LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

It should come as no surprise that everyone in schools is filled with a mix of excitement and sadness when the school year comes to an end. Obviously the kids are excited about two months of freedom and adventures... and, well... so are the staff.

The staff, however, are also a bit reflective of time gone by and progress made. As adulthood teaches us, when things change, they are never the same again. Each of our students grows up a little over the summer and the quirks and characteristics that really made them stand out will sometimes fade or disappear, replaced by the new version of themselves. Each version is just as quirky and interesting as the past ones but it can be sad to consider that you will never get to have a conversation with the 6 year old version ever again. This is why parents cry at graduations and other key events in life and it is why teachers have some measure of sadness when another school year closes. Never wish away time.

I have a background in team sport and learned through those experiences that when you change any component part of a team, you create a whole new one in it's place. With Mrs. Minty moving on and Mr. Coates coming aboard, the team here is going through some change. However, the core values of the staff in Roland remain. Staff here have proven to believe that kids are great, that learning matters, and that citizenship is at the center of all great communities. Good luck to Mrs. Minty and Mr. Coates in their new challenges. Enjoy the experience. Likewise, Mrs. Benner is shifting into the Principal's chair for the first half of the year. Good luck to her as well as she tackles a new challenge in her career.

My final comment will just be to say THANK YOU one more time. I have loved my time here and appreciate all of the support I have received. Go Raccoons!!!

New Job...

I have been pondering the concept of a blog post dealing with my job change for quite some time now and finally think I have a way to talk about it that makes sense.

Roland School has been inspiring. The small town. The small school. The importance of community and connections. The flexibility and freedom that can lead to truly meaningful learning experiences. It is all really amazing and adds up to a great place to work, live, and send your kids to school. I have spent 13 years in Prairie Rose S.D., all at Carman Collegiate right up until I came to Roland to fill a temporary vacancy. I have poured my heart and soul into Carman Collegiate and that building will forever hold a special place in my heart. A person doesn't invest 13 years into very many things in a lifetime so to say it has had an impact on me would be an understatement. Oddly enough though, leaving Roland earlier than planned has also left me feeling very sad.

My elementary school years were spent in Oakville Manitoba where my Dad was the Principal of the school (my brother would later become the Principal there too) until I finished grade 4. Most of my views on what a Principal is supposed to be were developed from that experience. The holistic approach to education is most powerful in smaller places with closer ties between the school and the community and between kids and families. Roland has given me that experience for a few months and it has rejuvenated me and excited me for the next chapter in my career. I am eternally appreciative of my time here and the efforts I see people making on our behalf.

So.. after much time and much work... I am excited to go to Western School Division and Ecole Morden Middle School beginning in the fall to do something different and learn something new. It is an exciting and scary time but I feel like a leap forward is needed. Hopefully I land on my feet. Have a great long weekend.

ELECTION

As many of you would already know, our Grade 5/6 class participated in the Manitoba Votes student election program over the past little while. Mr. Dennis has been working with them to learn about our democratic processes, our political leaders, and the basics of the political spectrum. Having taught students Social Studies at various grade levels over my 13 year career, I can honestly say it is the most rewarding and enjoyable topic to work with. Students exhibit a general curiosity about each party and each leader and while a firm grip on the political spectrum can be hard for students to grasp, it is always fun to watch them develop a sense of self as they consider and challenge their own beliefs along the way.

As teachers, there is a delicate line to walk where we do our best to avoid instilling the political ideals of our students but help them develop a deeper understanding of all they need to consider when making their own choice. I have always told my students that if I have done a good job, they will be uncertain of what my voting preference is. I work hard to build knowledge and understanding of each party and each platform so that at any given moment I can provide the perspective necessary as a counterpoint in our discussions. A great teacher of democracy can make a compelling case for every place on the political spectrum so that students can focus on their own values and try to place themselves. Having said that, I also make sure to inform my students that all forms of media are bias and that as a teacher I am a form of media. During elections, I am a delivery vehicle for information on current events and election issues. I see the world through a lens that has been shaded by my own beliefs and life experiences. No matter how hard I try, some of what I say and share will be shaded slightly by my view of the world.

