Great Things Going On
This week I want to compliment Skoglund Middle School principal Carrie Zimmerman and her entire teaching staff for the work they are doing coordinating instruction on academic vocabulary. Each week our grade 6-8 students are given a list of words that are important to academic understanding in multiple subjects and all the teachers incorporate them into classroom instruction. At the end of the week students are quizzed on their knowledge, and the process repeats itself.
I also want to compliment 2nd-3rd grade teacher Jessica Stevens on the skill set she has developed related to using technology devices to support instruction. On Wednesday of last week I was walking a representative from an educational technology company called Curriculum Loft through our buildings when we wandered into Ms. Steven’s class and were given a half hour lesson on all the things you can do with an iPad, Apple TV device, and a Promethean board. The sales representative was simply blown away by the things Jessica is doing for kids.
I have a whole slate of thanks to offer up in relation to our annual open house event. I would estimate that we had between 250 and 300 participants this year.
I also want to compliment 2nd-3rd grade teacher Jessica Stevens on the skill set she has developed related to using technology devices to support instruction. On Wednesday of last week I was walking a representative from an educational technology company called Curriculum Loft through our buildings when we wandered into Ms. Steven’s class and were given a half hour lesson on all the things you can do with an iPad, Apple TV device, and a Promethean board. The sales representative was simply blown away by the things Jessica is doing for kids.
I have a whole slate of thanks to offer up in relation to our annual open house event. I would estimate that we had between 250 and 300 participants this year.
First I would like to offer my appreciation to Rich Brandt, Tony Garcia, Mike Martinez, and Walter Martinez for doing a great job of getting things set up and making sure our school grounds looked great for the event. I also want to thank Gerald Hammer, Panta Villagomez, and Chris Segura for their help with set up and especially the quick clean up job they did in the cafeteria to prepare the school for the next day’s events.
Thanks also go out to Dennis Schoenfelder, Stefan Welsh, and the video productions class for great work they did on the welcome video.
I also want to thank Dianna Valenzuela and the cafeteria staff for working so hard to prepare the burgers and drinks and offering up about a million serving spoons from the kitchen.
I would also like to show appreciation for Gabriel Swanson and the entire Haskin Elementary student body for their wonderful performance on video, our Vista workers Raffi, Arabia, Courtney, Matt, and Matthew for securing bunches of door prizes, organizing and promoting the canned food drive, and for beating the bushes to get our community partners to come out and man display tables. Adele Alfson and Susan Banning were also a big help on this front.
Thanks also go out to Dennis Schoenfelder, Stefan Welsh, and the video productions class for great work they did on the welcome video.
I also want to thank Dianna Valenzuela and the cafeteria staff for working so hard to prepare the burgers and drinks and offering up about a million serving spoons from the kitchen.
I would also like to show appreciation for Gabriel Swanson and the entire Haskin Elementary student body for their wonderful performance on video, our Vista workers Raffi, Arabia, Courtney, Matt, and Matthew for securing bunches of door prizes, organizing and promoting the canned food drive, and for beating the bushes to get our community partners to come out and man display tables. Adele Alfson and Susan Banning were also a big help on this front.
Finally, I would like to thank Alice Burch for securing opportunities for our students and their families to get immunizations, our technology staff for having all multi media devices ready to go, and "The Voice of Center" John Noriega for MC-ing the big prize drawing.
I also want to thank all of our instructional staff members. Hosting events like this turn an already long and grueling work-day into an extremely long and grueling work-day for them.
If preparing for and pulling off our annual open house event did not keep us all busy enough, last week was also homecoming week in Center. I want to thank Center High School’s student council sponsors Lauren McEvoy and Brandon Selby for the great work their organization did in scheduling all the fun. I also want to thank all our high school class sponsors for the behind the scenes work they did staying out late to assist students in the work of building parade floats. The dress up days were fun, the parade was awesome, and the slate of athletic contests held here in Center on Friday and Saturday were enjoyable.
I also want to thank all of our instructional staff members. Hosting events like this turn an already long and grueling work-day into an extremely long and grueling work-day for them.
If preparing for and pulling off our annual open house event did not keep us all busy enough, last week was also homecoming week in Center. I want to thank Center High School’s student council sponsors Lauren McEvoy and Brandon Selby for the great work their organization did in scheduling all the fun. I also want to thank all our high school class sponsors for the behind the scenes work they did staying out late to assist students in the work of building parade floats. The dress up days were fun, the parade was awesome, and the slate of athletic contests held here in Center on Friday and Saturday were enjoyable.
