Great Things Going On Now
This week Center Schools hosted the Valley Classic wrestling tournament. During this annual event 19 different high school wrestling teams gather in Center. I want to thank Kevin Jones for the great work he does in coordinating the tournament, helping to make it extremely competitive and one of the best in the state. Hosting such an event gives the community of Center a great opportunity to showcase how great a place it is. Though Mr. Jones puts a ton of effort into planning for and executing the tournament, I also want to thank our custodial staff for all they do to prepare for, operate, and break down the event. Susan Banning also deserves a gigantic thank you as she always makes sure our visiting coaches, administrators and bus drivers are well taken care of through our hospitality room. Susan does a great job of coordinating the whole hospitality process and encouraging our staff and community members to pitch in by providing home cooked food and treats. Other people and organizations who deserve a big thank you include members of our Center High School Athletic Association, our Technology Department (led by Julio Paez), Chris Vance, Carrie Zimmerman, our Junior Class sponsors, parents and students, Kim Martinez and the Center High School cheerleaders, and of course Coach Brian Ullery and our Center High School wrestlers who finished in second place in the tournament and, in doing so, won the Southern Peaks League Wrestling Championship.
While at the SLV All Valley PLC session this past Friday first grade teacher Theresa Gallegos described how her students are using their iPads to take pictures and write stories about them. Her kids are sharing these stories with their parents, their teacher, and each other. Thank you Theresa, for working so hard to ensure our kids are taking advantage of this new educational resource!
While at the SLV All Valley PLC session this past Friday first grade teacher Theresa Gallegos described how her students are using their iPads to take pictures and write stories about them. Her kids are sharing these stories with their parents, their teacher, and each other. Thank you Theresa, for working so hard to ensure our kids are taking advantage of this new educational resource!
Speaking of making good use of a new educational resource, second/third grade math teacher Jessica Stevens has discovered a way our staff members can use their iPads as document cameras. Document cameras can cost in the range of $800 each. Knowing that we already have devices in hand that can work in this manner will save us a lot of money not having to buy special devices to perform this task.
Finally, I want to thank drama club sponsor Allan Alsup for the wonderful talent show he coordinated this past Thursday, allowing our students of all ages to show what they can do and perform in front of a live audience.
Finally, I want to thank drama club sponsor Allan Alsup for the wonderful talent show he coordinated this past Thursday, allowing our students of all ages to show what they can do and perform in front of a live audience.
The Past Week
This past week a lot of work was done tweaking our
heating system and training staff members how to operate it. Speaking of construction matters, on Tuesday we approved our last Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment purchases related to the building project. We also had a special board meeting on Tuesday to make mid year budget adjustments. On Wednesday and Thursday I attended the CASE Winter Leadership Conference to focus on CASE business, school finance, iPad implementations, and to attend a turnaround PLC. Center Schools Director of Instruction Lori Cooper and Haskin Elementary Principal Kathy Kulp attended this conference as well.
The week wrapped up with our final All Valley Professional Learning Community meeting of the school year. This one took place in San Luis where the Colorado Legacy Foundation helped by presenting Literacy and Math Development Collaborative concepts to teachers from all over the area.
The week wrapped up with our final All Valley Professional Learning Community meeting of the school year. This one took place in San Luis where the Colorado Legacy Foundation helped by presenting Literacy and Math Development Collaborative concepts to teachers from all over the area.
Big Things We Are Working On
As stated above, we continue to work on tweaking our new heat system. Additionally, our focus has been on school finance in the form of mid-year budget adjustments and monitoring the work going on around the state in relation to possible school finance act changes.
The Week Ahead
On Monday I will be focusing my efforts on catching up on paperwork in my office. On Tuesday I will be in Denver to chair the Colorado School Safety Resource Center Advisory Board meeting. On Wednesday and Thursday we will be conducting Parent-Teacher Conferences. Since teachers will be working two twelve hour days in a row we will not hold school on Friday, in an effort to give them some rest. Though there is no school, I will be attending a CDE Rural Education Council meeting on Friday that will be held in Dolores.
Video of the Week
The Center High School Video Productions Class has produced another News from the Center video. You can view it at this link : http://keepingourfocus.weebly.com/videos.html
Extra Points
As many of you know, though the plaintiffs won the Lobato v Colorado lawsuit at the district court level in the fall of 2011, the state of Colorado appealed the decision. This means the Supreme Court of Colorado will have the final say in the case. It was recently announced that oral arguments for this appeal will be heard by the Colorado Supreme Court justices on March 7th. If you would like to learn more about the case and its ramification click this link: http://keepingourfocus.weebly.com/lobato-decision.html
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George