Energized

Last week was busy but productive. Besides doing final prep to get grades submitted on time, I also had several meetings with staff and students that kept me on the move. One of the indicators of a good week for me is when the meetings I attend leave feeling energized rather than drained come Friday; it was a good week.

I was energized by a pre season wrestling meeting I had with the 9th grade on Thursday. I have met with the jr high wrestlers each year before the start of the high school season for the past 7 years, but I have never had such an excellent turn out. There are a larger number than usual of athletic freshman turning out his year! There were over 25 9th graders at the meeting that had wrestled with one of the two middle school teams and there were 45 kids total in attendance! I expect at least 30 of the frosh to turn out and join a senior loaded team that is ready to. THS wrestling team will have large numbers this year.

I love the fact that there are two middle school programs feeding our high school team this year. This is the third year of a multiple middle school sports team system and the Sr. High wrestling team is seeing the positive effect in the number of kids participating and connecting through school sports programs. I do not think I could not work for a district that did not support extracurricular activities. The money and time we invest in opportunities for students to make connections through after school activities are an educational asset and I am sorry other school systems that do not recognize and value extracurricular activities. I was sad to learn that there are many school districts that do not offer athletics and other extracurricular activities at the middle school level. I was also shocked to learn that many school districts have considered cutting all extracurricular activities as a way to balance the budget during tough times. There was a recent report on HBO’s “Real Sports” that documented the effect on a community after the town voted to cut all extracurricular activities for a large school district in Ohio. It was strange to watch as the reporter toured vacant gyms and fields. I tried to image how it would affect Maple Valley if we had to cut all extracurricular activities and it made me sad. It is a hypothetical situation I do not like to think about.

I also felt energized after meeting with a group of educators and students that were visiting our district this week. Student from Black Hills HS in Olympia along with administrators and students from a school district in New York visited THS. The visiting group was also escorted by a program supervisor form the Washington OSPI. The group wads visiting THS to look at some of our classes and also talk with our staff and students about the work we are doing related to student engagement and school culture improvement. I enjoyed listening to the young leaders from other schools as they explained their learning community goals and work. I also was interested in what Greg Williamson, the program supervisors from OSPI, had to say regarding developing sustainable school programs related to a systems level approach. I had a chance to share with the group what the THS learning community has been doing this year in regards to our One School initiative work. I have received a lot of positive feed back from both staff and students at THS regarding our One School work this year thus far and I was happy to share what we have been doing with the visitors. Below is a power point activity that was recently shared with the staff at our last staff meeting. Next week I will share the power point with the student council and asb board while engaging the students in activities and conversation to help the students prepare to lead discussions with in their advisory groups regarding the schools One School winter commitments.

Go Bears!
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

11 5 Slide Show One School

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