On a final note, I want to thank Moe Jones of Jones Oil, retired Center Schools vocational building trades teacher John Faron, and the Center Volunteer Fire Department for providing the entire Center community with a wonderful fireworks show after the homecoming football game. I understand these fireworks were supposed to be shared with the community on the 4th of July but summer burn bans caused the event to be postponed. I also understand it was Moe and John’s personal vision to offer up such an event for the Center community, and I must say that ending the week of September 11th remembrances with such a display was quite appropriate. Great job!
Big Things We Are Working On
On Tuesday evening the Center Schools Board of Education held a first reading of revisions to policies that guide the public use of school facilities. Any community member who would like to review these changes is welcome to ask for copies at the district office. A second and final reading of these policies will take place at the regular October meeting before the proposed changes go into effect.
Also on Tuesday the Center Schools District Accountability Committee reviewed school level student achievement data and recommended to the board of education the following accreditation statuses for our three regular schools. Center High School will be accredited with a “Performance” rating for the 4th year in a row. Skoglund Middle School will be accredited with a “Performance” rating for the 3rd year in a row, and Haskin Elementary School will be accredited with a “Performance” rating this year for the first time ever. Colorado school performance rating options range from the lowest end at “Turnaround” to “Priority Improvement” to “Improvement” to the highest single school rating which is “Performance.” These ratings are determined based on a formula set up by the Colorado Department of Education through the School Performance Frameworks (SPF) system. Many of you will remember that as recent as 2010 Haskin Elementary School was rated “Turnaround” based on this system. The entire Center Schools community is simply thrilled that the transformation work that took place at Haskin Elementary School has resulted in such positive progress already.
Also on Tuesday the Center Schools District Accountability Committee reviewed school level student achievement data and recommended to the board of education the following accreditation statuses for our three regular schools. Center High School will be accredited with a “Performance” rating for the 4th year in a row. Skoglund Middle School will be accredited with a “Performance” rating for the 3rd year in a row, and Haskin Elementary School will be accredited with a “Performance” rating this year for the first time ever. Colorado school performance rating options range from the lowest end at “Turnaround” to “Priority Improvement” to “Improvement” to the highest single school rating which is “Performance.” These ratings are determined based on a formula set up by the Colorado Department of Education through the School Performance Frameworks (SPF) system. Many of you will remember that as recent as 2010 Haskin Elementary School was rated “Turnaround” based on this system. The entire Center Schools community is simply thrilled that the transformation work that took place at Haskin Elementary School has resulted in such positive progress already.
Speaking of our district accountability committee, Center Schools is currently filling some of its membership slots and is in need of interested community members who might like to participate. The district accountability committee is advisory to the board of education and makes key recommendations regarding teacher and administrator evaluations processes, annual district improvement planning, school accreditation, and budgeting. Anyone interested in serving on the committee is encouraged to contact the district office at 719-754-3442 for more information.
The Past Week
On Monday I met with representatives from Curriculum Loft who are hoping to engage with all the school districts of the San Luis Valley in providing an on-line portal for curriculum and resource access for teachers. Tuesday was my marathon meeting day beginning in Alamosa with the San Luis Valley Superintendents Advisory Council, then on to Saguache for their board of county commissioners meeting, then back to Center for our monthly district accountability and board of education meetings. On Wednesday I was interviewed extensively by an organization hired by CDE to share out results of the SB 191 teacher and administrator evaluation pilot process. I spent the rest of the day and evening working on things related to our annual open house event. On Thursday I met with San Luis Valley Mental Health services personnel about the resources they provide for our students. After the homecoming parade on Thursday I spent some time with Sangre De Cristo Schools administrators in a mini PLC talking about the best ways to conduct classroom walkthroughs and to support teachers toward better instruction. On Friday morning I had a pleasant meeting with Dennis Carlson, the San Luis Valley CEA Uniserv Director, then I completed some Race to the top of the Valley work before spending the evening at the Center Community Park supervising athletic events and cooking about a million hamburgers at the concession stand.
The Week Ahead
On Monday I will do some RtttV work as we prepare for a visit to our program by United States Department of Education personnel in the coming weeks. I will also spend time on Monday on final adjustments to our district federal programs application and annual report. On Tuesday I have our monthly meeting with Save the Children about our Early Steps to School Success program. Wednesday is ICAP day at Skoglund Middle School and Center High School. On this day our students will be doing work geared at preparing them for future career paths they would like to explore. Wednesday is also an early release day and K-12 will be engaged in local PLC work late that afternoon.
I will be taking personal leave to travel to Oklahoma City late this week as I have a date to compete in an ironman triathlon I have been preparing for.
I will be taking personal leave to travel to Oklahoma City late this week as I have a date to compete in an ironman triathlon I have been preparing for.
