Habit 3: Put First Things First ~ A complicated favorite Habit

"Habit 1 says, “You’re in charge. You’re the creator.” Being proactive is about choice. Habit 2 is the first, or mental, creation. Beginning with the End in Mind is about vision. Habit 3 is the second creation, the physical creation. This habit is where Habits 1 and 2 come together. It happens day in and day out, moment-by-moment. It deals with many of the questions addressed in the field of time management. But that’s not all it’s about. Habit 3 is about life management as well–your purpose, values, roles, and priorities. What are “first things?” First things are those things you, personally, find of most worth. If you put first things first, you are organizing and managing time and events according to the personal priorities you established in Habit 2.” ~Dr. Stephen R. Covey

Our students really like Habit 3. They find they can Put First Things First one time and reap results, then think they've got it down. Making it a habit takes true understanding of the priorities we set for ourselves, then making the choice to have the discipline to work on the "big rocks." We can help our students by giving them easy chances to try putting first things first, and showing them how the success of completing tasks breeds more success.

Simon Sinek talks about the chemistry of social animals in his book, Leaders Eat Last. When we check off those items on our "to do" lists, our bodies release dopamine into our systems. The dopamine causes us to feel good. Have you ever added something to your "to do" list that wasn't there, just because you had completed it and could cross it off? I have. It releases dopamine, and the kick we get from the drug is addictive. I think that's why our students enjoy Habit 3 so much. The balance they need to feel occurs when they begin incorporating the first two Habits, along with the work they can do with the other Habits working with others. Sinek's research shows that when people reach the balance created by being whole in this way, serotonin and oxytocin are released. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate emotions. Oxytocin is a hormone that works as a neuromodulator in the brain. It extends our ability to care about others, to reduce anxiety among other things.

Our job is to help students learn the Habits, to begin to live the Habits so they can make sound decisions about their lives at school and everywhere.

Habit 3 is a favorite for students because it gives immediate results. Lets get them focusing on the feelings that make this Habit and the other six permanent.

BIG ROCKS

• Our Superintendent, Dr. Randy Liepa, has been chosen as Superintendent of the Year for the trip-county area. His acceptance of the award will be Monday night at the Board meeting at 7:00. You are welcome to join me in recognizing him at this meeting. The award will be presented first thing in the meeting followed by a break, so we can leave right after. 
• We are still having difficulty at the end of the day with students rushing to get to buses, and with teachers not turning their bus cards. It is imperative that teachers walk their students all the way to the exit to the parking lot where the buses are waiting. We have put this in the update before. It's not enough to leave them at the gym doors. Please make sure the students exit the building safely, reminding them to walk carefully to their buses.
• Our staff breakfast is this Thursday in the lounge. Thanks to the Enthusiasm Team for providing this event. We will have a fun morning!

Our Schedule This Week:

Monday...             7:30 am Breakfast with Randy (Terry)
                             1:30 Data Dig Meeting at Webster (Terry)
                             7:00 pm Board Meeting (Terry)

Tuesday...             8:45 LEAD time
                             3:45 Lighthouse Team

Wednesday...        Variety Show assemblies and night show
                             8:00 IST meeting

Thursday...            7:45-8:30 Staff Breakfast in the lounge

Friday...                Peace

Habit 2: The Habit of Imagination and Mission

"So, what do you want to be when you grow up? That question may appear a little trite, but think about it for a moment. Are you--right now--who you want to be, what you dreamed you'd be, doing what you always wanted to do? Be honest. Sometimes people find themselves achieving victories that are empty--successes that have come at the expense of things that were far more valuable to them. If your ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step you take gets you to the wrong place faster. 

Habit 2 is based on imagination--the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation, and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint. If you don't make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. It's about connecting again with your own uniqueness and then defining the personal, moral, and ethical guidelines within which you can most happily express and fulfill yourself. Begin with the End in Mind means to begin each day, task, or project with a clear vision of your desired direction and destination, and then continue by flexing your proactive muscles to make things happen." ~Dr. Stephen R. Covey

In my opinion, Habit 2 is the toughest Habit. I find myself constantly assessing and reassessing my mission, seeking the truth about me. I find I don't always trust my imagination, my ability to ferret out what I want to be when I grow up. Viktor Frankl said we "detect rather than invent" our mission. I am finally discovering that Frankl was correct that purpose is the most important thing, that it's the "one thing" we need to find. We certainly can have more than one purpose in life, but most people go through life without being intentional in that discovery. Spending the time to consider our purpose, our true mission, using our knowledge that we our the product of our choices, not our circumstances.

