2008-09 Staff Changes
by Susan
Torode,
Principal’s Update:
As
many of you know, we in the office are well underway with plans for
next year’s school year. As you would expect, one of the priorities
to address is staffing.
We are
delighted to report that we have added what we believe will be an
important new position at LACS, a director of curriculum and
instruction.
Mrs.
Evonne Litfin
has accepted this new role and has already begun some initial work
in this area this year. With strong experience, further education
and a special interest in this area, Mrs. Litfin is well qualified
to take on this role.
Next year
Mrs. Litfin will divide her time between this curriculum position
and her fifth grade classroom responsibilities. We have hired
former LACS fifth grade teacher,
Nancy Bridges,
to team-teach the fifth grade with Mrs. Litfin until the following
year when both might assume full time positions in their areas.
Nancy is a teacher who is highly experienced and credentialed
and has been referred to as a "teacher's teacher."
Though we
are sad to report that
Mrs.
Kristen Cunningham
will not continue her
responsibilities as Resource Teacher for our Middle School, we are
thrilled to report that she will again be a new mom…this time, a
little boy. We equally are thrilled to report that we have hired
Mrs.
Tanya Carrell
as her
replacement. Mrs. Carrell has her masters in English from USF with
a multiple subject credential in grades K-8. She will be coming to
us with ESL and Slingerland training.
We will
continue to update you as we further develop or initiate new
programs or positions for the coming year. We thank you for your
interest and support, and we covet your prayers as we seek wisdom
and guidance for a successful year.
Summer Reading is
Important
By Sharon Kilpatrick
Research
has shown that reading several books over summer vacation will have
an impact on students’ reading proficiency and comprehension
achievement. Research also tells us that if students do not read
during the summer they will lose the progress that they made during
this school year. I would like to encourage parents to make time
for their children to read or to read to them a minimum of 15
minutes every day. Learning to read as well as practicing reading,
will build the student’s confidence for the upcoming school year,
and help the student to stay on track for a great start when school
begins again in August. Families that READ together succeed
together!
Press Toward the Mark-Disrespect
Our current culture is
plagued by disrespect. People do not respect others, elders, people
in authority, God, His creation, family, or themselves. All this
disrespect leads to broken homes and families, wars, and just a
general mess of things. In training our children we need to instill
in them the value of respect. When they look at other people they
need to realize that everyone is made in the image of God and should
be respected. Children should respect elders and people in
authority. Along with this, children need to learn basic good
manners, such as not to interrupt, and they need to learn good table
manners. We need to teach the value of saying "please" and "thank
you." By showing respect, our students can demonstrate Christ-like
compassion to others.
Press Toward the Mark-Blame
Blaming has become a part of
our culture, unfortunately. If a person spills hot coffee, they
blame the restaurant for it. If someone is given a ticket, they were
"just going with the flow of the traffic." People do not want to
take responsibility for their actions. A noted educator, John W.
Gardner stated, "Some people strengthen the society just by
being the kind of people they are." Our goal is to train young
people to be the kind of people who will strengthen society, not
bring it down to the lowest common denominator. By insisting that
our children take responsibility and not blame others, we are
developing young men and women of character.
Press Toward the Mark-Quit
In the past week I have had the privilege of listening to
many students at the classroom speech meets. I have been so proud of
each of them for getting up in front of their peers, the parents,
and the judges and reciting their poems, Bible verses and stories.
No one gave up and quit, which makes them all winners in my book.
Doing a good job often begins with just showing up.
Too often people see that a task looks formidable, so they either do
not try it or give up too easily. "People of mediocre ability
sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when
to quit." (George Herbert) We need to encourage our students to keep
trying, enjoy challenges, and no matter what their ability is they
will succeed
Press Toward the Mark-Justify
When we are caught
being irresponsible, our first inclination is to justify our
actions. Instead of owning what we have done, we want to tell all
the reasons why we "had" to be irresponsible, such as peer pressure,
stress, ignorance, etc. Deep inside we know we are wrong, but we
don't want to admit it because others will think less of us. In
training our children, we need to let them know that they will be
respected more if they honestly admit what they have done instead of
trying to skirt the issue and justify their behaviors.
Press Toward the Mark-Deny
The next few
newsletters will focus on the negative attributes that cause a child
to miss the mark. We should help our students to not get into the
habit of exhibiting these behaviors. The first attribute is to deny. This usually means that they are denying responsibility
for something they did or denying responsibility for not doing what
they should have done.
The opposite of the denying behavior is the owning
behavior. People need to admit they are responsible and accept any
consequences that are necessary. If students realize they are
responsible for their own behavior and must accept the consequences,
they will be less likely to engage in irresponsible behaviors.
