Susan, principal of Jefferson Elementary in South Redford, had stopped by to check in on two of our new students. She spoke passionately about the boys and their success with academic and behavior interventions at her school. Susan was genuine and sincere. In the thirty minutes I spent with her, I learned more about the boys then any C.A would ever tell me and felt as if I was chatting with an old friend.
As I grabbed the two boys out of the lunch line, they looked at me with worry and concern. I reassured them that they were not in trouble but that there was a surprise for them in my office. When I opened the door and their eyes met Susan's, they barreled into her with bear hugs. As they enveloped her, I smiled and was reminded of my "why."
Isn't that our "why"? Susan had come from Cleveland, where she had brought lunch to the younger brother. Armed with valentines, she had stopped by Cooper to make sure the boys were off to a good start. She spoke of relationships and mentors and designated them as one of her school's greatest "success stories." Time is precious but so are our students. Susan's visit was a positive reminder that time spent on relationships is the most precious time of all.
Quotes from our students:
"Mrs. Aherne, I like your new glasses. They bring out the fun in you." :)
"The teachers are the best thing about Cooper. They make us feel good about ourselves."
Big Rocks:
Tuesday is a half building/half district professional development day. We will begin the day at St. Mary's Cultural Center for the District to role out the new Culture and Climate goals. We have already discussed them this year at Cooper but you will hear more about the focus areas and plan for implementation. There will be K-12 staff members present and they plan to mix the tables up with a variety of staff members. I was "asked" to present and so I do have to discuss a few slides. EEK! Please carpool as there are only 250 spots but around 500 staff. We will end the morning with drawings for gift cards which Kristi was in charge of gathering. Thanks Kristi! Let's hope Cooper is represented!
In the afternoon, Terry is returning to refocus us on our why and connect the Leader in Me to the LEAD program. We are hoping to spend some time focusing on ourselves and how we can lift our students and the teaching of the 7 Habits to the next level.
Best of luck to Nicole as she prepares to have her baby! We can't wait to meet Baby Girl McGlinch!
Thanks to Enthusiasm Team for the fabulous pizza and salad luncheon. It was delicious and so nice to not have to pack a lunch on a Friday!
Thanks to Judy for connecting us once again with the Michigan Cyber Safety Initiative. It's such powerful information for our students.
Kristi and I are really trying to be present and available for you. I feel badly because I will not be in the building a lot next week. Thursday I was asked to go to a conference on the new reading initiatives the Michigan Senate and House are trying to pass. On Friday, I will be out with my girls. They have all of next week off so I will get to spend a day with them on their "break." As administrators, we have several Flex days in our contract for work we may have to do in the summer. Since I was involved in several days of interviews, I was able to use a Flex day for next week. I had to "book" the days at the beginning of the year and now it seems like such a busy time! So sorry!
Calendar for February 15, 2016:
Monday: No School
Tuesday: Professional Development Day.
8:00-11:00 St Mary's Cultural Center, 11:00-12:30 lunch, 12:30-3:30 Cooper
Wednesday: 8:00 IST
Thursday: 8:00 Staff Meeting on Reading Month
9:00-3:00 Closing the Literacy Gap Conference-Lansing (Sarah)
6:30 PTA
Friday: Sarah Off
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