And as I consider all we have accomplished at Cooper over the past nine years, I am compelled to listen to the words of Frankl:

“Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it."

Making success our mission will never work, although we experience incredible success everyday. Our dedication at Cooper is to help students find their leadership lives, both for the community and for themselves. That's not aiming for success in test scores. Our mission is to help students find what they need to help themselves, no matter their life's struggles. 

Those of us who came from abusive families, from poverty and cruelty, had to learn that the world was not to blame. We had to learn to make the choices that were available and live the lives we wanted. Our students need our help in that realization. We see the results when our students realize their potential and find their voices. We're seeing the beginnings for some in their Youth Making a Difference projects. Our students are starting to step up and live their missions. They are indeed "Learning and Leading."

“Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.” ~ Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

BIG ROCKS

• Bill, Lauren, and Sue G. have been working tirelessly getting our Variety Show students ready for the show next week. Thank you to them and all the participants! It should be another outstanding Variety Show!
• Iowa/CoGAT testing begins January 5 for sixth grade. The tests are ready, answer sheets sorted, and we will be ready. Sixth grade teachers have a lot of leeway in scheduling the tests. A note will be going home to sixth grade families this week about the test and how it is used. It will be helpful to let families know your intention for scheduling testing in your classrooms.
• A big thanks to Angie for pinch hitting for Sarah while she's making baby Cal's first weeks the best they can be. We've had a tough couple of weeks in the office, and I can't imagine how it would have been without her help!
• The new rugs were to be placed in rooms this weekend. All of the rugs are being used in classrooms. If you need help with yours, please let me know.
• Our coach from FranklinCovey will be here Monday. Lynn Kozinski will be helping determined our readiness for Lighthouse Milestone. Thanks to everyone for their work last week as we continue to assess our readiness. Lynn will help us decide what steps we still need to take to prepare for the evaluation team in the spring.
• Our 8:00 staff meeting Thursday will include visits by Harry Lau, LPS Operations supervisor, who will talk to us about the heating system. Gary Harris, from SoundEngineering, will also be at our meeting and will explain our sound systems and answer any of your questions.

This week's schedule includes:

Monday...         9:00 Lynn Kosinski visits (see above)

                       1:30 Data Dig Mtg (Terry), Cleveland

Tuesday...         8:00 Center EPT         

                       3:45 Lighthouse Team

                       6:00 Parent Lighthouse Team

                       6:30 Leader In Me Parent Informational Meeting

Wednesday...    3:45 Planning Team

Thursday...       8:00 Staff Meeting (see above)

Friday...            8:00 Title I Meeting (Cleveland)

                       

As always, please send your additions/corrections! Have a great week!!

Do you regulate your brains?

“The mindset you have, determines the next step you take.”

― Unarine Ramaru

Living the 7 Habits takes a new mindset. We need to look carefully at our roles and responsibilities and have goals for them. Do you remember the way Charles Fonbuena describes our brains? He uses these descriptions in his book, Leadership is a Way of Life.

Each person has three brains. Our Lizard Brain controls our fight v. flight impulses. This area of the brain houses the medulla oblongata and brain stem. All animals in the fish, bird, amphibian, reptile, and mammal classifications have this brain. It’s useful for the “eat or be eaten” issues we deal with, such as when we play staff v. students hockey games, or, more importantly, when we’re driving our cars defensively. We need our lizard brains to help us stay safe, so it’s good to listen to them. However Lizard Brain can get in the way if it makes us too competitive, too focused on our own “win” and interferes with our ability to understand others with compassion.

The second brain we have is called the Monkey Brain. The more social a mammalian species is, the more developed this brain can be. This brain has us asking, “Do I fit in? Do I look okay? Do others like me.” The Monkey Brain also has us asking, “Does it feel good or taste good?” Monkey Brain is the reason I overeat sweets. Okay, okay, when I overeat everything. While the Monkey Brain doesn't always work to lose weight, it also can be a good brain to pay attention to as it helps us regulate embarrassing situations, help us feel confident, and keeps us in the group.

