Good morning.

This Saturday, our seniors will experience the first graduation ceremony in our school stadium for quite some time.  Rain or shine, the ceremony will mark a significant transition in their lives.  Working with some of the senior leaders to plan graduation, I was struck by the depth to which they wanted to come together as a group.  They have not been able to assemble as the Class of 2021 since before the first covid cases hit Thurston County in March of 2020. 
 

Graduation is the celebration of a group's accomplishments.  Plays, concerts, sports, clubs, dances and graduation walks all come to the forefront of reflection and celebration.  Graduation is also a celebration of individual accomplishment.  Acceptance into continuing education, the enactment of each student's plan, and also the celebration with families of moving from high school to that next positive step make graduation a special time.  Since many of these typical facets of the senior year have been impacted, I can truly see why the class of 2021 wants, more than anything. to come together as a group for celebration.  

Please join us in celebrating the seniors this week.  Like everyone, they have had to show grit and determination over the past 16 months. We are proud of them.  Have a great week of learning. 
 

I take great pride in our district's overarching belief that "All means all."  When that belief is tested, I truly feel that our response will always be led by the needs of the individual student.  Schools can be our society's best examples of inclusivity and support.

Tomorrow will mark the one-year anniversary of the killing of George Floyd.  Since then, our country has continued to face racially motivated violence against Asian people, and recently more violence targeting people for their religious beliefs.  It has been a difficult year.

What gives me hope is the aspiration that schools will always make a difference. I am heartened that our district will be the one where every student feels welcomed, supported, represented and encouraged.  These tenets are the foundation for strong relationships with our students and their families. 

As part of a great week of learning, please continue to reach out to every individual.  All means all, and our support can make all the difference.
 

Good morning,

Last week I referenced our school board interviews for the position of junior representative to the board.  Five outstanding, articulate and caring students interviewed - all to our amazement.  I know at that age I did not possess the confidence to take on that role, or to interview in a public forum.  

At the end of the evening the board made two decisions.  First, Azariah Carter and Skylar Meyers were appointed as the formal student representatives on the board for next year.  Ileana Wall and Quentin Robinson were selected to become the junior representatives and will learn the role throughout next year.  

Student voice will continue to be on display over the next several weeks.  Our current board representatives Natalie McLaughlin and Kya Ramirez will open our ceremony celebrating the new Yelm Middle School on June 23.  Azariah and Skylar will also have prominent speaking roles. During the ceremony two quotes that will be unveiled in the main entrance and locker rooms, and all were chosen by the YMS students.  Lastly, there are three large vertical banners on the Solberg St. side of the school that were also student-driven choices.

One thing our board has referenced this year with the addition of students to the board is that we learn as much or more from the students as they learn from us.  Have a great week of learning.

Brian

Good morning,

This Thursday night at our board study session student voice will be front and center of our work.  The directors will interview five rising juniors who aspire to be a junior representative to the board.  These five students are taking a significant step toward leading their peers and representing their voice on school governance.  

Recapping our brief history of student representatives, last fall the board enacted policy 1250 - Students on Governing Boards.  Subsequently two seniors, Natalie McLaughlin and Kya Ramirez were appointed as student representatives on the board.  Azariah Carter and Skylar Meyers were appointed as junior representatives to learn the role and prepare to move onto the board.  All four have been outstanding contributors this year.

Our board members, and I, have been amazed at the contributions of our student representatives.  They have brought a strong perspective of student life to the board, and have succeeded in helping us move forward on policy issues, and our Graduate Yelm! initiatives.

Please join us via Zoom on Thursday to listen to how our students will bring their voice to the board.  Have a great week of learning.

Brian

Good morning,

Things are happening quickly with our many construction projects across the district.  This pace will continue to grow throughout the spring and summer.  Here are a few highlights:

• Construction of the Southworth water tower goes vertical this week.  This is a key step in getting ready to start construction of the new school this summer.  The water tower is for the fire suppression system.  
• We have scheduled a small grand opening event on June 23 for the new Yelm Middle School.  The finishing touches for the building will be done in July and the staff will gain full occupancy over the summer.  This school is really amazing.
• Planning is well underway for the YMS staff to move into their new building in late June.  At the same time, the Southworth staff is preparing to move into the existing YMS for one year.  
• Construction is underway at Ridgeline on their new track and field.  Athletic field work at YHS starts in May. 
• Construction is also underway on the performing arts center at YHS upgrade.

Demolition of 3 portables at Ft. Stevens will start this week.  Newer portables from the Southworth site will be moved over once school is out.

Things really kick into high gear once school lets out with HVAC projects at Mill Pond, Prairie and Ft. Stevens.  McKenna and Lackamas will receive their safety upgrades from the bond over the summer as well.

I am very optimistic that we will have a full reopening of school next fall, and we will have significantly upgraded facilities for our students, and for our community use.

Have a great week of learning.

Brian

Good morning,

Our work last week allowed us to revisit and reconnect with our partners at No Excuses University.  Reviewing their work and intended outcomes led me to reread a section on teacher and administrative leadership regarding, "Going all in."  There are two quotes that really spoke to me with respect to our work in the second half of this year.

First, much has been reported on the mental health status of our students.  As our students return to the classroom, Damen Lopez stated that going all in requires the action of building positive relationships with kids.  He wrote, "Dedicate yourself to building your students up when you refer to them in all contexts, not tearing them down. Speak positively about all the students you work with and show your pride in them."

Second, I continue to see evidence of student growth acceleration from our in-person instruction.  "The time students have in their classrooms to work with their teachers is sacred."  Lopez writes. "Do everything you can to minimize interruptions of the teaching and learning process."

Have a great week of learning.  We all make a difference. 

