Monday Memo Musings

We have an exceptionally strong staff, and  community support of Outreach. They know we rescue kids. Together, our attitude is “we will do whatever it takes to help our students build the skills they need to be successful."  We are 8 days from well deserved holidays. My message is  that we must realize the inequity of the celebrations. For some you will ask how was your Christmas? They may not have celebrated at all. They just want the season to be over. That is true for adults as well. Just recognize that fact.  Look for the kid who needs you to chit chat with them today.  There is one student  who hangs his head an plays games at his table. He helped me down load a game and I used it when there was no connection on the airplane. That boy will talk to me now. He's a WK ( weird kid). Find that common ground. Each day someone should be engaging each student you may the only person he/she talks to that day.  It doesn't have to be talk. Go around and hand...

 This dose of sunshine will be enjoyed.  Getting some  sun increases your serotonin  and helps you stave off Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and sun exposure can also help people with anxiety and depression, especially in combination with other treatments. What are the benefits of sunlight to humans? 7 Health Benefits of Sunlight Improves your sleep. Your body creates a hormone called melatonin that is critical to helping you sleep. ... Reduces stress. ... Maintains strong bones. ... Helps keep the weight off. ... Strengthens your immune system. ... Fights off depression. ... Can give you a longer life. Staffing Anne is in La Crete on Wednesday hoping to sign report cards then.  Leah is out Wednesday.  Thursday is Remembrance day. There is no school for staff or students. There are ceremonies in your communities, they will be televised as well.  Friday is PD day. All teachers and secretaries work this day. Please be sure to have signs up indicating t...

  November 2nd no SN*W! We will take it!! Enjoy while we can!  This is a quick Tuesday memo. Items of note: Try to have each student complete at least one course for this report. This will be a focus of our CRM.   Report cards are due Nov. 10th at noon. I will have rememebrance day to look them over and we can reprint on Nov 12th. I want them earlier so you are not using your Rememebrance Day or your PD day to do them those are your days to relax, take care and go at your pace.  Report cards go home on November 19th. CRM's this week-High level 8:30 Tuesday morning. La Crete 2:00 pm on Thursday. Let the kids know that they won't get any help on Thursday after 2:00.  Wellness sessions for Students begin this month. In High Level Sue Harvey will present on Mental Health Nov 10th, We are starting at 12:30. Let's see what an afternoon start gets us. ( Gotta try) Thanks to Annelise and Leah who both put ion sessions this month. What fun talking about money is. ...

  When working with the young people there are times when you will see results in 10 seconds and there are times you won't see it for 10 years. Either way, keep planting those seeds of character, Eventually they bloom.  This is so true for Outreach! One of our past students stopped me in the store talking about his recent accomplishments. He is apprenticing now! What a victory for a boy who avoided schooling, ghosted us a zillion times and had such low self confidence. He  powered through, and graduated with us. See, we planted the seeds of character and he grew!!! For him, we played the mom role, the dad role, the bossy teacher role, the caring educator role and the get your sh#t together buddy, role. Just so happy he's happy.  Staffing Eva is back with us. We've missed you so and are so happy you are feeling better.  Bonnie is so missed and we will be checking in on her. Her return date is November 1st we will let you know if that changes.  I am in this w...

  We live in the land of Northern Lights. They are spectaular anytime we see them, but last night was extraordinary. A lovely way for Fall to say good bye. Hope you caught it. This show was for seniors and kids it started at a reasonable hour, about 8:30.  What was the last book you read? I read one of our grade 11 books entitled, The Shape of a Girl.  Without saying too much, it outlines violent bullying. It is a hard read. I couldn't help but connect that some of our kids are with us because they were bullied elsewhere, targeted by others for fun.  At our school these kids have a voice, they can become empowered, they can build skills and move forward. If you get a chance read, The Shape of a Girl.  Staffing Bonnie is out. Tracy is in 8:00 to 12:30. Leah covers from 1:00 to 4:00. Everyone else is in. We welcome Annelise back this afternoon. Hugs to you.  What is Happening this week "How you feel is not the best guide for what you should do. Press PAUSE, a...