Researcher and lecturer, Simon Sinek, points out that the first two brains do not have speech centers or the ability to form language. We can have difficulty using words to express the thinking of these first two brains so we have other ways to describe how we think with them. We talk about “gut feelings,” and “heartfelt” emotions. Shawn Achor, the Harvard brain researcher and psychologist, says we can retrain these brains to help us rather than keep us from accomplishing our desired goals. He says we have to train the third brain to be in charge.

The third brain, according to Charles, is called the Leadership Brain. This brain is the one we use for logic, for telling us to do the right thing (such as telling me not to eat too much). It also allows us to make clear thinking and integrate all three brains, making decisions based on needs, wants, and principles. Obviously it’s more complicated than this in reality, as our brains are doing other functions. But the three brains idea gives us a way to see our brains are working with us and yet need our control. Certainly our students need to learn this control.

We have to stay intentional about our lives enough to lead with our hearts while we pay attention to our leadership brains. The 7 Habits are the tool best used to regulate and pre-decide some of the nonsense our Lizard and Monkey Brains can come up with. Living the 7 Habits gives us the way to understand our priorities well enough to take care of them, keeping distractions of the less disciplined parts of our brains from taking us away from our true purposes. Then we can focus on doing what we need to do, what is right to do. The 7 Habits work well for our students because they can become intentional in their lives; students become the product of their choices, not their circumstances.

“Once you decide to do right, life is easy, there are no distractions.”

― William Edgar Stafford

BIG ROCKS

• ·      There are some staff members wanting to work on dress code and other handbook issues. Dress code is particularly difficult. If you’d like to be on this adhoc committee, please email me. I am happy to chair the process. If there’s no interest, we can leave changes for another time. Some of the issues revolve around “yoga” pants and other tight wear that may be comfortable to wear and yet can be uncomfortable to look at. Emerson is also trying to male changes. Are you interested?
• ·      We had a great turn out for Judy’s Teacher of the Year presentation last Monday. I know Judy was grateful, and the turn out said we are supporting our favorite media specialist! Judy’s speech was honored Cooper staff and all we have done. Thank you, Judy! Congratulations and “nice job.” We love you!!
• ·      Next week is Thanksgiving, and Cooper has more to be thankful for than usual. Angie and Victoria and back after having beautiful boys. Sarah has had a boy and all is well in their family. Our parents are expressing their highest gratitude for our accomplishments and the culture at our school, and we have a renovated school that is almost working.
• ·      With all of that to be thankful for, we experienced another incredible Work-a-thon, led by Lauren, Annette and Sally’s organizational skills, complimented by many staff members adding preparation, and then a hundred-person crew of parents and students working 2 hours to make changes to Cooper Friday evening. It was fun and productive. Judy was able to document some of it on our Cooper Facebook page. You will see the changes when you come to school on Monday. Not all of the projects are completed, yet you will see the difference right away.
• ·      We can also be grateful for our first break of the school year: five days off!! I will be going to Austin, Texas to have Thanksgiving with my son, Matt, and his wife, Kerrie. I am looking forward to seeing them! They are real football fans, and I am planning to enjoy watching the Lions with my son. It’s been a very long time since we’ve been together to watch a game. What are you planning?

The next two weeks of business include:

Monday:                   Terry to Coleman A. Young Center (Noon-3:00)

 

Tuesday:                  Dentists R Us at Cooper

                                 Center EPT (8:00)

                                 Lighthouse Team (3:45)

Wednesday:           Off

Thursday:               Turkey Time

Friday:                     Off

Monday:                   ??

Tuesday                   LEAD time assemblies by group, Youth Making a Difference topic

Lighthouse Team, 3:45

Wednesday:           IST (8:00)

Planning Team (3:45)

Thursday:               Staff Meting (8:00)

Friday:                     ???

"We are the Champions, my friends!"

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." ~Albert Einstein

Conferences are often stressful for all of us, including parents and students. We are making judgements about each other and how we're doing. We judge students, students are judged by their teachers, parents and themselves. Parents often feel judged by teachers, while at the same time they are judging teachers and the school. All the judging and concern about how we're doing as parents, students and staff came together as parents and students sought me out to tell me how we're doing.

