Holiday Message for My Faculty

Each year I stuggle with how to thank my faculty and staff for all they do.  I try my best to think of something meaningful to share with them a few times a year.  During the holiday season we have a unique opportunity to renew and recharge.  I want to send them home with a small token of appreciation, and a message that inspires them and sets the stage for the new year.  This is what was  on my heart this year.

“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.”

When I read this quote recently I was struck with that feeling I get- the one when I know there was a reason I saw it at that exact time and place.  The feeling I get when I know I need to slow down and really process it. 

The more I thought about it, the more I knew this was the holiday message I needed to send to my faculty and staff:

              We are very much like snowflakes.  Each one of us is special, unique, and one of a kind.  Each one is beautiful in its own way, but alone we are fragile. We can easily feel weak and unable to bear all the responsibilities in our lives.  However, when we come together, something truly magical can happen.  We combine our strengths, our differences, and our talents.  We grow stronger, and together we create something entirely different- something wonderful.  Together, we can mold and shape our future.  We are no longer fragile.  We are strong, powerful, and creative.  We are no longer a snowflake, but a snow drift- a force to be reckoned with.

As we leave for the holiday and prepare to begin our new year, remember, we are stronger together.  Together, we can create magic and meaning and affect change every day.

In your mailboxes, you will find a simple snowflake ornament.  I hope this will serve as a reminder that though we may be fragile alone, we are strong and powerful when we work together.

Many thanks for all you do each day.

Have a blessed holiday season.  

Kerrie

Kindergarten Graduation Speech

I recently saw a quote that said “from tiny seeds, grow mighty trees.”  When I read it, it struck me as one of the most profound things I have ever reflected on.  Within these children we plant tiny seeds each day.  We plants seeds that we trust will help our children grow into strong adults. 

In order for them to grow into strong adults they will need deep roots… roots that are sunk in the soil of self confidence and strong values and beliefs.  Each day we must water them with hope, kindness, and love.  We must feed the plants with the nutrients of knowledge, character, and dedication.  We must care for them so they can bloom with creativity, curiosity, intelligence, citizenship, and leadership.

It is my hope that we have been diligent caretakers of these little ones this year.  It is my promise that we will continue to nurture these little ones as they grow here at Mt. Carmel.  Thank you for sharing your most precious children with us this year.

Now let us begin their graduation from kindergarten into first grade and encourage them into the future as they will continue to grow into the Buckhorn High School graduating class of 2025.

Cute Video!

Teacher Song

This is so funny and appropriate for how we all feel at this time of year.  It reminds us of all the fun we should have every day!

Inspire your Staff to Keep Going

I gave my teachers this story at Christmas along with a little mercury glass egg ornament.  I hope it helped get them through the year.

Metaphor Story About Change:

The Egg

by Silvia Hartmann

This is a metaphor for change: evolution is always happening, and there really is development and forward movement, even when there appears to be none.

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I often have this feeling of stress and desperation because I am quite convinced nothing has changed.

I look around myself and all I see is what I always see.

Same house, same furniture, same pile of bills, same everything.

I work so hard and NOTHING is changing.

Thought that again about something the other day, and this large egg came to my mind.

It just sits there in its nest of straw.

It doesn't DO anything.

It doesn't change shape, it doesn't change colour.

It doesn't pulsate. It doesn't roll around.

You could look at it for DAYS AND DAYS and you'd come away thinking that it was just that and there was NOTHING GOING ON.

And yet, and if one was to extend one's feelers in a different way, one might become aware of the RIOT OF CHANGE that is taking place INSIDE the egg, a storm of re-organisation, feeding and growth, of total unfoldment as a bunch of random cells become a fish thing, which in turn becomes ever more defined and more complex, more organised in every way, more mature, more fantastic with every heartbeat, every breath that passes.

One day, and we know not when, the egg that lay so motionless for so very long and seemed to be nothing but an inert shape will begin to rock, and then it will crack, and the newly born dragonet will emerge, spread its wings for the first time and take its first small steps.

Yes, there was change.

Even if we thought there wasn't. 

Make a Difference Every Day!

The Starfish Story

adapted from The Star Throwerby Loren Eiseley
(1907 - 1977)

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, so he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out, "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

As if he hadn't heard, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he turned, smiled and said, "It made a difference to that one!"

Teamwork

I opened my very first faculty meeting with this video.  This is the true definition of teamwork!Teamwork

End of the Year

It's amazing how quickly time flies when you are an adult.  When you are a child you continually think time goes so slow...summer vacation may never come.  Now that I am a principal, I could only wish to slow time down.  If I could only lower the toe of my shoe and slide this fast ride to a halt.  I would just like to savor the moments a little longer, to reflect a little longer, to hold onto those little snaggle-tooth kindergartners a little longer.  I guess the best part of being a principal it that there is a new group that will arrive next year.