Principal's Message - November 2008
The first marking period has ended and I am very pleased to announce that many of our students have made significant academic gains! Students are taking time to talk with each other about their work and are becoming more and more open to sharing their thoughts and ideas with their class mates. As I walk the halls, while students are in class, I can hear a buzz of conversation that lets me know that students are engaged in learning and that teachers are finding ways to allow students to take more of a role in their own learning! This is a big step in the learning process and one that should not go unnoticed. Thanks to our students for accepting this responsibility and making your school year that much better!
Character Education is underway and the Caught Red Handed program has already identified several students for exemplary achievement. I am firmly committed to the belief that as we spend more time working on building a larger community of students who recognize all their personal qualities that represent their “character” we will find that our students are better prepared to improve self esteem and confidence. This is already evidenced in that in just a few short weeks of the school year we are seeing a dramatic decrease in misbehaviors in the school. Students feel confident that they can work out differences and that their self esteem allows them to know the best way to respond to others aggressions. Mancelona Middle School truly is the best place for teaching and learning!
Parent-teacher Conferences were just completed and I wanted to comment on how exciting it was to see so many families participating, asking good questions and finding ways to let everyone know how much they appreciate the Middle School. I want to personally thank all those who completed the Parent Survey. We will have those results soon and will use that information to help provide even better services to your children.
The Iron Man Challenge has been issued. Fliers were handed out during P.T. Conferences and all the students were given a copy to take home. This is a fun and exciting way for kids to accept a tough challenge in the area of reading! You will notice a short list of some of the classics from which students choose a few to read in their spare time. This is in addition to all that is happening at school and simply an additional time for kids to share their love of books! Please call the Donna Jones, in the media center, if you have would like to learn more about this program. THIS IS A GOOD ONE!!
Best Practices are quickly becoming a topic of conversation here at the middle school. I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my thoughts on the subject. Best Practices are simply ways of looking at how we teach our students. Best Practices supports the idea that all students learn in different ways and that we should explore creative, innovative and exciting new ways to deliver the material for which our students are responsible for knowing and being able to perform. Throughout the balance of this school year, our Professional Learning Communities (PLC) folks will be taking a much closer look at how we can use more of the ideas for Best Practices as we continue to offer our students a high-quality education.
YOU ARE THE BEST,
Mr. Culver, Principal