This year, more than ever before, I had a really difficult time getting out of the building at the end of the conference nights. That was because my head so large from all the compliments parents and students were making all night long to me as I roamed the halls and during the presentations we did for Title I. I have never encountered so many people, people who made it a point of seeking me out, telling me how happy they are to be part of our Cooper community.

Some told tales of teachers who are already making profound differences in their children's lives. Parents saying that the 7 Habits are changing their entire family thanks to Cooper. Some expressed they had reservations about coming to Cooper, but have found it to be, in one parent's assessment, "the best school I have ever imagined a school could be."

Students were talking about how they feel at Cooper. They used words such as valued, listened to, a real home, respected, cared about, wanted, and MY school. As one 5th grader who came to us from another district said to me in front of his mother and father, "Cooper is better than my old school because we're all working together at Cooper."

When we look at 21 Century Skills (go to http://www.skills21.org) and the research on what parents and business wants from schools, communication and collaboration are weaved throughout the needs. The 7 Habits are the foundation for achieving the skills parents and American businesses want for our students. Our students seem to be reporting that we are on our way to meeting their needs for increasing their leadership skills, and that we are winning the battle to become increasingly relevant to students and their families. Parents at Cooper Wednesday and Thursday were genuinely excited to be part of The Leader In Me process, and are proud of their students' involvement in and commitment to Cooper.

We have no Superbowl to achieve, no World Series, no kind of championship to gain in our business that people can look at and say, hey, that school, that staff, is the best. There are few measures of accomplishment over which we can all agree. But the responses of parents to our work toward values, toward inclusion, toward happy, productive students who love school and want to participate in what we're able to offer, needs to be celebrated. We are becoming a staff of success, and it's because we're a staff of value.

It's not trickling down. It's pouring down like sunshine, glimmering with the smiles of our students and their families. Celebrate our success! We are appreciated for all we're doing by the people who matter most! We have created a school where great happens!

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." ~Leonardo da Vinci


BIG ROCKS
The number one big rock is Sarah having her baby boy and everyone being healthy and happy. As of this writing (Friday at noon), Sarah is still waiting, perhaps a little less patiently than earlier in the week. We will blast out the news as soon as we have some. Can't wait to find out this little boy's name!

• Robin sent you all the proposed spending with the new Title I money. Let us know your concerns as soon as possible. We are wanting to get the budget finalized as soon as well can.
• I've heard concerns about students wearing Yoga pants and tighter fitting pants with no cover to their legs. If you share that concern, please let me know We will be putting this on the Planning Team agenda for this week.
• New blinds to replace damaged and mis-installed blinds are expected at the end of this week. Check your ledges along the windows to see if you want to move breakables.
• We are still working on call buttons. Most rooms are all set, but not all are working. If you'd like, you can send us a test of your button check by toggling the button near your drop. If the office answers, you're all set. Just let them know which room you are. If they do not answer, please email me that result! Music room buttons are supposed to be installed this week. Cafe, gym, LMC, lounge, SACC, and conference rooms do not yet have call buttons and no plan for their installation at this time. We're still pushing for them ;)
• Please send and resend any renovation issues you see. We will keep working toward getting everything fixed!
• There are 12'x12' meeting-reading rugs available for your classrooms. We are storing them in room 304 for you to check to see if you'd like one. If you do, please let me know. These rugs should be in place of whatever else you are using for meeting-reading areas. If you use these, we are asking that you not have other rugs in your room. Do not take the rugs out of 304 at this time. They need some prep before they can be used in classrooms. See me if you have questions.
• Did you notice our new stove in the lounge? It's ready for us to use for melting rocks or cooking or baking treats for the principals!
• Angie and Victoria return this Wednesday! We owe a big thank you to Mark Franchi for his work with Victoria's fifth graders during the first marking period. Mark's last day will be Wednesday as he has his crossover time with Victoria. Angie will be helping in the office, and we're still getting to keep Rita to cover RCR students until Sarah's return in January. It will be great to have Victoria and Angie back at Cooper!
• You may be noticing sayings going up on walls around the school. If you have something you'd like to see, let Annette and Lauren know. We can help you make a saying to install outside your room or in your favorite hallway place!
• Our first Work-a-thon of the year is this Friday! We will be working on the building from 4-6:00 with students and families. Feel free to join us! It's time to get these white walls some color!