In my estimation, a significant portion of being an "educated" person is the ability to identify our own bias and the bias around us. An educated person can present all perspectives on an issue, not just their own. An educated person can find reasonable thought inside the perspectives of others. This allows for a respectful discourse on how to improve and serve society. I love "teaching" students to think and elections tend to provide a great opportunity to achieve that goal. Hopefully Canadian politics will focus on things worth thinking about and not on mud slinging and soundbites. These conversations are what democracy is really all about. Voting is just the final act of the process.

Pink Shirt Day

On Wednesday April 13th we celebrated Pink Shirt Day at Roland School. The day has become a tradition across North America and the World to support anti-bullying efforts and healthier, safer schools. It was great to see the kids in pink thinking about how they affect others and how they like to be treated.

Instead of an anti-bullying message we focused on the behaviours that we do want. The kids identified kindness, friendliness, respect, and treating others how we want to be treated as desirable traits. They have a good handle on who they are trying to develop into.

Spring Break

Around the province in staff rooms everywhere there is a sentiment that can be heard over and over again this time of year...

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS SPRING BREAK ALREADY!"

This statement is part excitement because it means a holiday to spend time with family and friends and a chance to recharge your batteries, but it's also part concern for all that is still to be accomplished before the June deadline drops. The weather is changing, farms are jumping to life in preparation for what is to come, and schools are moving into the stretch drive toward the finish line.

As time marches on, some people enjoy counting down the days until special events like Easter, Christmas, or summer holidays as a way to stay motivated and excited for what is to come. For me, however, the count down doesn't work. It shifts my focus away from all of the brilliance that is sitting right in front of me.

A few years ago I started thinking about what it means to live conscious of the moment and decided I had spent too much of my time thinking about something on the horizon. Teaching is a cyclical career, meaning you go through a timed process with a beginning, some landmarks along the way, and an ending. It can be a lot of fun because not too many careers offer a chance to pause, reflect, and celebrate all that was accomplished before beginning anew with more experience and expertise to offer. The cycle can also mean that you start measuring progress by the landmarks along the way instead of by the excellence each day can bring. Essentially it can mean that we begin to wish away time with an eye on something else... and we have all been taught repeatedly that time is in limited supply.

As you head into Spring Break, remember to enjoy every second you spend and be conscious of the moment. Do something fun and invest in the people you care about. I think it is the safest investment we can make.. Enjoy Spring Break. We look forward to seeing everyone with charged batteries and full hearts.

"Going for a Skate"

In chatting with Mrs. Bell this morning I discovered that Roland School used to have a Thursday skate after school. The buses would drive the kids from school to the rink and then wait for an hour while the kids skated to music and fraternized. Evidently being asked to go for a skate was a serious moment of courtship and could lead to a long and happy life together as it has for Mrs. Bell. For me it is a really cool insight into the history of Roland and a major contrast in how boys and girls interacted in the past compared with today. It has me wondering about historical photos (don't tell Mrs. Bell I referenced "historical" in this context please). If anyone has any interesting photos that capture some of our school and community's past traditions, please let me know. I would like to share them on our website or on this blog.

Literacy Night and St. Patrick's Day

We had a great time at what we are hoping is the First Annual Family Literacy Night. Families came and enjoyed activities like super reader cupcake decorating, wack-a-mole with rhyming words, comic strip creation, word games, super reader mask decorating, reading, and a book exchange. It was great to see everyone who attended, especially the little future Roland School students.

Cupcake Decorating

Families Arriving

Wack-a-Mole

It was a tremendous amount of fun for our staff to see families and meet new people. Literacy is at the core of everything we do in education and celebrating books and creativity is important.

