24 - Finals for students in periods 1,3,5,7!   

Friday, May 25 - Retirement Breakfast @ 8:00 a.m./ Teacher Last Day