The Schedule for the Week:

Monday:       7:30 Breakfast with Randy (Terry)

                      8:00-9:30 Principals Advisory Meeting (CO, Terry)

                      1:30-3:00 Data Dig meeting (Hayes, Terry)

                      6:30 TOY reception (CO, Terry and Judy)

                      7:00 BOE meeting...

Tuesday:        No Center IEP this week

                       3:45 Staff Lighthouse meeting

                       Parent Lighthouse meeting

Wednesday:    8:00 IST Meeting

                       3:45 Planning Team

Thursday:        8:00 Staff Meeting

                        6:30 Cooper PTA meeting

Friday:             8:00 Young Adult Book Club

                        4:00-6:00  Work-a-thon

There is surely more! Send me corrections and additions!

The bittersweet-ness of change

“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.” ~Anatole France

What a great quote! It speaks the changes that occur with each season, as fall dies and becomes winter, only for winter to die and become spring. It speaks to Sarah’s new baby and her new life with a son and having four children rather than three; all the joy of that and all the responsibility. It speaks to my pending retirement, in which I am so sad to be leaving Cooper and so happy to be going to my new life. Thus I have this growing melancholy, which even still has yet to ripen.

Considering retirement is a nearly impossible task. We’ve spent so much time and energy making Cooper what it has become, it’s hard to imagine not being here. I can’t imagine not thinking about and worrying students and staff, about and constantly planning and sorting ideas and considering every issue that rolls in daily.

I know I will need your help getting through all the changes still to come this year. Sarah will be out until mid-January, and then I will go for few or maybe several weeks. Then the year will close as we test students in a new window with another new test. As we think through and imagine, and dream about what it all will be like, it’s great to know we are in this together. Together this staff accomplishes so much so well. The results are like a fabulous sunset: unimaginable even when it’s viewed yet appreciated for the wonder and beauty, and the knowledge that there’s another one tomorrow!

“All changes are more or less tinged with melancholy, for what we are leaving behind is part of ourselves.” ~Amelia Barr

BIG ROCKS

·       The bond renovations at Cooper are nearly complete. Our punch list is now fewer than 40 items! Please continue to send your issues to me via email. Repeats are encouraged and welcome!

·       As promised, here is the link for the tour of i-Ready adaptive diagnostic: http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/iready/diagnostic-instruction.aspx?source=i-ready-product. Check it out and let Robin and me know what you think!

·       It is imperative that teachers walk their classes all the way to the exit out of the gym during dismissal. Then turn your cards to indicate your class has boarded their buses. It’s not enough to walk students to the gym door and leave them go out the gym on their own. Be sure to include these directions in your sub plans!!

·       Some students are missing specials times because they are being held back in classrooms to make up tests or get missed instruction. Please make sure students are allowed to go to specials. Those classes are part of the student curriculum. If you have a special circumstance, please let me know.

·       With Sarah out and before Angie returns, I will be flying solo at Cooper. I will need your help next week with conferences. If you need my assistance, I am happy to sit in. Please let me know by Tuesday if you have a conference you ‘d like support in holding.

·       Speaking of conferences, we asked that you let us know how you were handling student-led conferencing this year. Please make sure you email me with your plans.

This Week At Cooper:

Monday:                

Tuesday:               Veterans Day!

                                    8:00 Center EPT

                                    3:45 LH Team meeting

Wednesday:        Noon Foundation Lunch (Terry)

                                    Conferences, 5:00-8:00

                                    Rocky’s dinner in the lounge

Thursday:              Conferences all day; No students

                                    PTA providing lunch and dinner

Friday:                     No School for any of us!!!!

"In Union there is Strength." Aesop

Wow! What a week that was at Cooper!  There was so much synergizing and hard work that went into making everything happen.  A big thank you to all of the 6th grade teachers and special teachers who stayed to make 6th grade Open House and Curriculum Night such a success.  Thank you to Judy for another terrific Book Fair and all of you for supporting her by buying books and helping to put it up and take it down.

