Give It Your All!

The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. Loehr and Scwartz contend that to get the most from any experience, you must be totally committed to and engaged in that experience. Forget multitasking. If you focus all of your energy on one task at a time, you'll be more effective at every task you take on. Think about this next time you are in a meeting, checking e-mail, reading the newspaper, and writing up your grocery list. If you got to be there, BE THERE!

January Birthdays!!!

Birthday Breakfast Bunch...

At the end of every month we celebrate all of the birthdays from that month by having doughnuts and juice. This initiative has been a huge success with students and staff alike. The one thing that I have learned is that elementary age kids will not eat a doughnut unless it has frosting and sprinkles of some sort on it.

Spring Conferences

Spring conferences will be held on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 from 2:30 - 8:30 p.m. Parents are encouraged to come in between now and then to sign up for a conference slot. If you can not make it in, please e-mail or call your child's teacher for assistance with scheduling. I hope to see you all there.

No Name Calling Week

January 26th - 30th was No Name Calling Week at CES. The week was filled with activities to promote no-name calling and to bring awareness to this serious issue. Thursday we did a wrap-up activity called "Cub Kudos." Students and staff were invited to write a special message to another person and post it on the board. These messages will remain posted through conferences.

Experiences mold the child

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be in attendance at the high school when the Twins Caravan stopped by. I won't bore you with all of the details, but Tony Oliva was part of the entourage that stopped by. Now if you don't know Tony it doesn't matter because what he is famous for is not important. What is important is what I saw. Tony is from Cuba. Tony is dark skinned. Tony has a heavy accent that can be hard to follow. I realized as I listened to him speak that this may very well be the first time any of the students in grades 7-12 have seen a Cuban. This also may be the first time they have had to concentrate on what was being said as to not miss a word. Tony only answered a few questions, but he had me hanging on every word. He is such an interesting person and has so much life experiences to share. I am glad that the students of CHS were able to experience this moment even if it was brief. I am sure that Tony will left a lasting impression. I would like to think that he spawned enough interest that some students went home that night and did a little research on this man and his home country. It is experiences like this that spawn imagination and help children develop dreams and imagine places outside of home. Never miss an opportunity to try new experiences, they may just have a lasting effect on you.

No Name Calling Week

January 26th - 30th has been designated No Name Calling Week. More information can be found at www.nonamecallingweek.org

Words hurt. More than that, they have the power to make students feel unsafe to the point where they are no longer able to perform in school or conduct normal lives.

"No sticks. No stones. NO DISSING!"

Out to Lunch Readers

Out to Lunch Readers is a reading incentive program to promote reading in school. All students are eligible to take part in the program, all they need is to have a teacher drop their name in the fishbowl. Students that are drawn are invited too have lunch with Principal Wilkins on the last Friday of the month.