Jody Carrington says watch your people. Watch for signs that they are not themselves. When that normally kind, caring gal/guy says things like, " Well, they can just die then." We can tell that the trauma of the passed few months is mounting and is demonstrated those words. Be ready to recognize it, and be there to help. Do the next, best, right, kind, thing for that person.  The sh#t that comes out of people's mouths right now is beyond, but it is beyond because they have never been to this negative place before. Or they have never lived in this negative space for so long before. They just told you they need help with their words with their actions. The same is true with our kids. They won't tell you they need help. That call for help will come in him covering his head entirely with a black bag (our student today) or with her putting her head down and sleeping, or is disrupting the room.  People need reminders there is beauty everywhere, your funny joke helps, your p...

  Good day y'all! We are entering into our first full week. Being back with the kids feels great. I can sense that they are ready to get going, are ready for normalcy and so are we.  We've started students with soft courses, after building their grad plans we will start them on the cores. Core courses will be started this week.  Please be aware of the students plans. If he she want to pursue a tougher trade often science 10 needed. We have been giving science 14/24  out often. Please be sure the course satisfies their goals.  Huge high five to our High Level Team who have been dealing with construction for the passed two weeks. We can't wait for it all to be done.  Huge high five to the La Crete team who had 29 people at their orientation. Those students are so well supported by their parents, it was great to see that. Alex did a great job of presenting! We had 4 people in High Level, disappointing forsure.  La Crete and High level are both sitting at ...

  Welcome back to school everyone, This school year we are coming back knowing.... We know that High Level is going to be in disarray for two more weeks. We have no water, our building is flithy and there are plenty of safety issues. Then there will be people in here building an office soon. We know we are under construction.  We know that we are taking students grades 9 and up. That will affect our numbers however, this move is righting ourselves.  We know that there are going to be many questions going forward. We know that. We know that parents are undecided and are seeking information to make a choice. We know that dual students will be back this year, more so in La Crete. Kids are signing up with us for a quad then going back to LCPS for a quad then coming back. We know that. Our kids are free to sign up for courses as well. We know that. We know Covid cases are rising. We know that schools are exempt from the masking up mandate set by AHS. We also know that you must...

 Looks Like We Made It, is the title of an old Barry Manilow song. Some of you may remember. None of the lyrics pertain to us, but the title sure does. Looks LIke We Made it!! (I'm writing this from home  early in the morning, and I have realized that I am a personal servant to my dogs. I have let each of them out twice. Feed them, then have given them a treat. Now I'm getting up to let Ryder in. He wants me to throw his toy and I said, NO! GEt to work Anne.) Grads took place this weekend, and oh my gosh what a fabulous celebration they were. You just have to talk to the families to hear the victory in their voices. Families needed this weekend. We needed a celebration too. Many thanks to the High Level crew who came out and volunteered for 4 hours. They were able to see our kids at their finest. It was just sooooo good. Many, many thanks for your time and for looking after the families. It was so appreciated.  Many thanks to Chad who spoke in La Crete at their grad. The ...

  Hang on everyone. Thank goodness there are so many bright spots to the end of the year. Every day there is something that makes us smile. This week it is the excitement of graduations. These kids and families can't wait to celebrate. They deserve a family celebration. Pray for a good day, weather wise. That's what we need for this to fall into place.  Forcast 40% chance of rain and 22C. Perfect Things to Know Summer school is being offered for English 30-1 3-2, and Social 30-1 and Social 30-2.   Do you have students interested in this??? I feel the students need a break. However, there may be some kids who did nothing all year long,who would be interested in this everyday on line learning experience for the month of July.  Please let me know if you have students wanting these courses. I will let Karen know.  Staffing Dean is out Wednesday and Thursday.  Crystal is out Friday.  Amanda is out Wednesday of this week and Tuesday of next week.  ...