Press
Towards the Mark-Choose
Hitting the mark is a major objective for our students.
We want to encourage students to be responsible, and one part of
responsibility is to realize that each of us chooses our own behaviors.
Outside influences can steer us in certain directions, but we ultimately
choose what we do. People want to blame other people, their parents,
circumstances, moods, the weather, you name it, but in the end we all
choose our own actions. When people realize that they choose their
behaviors, then they are more likely to take responsibility for their
actions. Parents, teachers, and other adults have to help children
realize that they choose their behaviors. Teaching children this skill
will help them as they become adults. They will know that they are the
only ones who control their actions and are accountable for them. Part
of becoming a Christian is making a choice, the choice to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ and the choice to let Him guide your life. This is the
most important choice anyone can make.
“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will
serve,…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua
24:14-16
Hitting the Mark-Respect
In our current culture
people have lost respect for each other, authority, their elders,
themselves, and the list could go on and on. Yet, God expects us to
have respect for each other and ourselves.
We are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm
139:14) in God's image. The Bible also states "our bodies are the
temple of Holy Ghost" (I Cor. 6:19). What an awesome thought! When
we respect each other and ourselves we are showing respect to Our
Heavenly Father.
How do we teach our students to be respectful? They
need to learn to speak in a respectful tone of voice, not talk back,
have a respectful attitude, and learn to apply the Golden Rule-to
treat others, as they want to be treated. We must also teach them to
respect themselves by taking care of their bodies, having a good
self-image, and not having a victim mentality. Our children need to
learn to respect property and the world around them by being good
stewards with what they have.
With the home and school working together, we can
help our children become respectful and respected.
Hitting the Mark-Solve
Students who "hit the mark" solve their own
problems. This can be solving issues out on the playground and using the
Friendship Fixer without an adult, and also knowing when an adult needs
to be involved. They see that there is a problem, such as needing to get
a pencil or finding out what their homework is, and they think of ways
to solve that problem. Students who solve their own problems think
strategically.
We can help students learn how to
resolve their problems by guiding them through the process of
problem solving. They need to:
identify the problem,
strategize ways to solve it,
choose the method in which to solve it,
put the method into action.
Each step is necessary. This helps
students become more responsible and self-reliant. Part of being a
parent is training your child to become a responsible adult and you
can do this by helping children learn how to solve their own
problems.
Hitting
the Mark-Believe
To accomplish anything
a person has to believe that he/she can do it. Too often students will
say, "I can't do that" before they even try. Believing in
yourself is shown by having a positive attitude. Thomas Edison said,
" If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we could
literally astound ourselves." It took him ten thousand tries before
he successfully made a light bulb. He said, "Many of life's
failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success
when they gave up." A positive attitude is a choice. We can choose
to be negative and see all the reasons why we cannot do a task, or we
can be positive and find all the reasons we can do a task. Let's
encourage our students to be positive and believe that they can
accomplish a great deal.
Hitting
the Mark-Try
We all know the old adage "If at first you
don't succeed, try, try again." This is so true. Often we want to
give up on things because it takes so much effort to reach the goal.
This is true with athletics, playing a musical instrument, learning how
to knit or cook, discovering electricity, putting a man on the moon....
you name it. Anything that takes effort is well worth doing. Students
will say they can't do something even before they try because it looks
hard. Learning to read, doing long division, and writing a science
report require time and effort. The student must try to do their best
and not give up.
When we try something we risk failure.
"What looks like a loss may be the
very event which is subsequently responsible for helping to produce the
major achievement of your life."-Srully D. Blotnick As adults we
need to give our children the freedom to try and fail, so that they may
eventually try and succeed.
Hitting
the Mark-Own
What does it mean to own your
behavior? Is it the same as owning a new toy, a puppy, a good book? To
own any of these items means it belongs to you. The dictionary defines
it as:
1. To have or possess as property: owns a chain
of restaurants.
2. To have control over: For a time, enemy planes
owned the skies.
3. To admit as being in accordance with fact, truth,
or a claim; acknowledge
To own your behavior acknowledges that you have control
over your behavior. Some children may have special issues making it
difficult to control some of their behaviors, but they do have control
over other behaviors and need to own what they can control. Most of us
when we are caught doing something we know we should not do want to
blame it on someone else or deny it. If we admit we have erred, it is
easier to fix the problem and then move on. Let’s try to help our
students learn how to own their behavior, and as adults let’s be good
role models by owning our own behaviors and hitting the mark.