For me, a highlight was discovering a 1928 book titled "Millions of Cats". It turned out to be the story of an old man and woman who were lonely so the man went to get a cat. He discovered "millions and billions and trillions of cats" and tried to pick one out. Alas, he couldn't pick just one cat so he brought them all home where they ate all the grass (do cats eat grass?) and drank up the whole pond. The man and wife decided they could only keep one and asked the cats which one was the prettiest. They started fighting over who was the prettiest which caused the man and wife to retreat into their house. When they emerged, the cats had "eaten each other up" and there was just one small kitten left. He explained that because he hadn't said he was the prettiest, everyone had left him alone and now he was the only one left. He grew big and happy with the man and woman.

Some debate ensued among staff about the moral of the story. Some argued it was about the dangers of vanity. Some suggested it had to do with environmental sustainability. In the end I believe it is a straightforward message. If you have a simple task that needs to be done (like going to get a cat), don't send your husband. He'll make a mess of it. My wife agrees with me.

On another note, St. Patrick's Day is today and our resident Leprechaun O'Malley has been up to his annual hi-jinx. Tossing classrooms and kidnapping the principal (it was pretty scary) were part of his routine this year. The search is on to catch him.

What a Mess!

Kidnapped

Before and After School Day Care

I am currently in the process of exploring a possible "before and after school program" with an eye toward eliminating a barrier for families to send their kids to school here. Part of our reality is that many families work outside of the community and need a place to drop their kids off before the start of their work day, as well as a place to send them after school until they can be picked up. With day care services provided in other places, some families find that the easiest solution is to enroll their kids in school in the same community they work. It is hard to fault them for doing so given the logistics of everything involved. Our only problem right now is that we don't know how many families/kids this affects or how much interest there is in this type of programming at Roland School.

If you would be interested in before and after school day-care (located at the school) we ask that you let us know. I will need to get a sense of numbers before any formal arrangement for a satellite program can be made. Early indication is that it would require a minimum of 11 kids (both before and after) in order for the program to be viable financially. We are also interested to know if anyone would re-consider where they send their kids to school if we were able to provide this service.

This will also be a topic for discussion on April 11th at the Home and School Meeting (5:00 pm). Please feel free to attend for an update and to share your thoughts.

So Far So Good!

I would like to start this blogging experiment by thanking everyone for their support in my new position. Staff, parents, community members, the RM, and of course the students, have all been wonderful in welcoming me to Roland School. It has made the transition very easy and very enjoyable.

Elementary education is a little bit new to me as I have spent the past 13 years at Carman Collegiate. The learning curve has been steep so far as I work to wrap my head around early years reading instruction and numeracy development. Thankfully, we have a strong staff here who care about kids and collaborate to make their classrooms great and don't mind sharing their know how with me as they go. While at Carman Collegiate, I taught grade 7 for 7 years and was working on my 6th as the Vice Principal when I was given the opportunity to come to Roland. My experience as a middle years teacher has eased my transition a great deal but there is still much to learn about K-4 education. I am loving the challenge already.

As most of you are likely aware, I will be in the position until Feb. of 2017, at which time I will return to Carman Collegiate and Mrs. Chevalier will return to Roland. My goals while I am here are broad and simple;

• I will work to ensure Roland School is a place where kids like to spend their time.
• I will work to promote Roland School as a great option for all families and to erase as many obstacles to that idea as possible.
• I will advocate for Roland School and the community to ensure a healthy and vibrant school remains a building block of the community.
• I will work with all stakeholders to keep an open dialogue and to maintain and build relationships.
• I will work to reconnect Roland School to its proud history in the community in an effort to build a sense of pride and belonging in our current students. 

Thank you again to everyone for your support. I have loved seeing parents come out to help at the arena, show up to cook hot lunches, and join discussions at PAC meetings. I look forward to getting to meet more and more people as time passes.