I get to sit where?

This past week, I had the honor of accompanying our 5th grade Ambassadors to all three of our K-4 Elementary schools.  These ambassadors were selected to speak to the 4th grade students at Pine Ridge, Ada, and Thornapple Elementary.  I was so proud of the job they did in representing our school, but more importantly, in representing the feelings they went through as they realized the transition to Central Woodlands was fun and easy.  All of the ambassadors shared how they had been nervous a year ago, just like many 4th graders were nervous that day.

Our students took turns speaking on a range of topics from the bus ride to finding your way around the halls at CW.  After each student spoke, 4th grade students were able to ask questions.  This was my first experience in the process of transitioning 4th grade students to our building.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the excited, but wide-eyed students take in every word of our students.

Not knowing what to expect, each building took on a slightly different theme as it came to the types of questions asked.  However, there was a topic that created cheers and shouts in all three schools.  For 4th grade students, the most important take away for many came when they found out that at CW, students get to pick where they sit for lunch.  In 4th grade, students eat lunch at tables with their class.  When our ambassadors told the 4th grade classes this, it seemed like the students had won a gold medal!  There was clapping and cheers as 4th grade students realized their maturation towards adulthood included picking their own lunch seat!  It was the highlight of my day to witness this exuberance in our future students.

It made me reflect on the how the milestones in the lives of students in K-12 education are all very different, but all important; especially during those important moments.  Life is about milestones...about accomplishments of continued growth.  Those moments can be when a student ties their shoe for the first time (opening up a whole world of non-velcro shoe choices) or seeing the sense of accomplishment on the face of student opening up their college acceptance letter.  All of our students' milestones are important...I am glad I was able to be there for this important 4th to 5th grade milestone!

How CW used a Lunch Period to "Stand Up"

Two days ago, I was speaking to a former colleague at Royal Oak.  He was very interested in knowing about how my students were doing this year at Central Woodlands.  More specifically he asked, "Are they good kids?"  I paused before I answered him.  "Good" could not even begin to describe our students...

Over Spring Break, I received an email from Mrs. Bouley, our 5th grade counselor.  Back on October 29th, our students participated in the national "Mix It Up" day.  Every staff member volunteered to be part of this day along with several family members.  

CW was among the 6,000 schools that participated in Teaching Tolerance’s Mix It Up at Lunch Day Program, an effort to break down the barriers between students so there are fewer misunderstandings that can lead to conflicts, bullying and harassment.

We used our Mix It Up lunch as a springboard to developing our "Stand Up" culture among students. Throughout the year, we have had several events and reminders of the importance of standing up for our peers.

As a result of what our students, staff, and families have done, we were recognized as a 2013-14 Mix It Up Model School.  Over 6000 schools participated across the United States and we were 1 of 76 schools in the United States to receive this recognition!  In fact, there were only 2 schools in Michigan to receive this honor!

Click here to see a listing of the 2013-14 Mix It Up Model Schools.

Because our students are standing up...they are making a difference!  I cannot even begin to tell you how proud I am of our students!

Credit or Debit

Over the weekend, I was shopping at the grocery store with my wife, Renae, when I was reminded of a valuable lesson.  We were in the process of putting our groceries out to pay for them and I was trying to find my debit card to pay.  We were a little busy as our son Cole was using this time to create his latest play area in the candy bar section and Aubrey was tired of being in the cart.  Needless to say, the cashier said something to me and I responded as I usually do…plastic is fine. At this grocery store, they still bag our groceries and offer a choice of paper or plastic bags.  I am asked every time which one I want and was ready for the cashier to ask before she even did.  I then swiped my debit card and Renae and I headed out to our car carrying Cole, Aubrey, and our groceries.

On the way out Renae asked, “Did you hear what the cashier asked?”  I said yes and told her she had asked about paper or plastic bags. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really listening to the cashier as Renae informed me that she had asked, “Credit or Debit” and I responded by saying plastic…no wonder she was giving me a weird look!

I have been reminded of this lately as I can tell that our 6th grade students are gearing up for middle school. They are excited to be in 7th grade at CMS. However, I know 7th grade will come soon enough and I will be challenging our students to enjoy their remaining weeks at Central Woodlands.  The same can be said for our 5th grade students.  I know they are starting to see themselves as the 6th grade of Central Woodlands.  Just as I learned from my grocery store experience, I want our students to remember they may miss some important things if they are moving to fast and not staying present in the moment here at Central Woodlands!

This was a great reminder on how important it is to slow down and listen.  No matter what age, this can be a valuable lesson…life moves very fast…make sure you slow down to enjoy it. 

A message to our 6th Grade

This morning, I hosted a town hall meeting with  our 6th grade students.  In our last CW Connect newsletter (found here), I mentioned that this is the time of the year that I hold a meeting with students to challenge them to finish the year strong.  With warmer temperatures, Spring Break, and thoughts of life as a middle school, our 6th graders are faced with numerous distractions before the end of the year.  I cannot begin to tell our families how proud I am of the year our 6th grade class has had and I want to see them continue to excel.

The message today focused on video that encourages students to "Cross the Line." The video, created by Sam Parker, is posted below and I encourage families to watch it.  The premise behind the video is that there is a line: on the right side of the line...good things happen; on the left side of the line...not so good things occur.  The challenge is motivating students to cross the line to the right hand side.  At one point in the video, the author talked about how the line can at times seem like a wall for students.  A barrier too great to cross! Some of our students may feel like this at certain times and we work hard to shift their perspective from seeing a wall to only seeing a thin line.  Doing so helps our students cross the line to achieve their dreams.