Brian

Good morning and welcome back.

I spent some time last week going over student achievement data as I wanted to find evidence of how our students are doing since returning to in-person learning.  We have strong anecdotal evidence that students were excited to return to school and were engaging in their learning.  The great news is that we have tangible data that shows our students are performing better after several weeks of in-person opportunities.  The evidence shows increased engagement and improved performance when compared to our remote-only environment. 

Going back to the work of John Hattie - we have to constantly look at our impact.  What we also know is that every adult in our system positively impacts students.  I am truly enthusiastic about the impact we will have this spring.  I want to give all of our staff a gigantic, "Thank You!" for your work this year.  You all make a difference.

Have a great week of sunshine and learning.

Brian

Good morning and welcome to April (this week anyway)!

Spring conferences take on a much greater importance this year.  In some cases and grade levels, we are only now getting to know students in person, and meeting with parents for the first time.  Conferences offer the opportunity to build a partnership with families and to clearly articulate the learning goals for the spring.  By partnering with families, we have a great chance of pushing achievement forward in a robust way.

Setting goals, and creating pathways to achieve them is a signature trait of high hope people. Educators have always been able to articulate a road to success and to inspire students to see their strengths.  It is my hope that this week of conferences results in partnerships, passion for learning, and a clear pathway to high achievement. 
 

Have a great week.
  

Good morning,

Last week allowed me to feel a sense of calm because our students K-12 were back in school for at least two days.  During my school visits, there was amazing positive energy throughout.  For short periods of time, things felt closer to normal.

As good as that felt to see and hear students on campuses, I continued to wonder, "How are we all doing?" How are our students from impoverished settings doing? How are our families coping?  Given the current situation in Atlanta, how are our Asian and Pacific Island families doing?  How is our staff doing?  

One of the many great things schools do is build a sense of growth, grit and a sense of accomplishment.  Schools also give us the great opportunity to check in on each other in a variety of ways.  I really appreciate our elementary morning meetings and the different ways we explore SEL lessons. Thanks for all you do to make students feel welcomed, supported and cared about every day.  

Have a great week. 

Good morning,

I am completely energized from this weekend and into today.  Why today? It was so amazing seeing our high school students back on campus this morning.  All throughout our phase-in of hybrid learning, the staff enthusiasm for returning students has been so inspiring.  Our students are really excited to be back in class, and our families have been wonderfully supportive of all the preparations for hybrid. 
 

On Saturday Yelm High School served as the host site for a drive-through vaccination clinic for our staff.  Thanks so much to Tim's Pharmacy for providing the staff and resources for an incredibly smooth operation.  Additional thanks to our district nurses and staff who worked the clinic.  We were also able to open up time slots for Rainier and Tenino district staff, along with local child care workers.  In all, about 450 doses were administered which is great for our district and community.

Then, on Saturday night,  the Dollars for Scholars organization hosted its yearly auction for our senior class.  The downside was that the auction had to be virtual instead of at the high school, but the community participation was really strong.  We benefit from an incredibly giving community.

I am really proud to be a member of this community and a part of this school system.  Have a great week of learning!

Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, often wrote about making deposits to the emotional bank account when working with people and children.  Conversely, he also wrote about the avoidance of making withdrawals from that same account.  Rick Miller, the author of The Soul, Science and Culture of Hope, adapted Covey's concept to the school setting.  He lists the most common withdrawals as:
Treating people and children as objects

• Treating people and children according to the title we give them rather than by their humanity
• Treating people within a hierarchy of importance
• Being quick to negatively judge someone
• Dismissing and treating someone's concerns as not important
  
  

Have a great week of giving, and receiving, positive energy. 

Good morning,

I was reflecting over the weekend about the significance of March 2021.  It was 354 days ago that Gov. Inslee closed schools across the state due to Covid-19.  That action propelled us into a continuous mode of change including learning how to educate students via remote means, feeding our students when they weren't in school, and working so hard to resolve internet connectivity issues with our families.  The word arduous resounded in my brain.

Today, we continue to take small steps (that require arduous preparation) forward as our middle school students return for the hybrid model, high school athletics and activities are proceeding on a modified schedule, elementary students enter their second month of hybrid, and this weekend a third vaccine was approved for emergency use.  It is not normalcy, but steps in that direction. 

For me, the most inspirational part of our steps forward has been our continued question of, "How do we best serve students?"  Finding a positive direction is a key characteristic of resilience.  Each step matters.  We all see joy from children returning to the classroom, and the spark of staff engaging with students again.  Each step matters. 

Have a great week of learning.

Baratunde Thurston is a contemporary writer and speaker and I have great respect for his positive outlook on the future and his belief in the amazing things people can do when all are included in our collective conversation.  This quote speaks to the heart of our mission in education.  "I care about the diversity of the mindset of the people creating our future, and the windows through which we see it, and the tools we use to build it."

As we continue to design and redesign our work during the pandemic, people often talk about what normal will look like.  The new normal, I hope, will be more inclusive than we have ever been, and more committed to removing barriers to success.  During the pandemic we have learned that any source of disengagement such as income, access to internet, language or relational trust can be overcome through our passion that "all means all."

Have a great week connecting with all our students.  

Brian

"...the difference between optimism and hope is that optimism is a passive quality, while hope requires thought, strategy and action.  Another distinction is that optimism includes the power of positive thinking and hope, the power of positive action."  (Rick Miller, The Soul, Science, and Culture of Hope)

It has been great to see hope on display these last weeks with schools enacting strong strategy into action.  And, with action comes reflection and adjustment.  The process of action, for me, also brings energy from accomplishment.  We have the power to build hope into our work with students.  "...Thought, strategy and action," is also a great learning model.

Have a great week of learning.

Brian