Our Core Beliefs
Our third core belief states that, “quality planning, instruction, and assessments lead to high achievement for ALL students.” In Center Schools this first means teachers are intentional about what they teach. All Center Schools teachers submit their lesson plans to their administrators on a weekly basis, and our administrators actually make sure these plans are reviewed and feedback aimed at improvement is offered to teachers. In Center Schools this also means all teachers plan for measuring student learning on a daily basis. Our saying is, “if it is worth teaching it is worth measuring whether or not students learned it.” By doing so teachers are able to adjust their instruction whenever it turns out students did not learn the objective taught. This ensures our kids don’t fall behind in instruction, and as we have seen, it leads to higher and higher achievement for EVERYBODY.
Extra Points
As I alluded to above, late this week I will be traveling to Oklahoma City to compete in the Redman Iron Distance Triathlon. This event consists of a 2.4 mile lake swim, and a 112 mile bike ride, followed by a 26.2 mile run (a full marathon), all in one day. Many of you know I have been a bit of a triathlon geek for many years, but I have never before attempted this marquee triathlon distance. Since embarking on this goal I have been approached by many people with the questions “why, and what?” Why are you doing this? What are you doing to prepare yourself?
Answering the question “why are you doing this” is easy. I think every once in a while people, whoever they are and whatever their circumstances, should engage in working toward accomplishing seemingly impossible things. I have no doubt that when people look me over the first thing that comes to mind in not “Ironman Triathlete.” I also assume that when people see the itty-bitty dot that symbolizes Center, Colorado on a map, the first thing that comes to mind is not “World Class Education.” As we have proven in Center Schools, though we were quite far away from such status only a few years ago, a great plan and a lot of hard work and dedication can lead you to accomplish almost anything. If Center Schools can be a world-class education institution, why can’t I be an Ironman Triathlete?
In answer to the question “what have you done to prepare” my answer is this. According to my Runkeeper app on my iPhone since the beginning of April I have swum 76 miles, run 347 miles, and biked 1,600 miles. All of these workouts were on a weekly schedule in small bits and pieces, and I am extremely proud to say I have not missed a single workout in the past 20 weeks! My day on Saturday September 21st will begin at 6 AM Center time with a 2-mile swim. By 8 AM I am hoping to begin my bike ride. By 3 PM I hope to have completed the 112-mile bike ride, and at that time I will be contemplating the prospects of running for the next 6 or so hours to complete the 26.2-mile marathon. If I finish, and I really have no idea if I will, I should be crossing the finish line between 9 and 10 PM Center time.
As I believe we all have been doing in Center Schools when it comes to teaching kids, I can only do all I can to prepare myself and give it my best shot. I have done that and now all I can hope is that my swim goes well (I have been known to panic in a lake swim), my bike tires stay inflated, my chain stays on, and I don’t get in a wreck, and that in the end I have the energy and endurance to complete the 26 mile trek on my feet.
As happens with all great endeavors, in order to succeed you have to be willing to take the risk to fail. I am ready and willing.
I hope to see you at the “finish line.”
George
Ironman Triathlete?
Answering the question “why are you doing this” is easy. I think every once in a while people, whoever they are and whatever their circumstances, should engage in working toward accomplishing seemingly impossible things. I have no doubt that when people look me over the first thing that comes to mind in not “Ironman Triathlete.” I also assume that when people see the itty-bitty dot that symbolizes Center, Colorado on a map, the first thing that comes to mind is not “World Class Education.” As we have proven in Center Schools, though we were quite far away from such status only a few years ago, a great plan and a lot of hard work and dedication can lead you to accomplish almost anything. If Center Schools can be a world-class education institution, why can’t I be an Ironman Triathlete?
In answer to the question “what have you done to prepare” my answer is this. According to my Runkeeper app on my iPhone since the beginning of April I have swum 76 miles, run 347 miles, and biked 1,600 miles. All of these workouts were on a weekly schedule in small bits and pieces, and I am extremely proud to say I have not missed a single workout in the past 20 weeks! My day on Saturday September 21st will begin at 6 AM Center time with a 2-mile swim. By 8 AM I am hoping to begin my bike ride. By 3 PM I hope to have completed the 112-mile bike ride, and at that time I will be contemplating the prospects of running for the next 6 or so hours to complete the 26.2-mile marathon. If I finish, and I really have no idea if I will, I should be crossing the finish line between 9 and 10 PM Center time.
As I believe we all have been doing in Center Schools when it comes to teaching kids, I can only do all I can to prepare myself and give it my best shot. I have done that and now all I can hope is that my swim goes well (I have been known to panic in a lake swim), my bike tires stay inflated, my chain stays on, and I don’t get in a wreck, and that in the end I have the energy and endurance to complete the 26 mile trek on my feet.
As happens with all great endeavors, in order to succeed you have to be willing to take the risk to fail. I am ready and willing.
I hope to see you at the “finish line.”
George
Ironman Triathlete?