At our town hall meeting, I talked more about the idea of "settling" to to not make the choice to cross the line.  Sometimes it might be easier to not put forth the effort to to cross the line.  The author of the video talked about the challenges and setbacks that students may face causing them to not cross the line.  Turning those challenges into lessons helps our students be stronger and better prepared!  The path isn't always easy, but I spoke about the rewards our students will receive.  I used the example of settling when it comes to our reporting standards or for behavior.  Sometimes our students have a disconnect between their marks and the effort needed to improve.  My challenge to all students was to look at where they are at in their learning (a 1, 2, 3, or 4) and make the choices to do whatever it takes to cross the line to the next level of achievement.  In our reporting system, we aspire to have all students to achieve grade level mastery in all reporting standards (Level 2).  I specifically challenged our students who may be at a level 3 in some standards to cross the line and be their own advocate in achieving success.

I challenged our students to exhibit the behaviors that helps them to cross the line and to stand up for their peers when other students might be making choices that inhibit them from crossing the line.  Our actions in the last months of our time at Central Woodlands matter in our journey through life!

I shared with our students about my experience working in a middle school for the past seven years.  I could always tell which students from the elementary schools had finished their year strong and which ones didn't choose to cross the line and settled.  Students who worked hard at the end of their elementary career had a much easier time transitioning to middle school and were more successful with grades and confidence. Students who felt they could simply "flip a switch" before middle school too often found they were not able to actually do it.

The author focused on 4 ways to support students in crossing the line:

1.  Choose to Commit
     a. Approach life with intent to succeed
2.  Work Hard
     a. Good things are rarely easy or cheap
     b. There are no quick fixes
3.   Focus
      1.   Limit distractions that pull you away from your intent to succeed
4.   Be Resilient
      1.   Learn from mistakes and challenges

At the end of our Town Hall meeting, I challenged students to think about the message discussed and make the decision every morning to CROSS THE LINE.  As students left with their class, I had created a line on the gym floor for our students to cross to reinforce their individual commitment to cross the line!

Have a great Friday!

The Road Less Traveled

“Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Watching my daughter has been pure joy.  At 1 year, she is beginning to discover an entire world around her ready to be explored.  She is full of life…especially when she does not get what she wants.  She inspires me every day of my life.  More importantly, I think she has been able to teach me so much.  As adults and students, we often become familiar with taking the path of other, to march in the direction of everyone else.  It is easier to take a path where others have gone before us.  But in thinking about my daughter, I wonder what would happen if she just took the path?  My daughter is fearless…I do not think she sees paths…she sees opportunities.  I love that about her!  Despite us trying to teach her to stay close to us or on her chair, she loves to venture off to discover new and wonderful things.  She loves to make new paths and leave her mark on the world…

Make new paths and leave your mark on the world…sounds like that could be a mission statement for a school.  Whether you are a parent, teacher or student…we can all create new paths of opportunity and use our creativity and courage to explore life.  This is what Central Woodlands is all about!  I encourage our young people to grab their walking shoes and start making trails…

The Positive Dog

Good Morning on this very chilly last day of February.  I hope this is winter's last gasp and that we can start to see warmer temperatures in March!  On twitter this week, I came across some tweets from the author, Jon Gordon. Jon Gordon has written multiple books and speaks on being positive and optimistic.  This week in my staff newsletter, I shared a video from Jon Gordon.  You can watch that video below.  His talk was based on his book, The Positive Dog. This is wonderful read and would encourage you to read it and even share it with your children.

From my experiences, I have really tried to live with a sense of positivity and optimism.  A lot of our day can be determined by our attitudes and how we face the unexpected events in our lives.  I believe that students can feel this positive energy and their days will be brightened as well.

In talking with students, I often use the quote, "In order to have a rainbow, you need some rain."  This positive message applies seamlessly to our Stand Up campaign where we work to support students’ ability to be resilient.  Our students will face different obstacles during the day and how they respond to them can determine the level of success they experience.  By keeping positive and feeding their "Positive Dog," students will be able to handle anything that happens!

Spring Training

Today at breakfast, we were talking about the upcoming week.  This week marks the start of spring training for the Detroit Tigers.  Pitchers and catchers report on Thursday with position players reporting on Monday, February 17.  Since our family lived in the Detroit area for the last ten years, we became big Detroit Tiger fans!  We have been to opening day games, playoff games (we were there to watch Magglio Ordonez hit the series clinching home run in the 2006 ALCS), and many games in between.  I have even flown to Florida to watch the Tigers play in spring training!

Growing up, the Tigers were not a good team.  However, spring training would bring a level of optimism in hopes that this would be their year!  This optimism is one reason I love working with the age group at Central Woodlands.  I have had the opportunity to work with students in grades 5-12.  One big difference I have observed between high school students and 5th and 6th grade students is the ability to start each day anew!

Even for adults, it is sometimes hard to put the events of yesterday behind us and partner with someone we may have disagreed with the day before.  Our children are blessed with a sense of pure optimism that every day is brand new day.  After having a bad day, I love how our students at Central Woodlands often can arrive the next day without even a thought about their previous day.  I love that our children do not hold grudges.  They truly see the best in all of us...classmates, staff, and others.  

It feels like everyday is the start of spring training for our students.  Each day starts as it could be the best one in their lives!  The positivity that our children have is something I aspire to everyday.  Thank you to all of our families for sharing their positive children with us!