Great Things Going On
Last Thursday Haskin Elementary 4th and 5th grade students had the opportunity to attend a ceremony during which the new Sand Dunes National Park quarter was unveiled. The kids behaved wonderfully and each one will take away a memory to last them the rest of their lives. I want to thank Haskin grade 3-5 principal Sarah Vance, 4th and 5th grade teachers Honey Stecken, Zoraya Vazquez, Colleen Hurst, and JoAnn Evans for supervising the kids, as well as Center Schools transportation director Mike Phillips for making the effort to get them to and from the event in the middle of a busy work week!
Big thanks also go out to director of instruction and vocational director Lori Cooper, and Center High School counselor Adele Alfson, for crafting a tremendous agreement with Trinidad State Community College to offer concurrent enrollment college credit to upwards of 60 Center High School students simply for taking vocational classes that are already being offered on the Center High School campus. This year students who are enrolled in Mark Jones’ Construction Tech and Foundations of Construction classes, Dennis Scheonfelder’s Graphic Arts Design and Video Productions classes, and Stefan Welsh’s Video Productions and Editing classes will have the opportunity to earn TSJC credit for completion of this coursework. In the process of working out this agreement Mrs. Cooper was also able to secure a 90% tuition discount for all students who are participating. This means CHS students should be able to acquire around 180 college credits this year through this process alone!
Big thanks also go out to director of instruction and vocational director Lori Cooper, and Center High School counselor Adele Alfson, for crafting a tremendous agreement with Trinidad State Community College to offer concurrent enrollment college credit to upwards of 60 Center High School students simply for taking vocational classes that are already being offered on the Center High School campus. This year students who are enrolled in Mark Jones’ Construction Tech and Foundations of Construction classes, Dennis Scheonfelder’s Graphic Arts Design and Video Productions classes, and Stefan Welsh’s Video Productions and Editing classes will have the opportunity to earn TSJC credit for completion of this coursework. In the process of working out this agreement Mrs. Cooper was also able to secure a 90% tuition discount for all students who are participating. This means CHS students should be able to acquire around 180 college credits this year through this process alone!
I also want to take a moment to thank Center High School Video Productions and Editing teacher Stefan Welsh for establishing a process by which Center Schools student athletic and activity events can now be live streamed on the internet for all who choose to check in on them. On Friday and Saturday of last week his class began this process by broadcasting the CHS varsity football and volleyball contests to all who chose to watch. A great thing about this process is that even if you can’t watch the event as it is happening, the video is instantly placed into archive to be viewed at a later time. At the time I wrote this week’s edition our football game against Basalt had nearly 400 views already and our volleyball tri against Cripple Creek and Crested Butte had nearly 200 views. Of course we encourage folks who live here in town to come on out in person to support the kids, but are hoping relatives and alumni are now also able to follow the progress of our student athletes from just about anywhere.
If you want to view the first two contests we streamed you can go to the following links:
http://www.highschoolcube.com/event/center-vikings-vs-basalt-high-school-football-363415/settings streaming events
http://www.highschoolcube.com/event/center-vikings-vs-cripple-creek-and-crested-butte--358816
Finally, last week I popped in on a meeting that Center High School principal Kevin Jones and Skoglund Middle School principal Luis Murillo were holding with grade 6-12 classroom paraprofessionals in an attempt to assign work duties that would best benefit the students of their school. I must say I enjoyed watching their work as they debated and showed they clearly had the best interests of our students in mind. Time after time they exhibited our core belief that “Everyone must pursue excellence in ALL they do EVERY DAY!”
If you want to view the first two contests we streamed you can go to the following links:
http://www.highschoolcube.com/event/center-vikings-vs-basalt-high-school-football-363415/settings streaming events
http://www.highschoolcube.com/event/center-vikings-vs-cripple-creek-and-crested-butte--358816
Finally, last week I popped in on a meeting that Center High School principal Kevin Jones and Skoglund Middle School principal Luis Murillo were holding with grade 6-12 classroom paraprofessionals in an attempt to assign work duties that would best benefit the students of their school. I must say I enjoyed watching their work as they debated and showed they clearly had the best interests of our students in mind. Time after time they exhibited our core belief that “Everyone must pursue excellence in ALL they do EVERY DAY!”
Big Things We Are Working On
In the past week I have been working with school principals to prepare school level TCAP data presentations for the regular September board of education meeting. We have also been hard at work making final preparations for our annual Open House event that takes place on Wednesday evening from 6 to 8 PM. Finally, we the board will be continuing policy work surrounding our Alternatives to Expulsion program and the rules under which food made of campus can be served at on campus events.
The Past Week
Last week we enjoyed an eventful first day of regular school for all grade 6-12 students. The secondary staff had a full day of events scheduled for kids that included a hilarious motivational speaker, student produced videos showing school rules that will be specially emphasized this year, an all school pep assembly, and some fun and games competitions between grade levels and staff members that took place in the afternoon. During the rest of the week I worked on tasks related to policy revision, making sense of 2013-14 TCAP achievement data, and preparing for our annual Open House event.
The Week Ahead
On Monday I will be meeting face to face with all vocational students to explain the opportunity they have to earn TSJC credit for completing the classes they are taking. I am also meeting with all principals about their TCAP data presentations whey are preparing for our September Board and Accountability meetings. On Tuesday I have my monthly SLV Superintendent’s Advisory Council meeting in Alamosa, our September District Accountability Committee meeting and our regular September Board of Education meeting. On Wednesday morning I will be conducting an orientation to the school district for our full year Americorps team. I will spend the rest of the day preparing for our Open House event. On Thursday and Friday I am hoping to conduct classroom walkthroughs of many of our new teachers.
Extra Points
As an offbeat side story, last Thursday the Center schools campus had an unexpected visitor in the form of a porcupine that somehow managed to climb up a tree in front of the Fyock Community Library. Our students and staff members did a great jog of staying clear of the critter after school and later that evening Center Schools custodian Panta Villgomez showed his versatility by employing a long handled squeegee to coax it into a trash can that was stored in the district shop until director of facilities Richard Brandt was able to transport it to a safe place out of town the next day. I appreciate the great way this potential disturbance was handled, and look forward to seeing what critters show up on campus next.
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George
Thanks for listening once again and have a great week!
George