Friday was an incredibly busy day but also full of excitement.  Many of us started the day by sharing passionate views about Sharon Creech's novel The Boy on the Porch.  We can't wait to hear what more students think after teachers give book talks in their classrooms.  Our next book is Loot by Jude Watson that many Cooper students are already reading around the building.

It was fun to watch the Jump Rope Assembly and have the jumpers share how they have to Begin with the End in Mind to improve and work toward their personal goals.  Santi and Erickson wowed the crowd in the second assembly with their jumping skills.  At lunch time, Franklin students shared how to say no to drugs with Cooper students.  Please bring your classes down and have them sign the banner in the Cafe to pledge to say no.

We could not have asked for a nicer day for the Walk-a-thon.  Our leaders did such a wonderful job walking appropriately with friends, sharpening the saw, and practicing proper assembly behavior during the announcements of the goal and prizes.  Thank you to all Cooper staff for collecting funds, pumping up the Walk-a-thon, and supporting our students in meeting our school goal.

Finally, the Cooper Family Fun Night may have been one of the most successful PTA events in Cooper history.  We had over 700 people RSVP for the event and it sure did feel like that many people showed up.  The main goal of the PTA was to create an event to encourage family fun and involvement and they sure did do that.  A big thank you to PTA President Lori O'Dell for all of her hard work and delegation in making this event happen.  Another big thank you to all of the teachers who came to support the Family Fun Night whether in setting up, running a game, cleaning up, mingling, or getting pied in the face.  EEW!  That was so gross but so worth it to see the excitement on the students' faces.  

The success of Cooper and the Leader in Me program truly is due to the hard work that all of you put into it everyday.  We are actively striving to live the 7 Habits at Cooper.  There is a great Facebook page that I (Sarah) have liked called Proactive Coaching.  Although it is directed at coaches, I believe so much of what they have to say applies to what we do everyday.  I often find myself transferring the word "coach" for "teacher" and "team" for "school."  I found this post especially applicable to what we do everyday.  Enjoy.

Ten Traits of Successful Programs
1. Consistent and clear standards and values – Preset team values are the foundation or cornerstones for every successful team. What is your team’s identity? Great teams establish their own culture.
2. The team members feel a collective responsibility to learn and follow the team values – People commit to the team values and live it in their actions. "This is the way we do things around here" is something the team members are proud to express. The feeling is that "we don’t want to do anything that would let down the coaches, the team and each other". Everyone is accountable.
3. Master Teachers – Master Motivators – The first way coach’s gain credibility, respect and trust is how much they know and how well they can teach it. Successful coaches understand the game and their players and how to teach both.
4. Positive role models – Coaches must consistently live the team values in their actions. The seniors are the best examples of team values. In these programs freshmen or sophomores can be told, "If you are not sure how hard to work or how to act in any situation, just watch our seniors and follow their lead". Your older players and most talented players must be your best workers.
5. All roles are valued – When there is relationship based leadership everyone who contributes to the team is shown value. Credit is shared. When all roles are valued, players are more willing to accept roles and teams are more successful.
6. Positive rites of passage – Intentionally created positive traditions provide a path for athletes to be welcomed, and to grow into leadership. Nothing that could be considered hazing is ever present.
7. Consistent performance feedback – Coaches know how to balance praise and correction. Athletes take correction as a compliment – they are coachable.
8. Trust – Players trust each other and their coaches. They trust their training. Mutual trust allows direct, open, honest communication and fearless play.
9. Sense of Urgency – There is a high energy level. Individual and team discipline is visible in the focused attention and focused effort of everyone. Details are important. Only disciplined teams have a chance to win championships.
10. Impact the player’s lives – Players in these programs treasure the experience so much that they carry the lessons and values over beyond the season and into their lives. They build successful teams of their own.

"Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand their shining."  Anne Lamott (courtesy of Christine McQuiston)


Schedule for the Week of October 27th:

Monday: Quick Staff Meeting 8:00
              School Improvement Program Evaluation Tool 1:00-4:00 (Sarah and Robin)

Tuesday: Parent Lighthouse Team Meeting 6:00-8:00

Wednesday: Planning Team (QAR visit) 3:45
                    Fall Vocal Concert 7:00

Thursday: Staff Meeting 8:00 (Leveled Library and Short Text Resources)

Friday: Happy Halloween