School Changes

[DolphinsLEM]

That was great Teresa!  I love teaching.  The little ones bring so much joy to me when they learn or discover something new.  The excitement and light in their eyes in the best.  The stories they tell are wonderful too!  We will be talking about something and all of a sudden a hand will go up and they will be telling a story about their dad or an animal that they have; nothing to do with what we are talking about but that is okay.  Those kiddos are the future and it's great to know that I am helping to prepare them for their future.     

Also, Angie, Chelle is correct.  You are wonderful.  We love having you take care of our really little ones.  I feel wonderful each and every day knowing that I am leaving my son with you.     

[Catwoman]

There are angels walking around on this earth, masquerading as people (anyone for some Fried Green Tomatoes?)...and good daycare providers are among the most important of these.  So many parents rely on the goodness of these angels in disguise...and count the dc providers as members of their family.  If you're doing your job as a babysitter, you're spending precious little time sitting!

[pepelect]

What possible reason would someone have for taking their students out of district?  I understand that some people live closer to the other districts and choose to go their but at what expense?  The fact that West Elk has an excellent education experience and offers many college prep cources has got to be a big factor in your childs school.   If there is a personality conflict then tell someone about and it will be fixed.  Remember it might be your side of the conflict that may be is error.  Your child doesn't have the wisdom of years of experience with teaching the finer things in life as do most of the teachers in the district.

We started a group of like minded individuals to bring the area together even though it is call Elk Konnected is encompasses Severy and all of Elk county including parts of Chautauqua county.   In the spirit of bringing people together why when talking about trying to deal with the loss of teachers did we have comments like I will pull my kids out and go elsewhere?  Aren't we trying to educate our kids to be smarter than us?  What are we teaching them if we say that when things get tough we buckle down and quit.  I don't have to put up with that. 

We are living in a very small part of the world.  We are isolated from many of the problems that larger more economicly stable communities have to deal with on a day to day basis.  We need to remember that to keep our way of life that changes are going to be made.  Some good and some bad.    But we can't turn tail and run at the first sign of weakness. 

As for my first point how do we get the outflow of students turned to an inflow of excitement.  Whatabout getting one on one with the students and asking them what the problem is.  If there is a common thread then that would maybe indicate an issue that need to be fixed.  If it is administrative I think that it is changing, good or bad, it is changing.  We have a new principal for Severy next year.  I hope he brings new ideas that will help build a stronger community. 

The school decision has to be made on what is best for the students in the long run.  They attend West Elk for 13-14 years and I bet not one graduate's best or worst memory involves the building itself.  If bringing together the entire county we would have over 3000 people as one voice.  We could have one powerhouse,  notice how I brought in the suttle reference to the wind farm, in the entire league.  I would love to see how our test scores stack up against Sedan, Eureka, Central, and even Independence. 

If we give up some our own personal identies and start thinking as a group we will be alot better in 10 years.   A new school is just a building.  Maybe in ten years someone will be making aircraft parts in the caffeteria.    I can't think a bigger or better influence that Grenola has had in the last three decades.  The nursing home loss in Moline was a serious blow but I bet now  as many or more people are employed and not worrying about the viability of their position.   More people visit the old folks there now then when they had medicare beds. There is a great need for that service in this area.  Hospitality in the area has been overlooked.  The cattlemens inn burned down years ago.  No one stepped up and built another.  I think we could have a small toursim business if we would want one.   What about using the Moline school as a visitors center for all of Southeast Kansas.   Where did Oakleaf go to grade school?   The kid is going places.  It would make a great museum.  We could take people on jeep tours of the flinthills,  tour the wind towers, have a bar b que.......oh wait that is in Sedan......Sorry Rudy, tell Bill didn't mean to still your thunder.

[Mom70x7]

Students leaving the district -

I know of one who left because he was bullied and threatened here. It was definitely in his best interest to leave.

I know of one who left because she thought the school was too tough on her: they kept giving her detentions for being tardy every day. (In other words, she constantly overslept and didn't want to accept the consequences.)

Her sister followed her the next year, along with a friend, after being told the classes were easier. They were. C and D grades here became high B's. (In other words, our teachers expected more knowledge to be learned.)

Those are the ones I have personal knowledge about. Of the four, I think only one was valid, and that's because the school, at that time, was not taking the bullying problem seriously at the high school. They're doing much better now, but I think they're still reactive instead of proactive.

[pepelect]

Ok if a student consistantly is late for class and I am assuming that the student lives closer to Howard that the Lionden  wouldn't the student have to get up even earlier to make it to class on time.  Or is that too ridgid of a structure that might stifle the creativity?   May be Lionden doesn't require attendence?    I know according to their test results the don't require much.   I have re-hashed this in my tiny little mind and have made a new revolution.  The more the b and c students leave the smarter our school gets.   If we could weed out all the d and f students as well as the b- underachievers we might have something.   The smartest  class of what is left.  We won't have any funding to have school but we will be really really smart.

[Tobina+1]

Accountability.
That's what's missing these days.  Accountability of students.  Accountability of parents.  Accountability of teachers.  (I'm not saying that our community or school has these issues, but unfortunately, one bad apple...)
Accountability of Students:  Students need to learn to be accountable for their actions.  I threw my inhaler across the locker room after losing a volleyball game when I was a senior, and the coach made me sit the bench for the next game.
Accountability of Parents:  My parents thought it was a little harsh of a punishment for me (as a younger girl was always cussing in the locker room and she was the "tattletale"), but they did not buck the coach and told me that I must learn to control my emotions and take responsibility for the things I did wrong.  They also held me out of track in Jr High b/c I made a "C" in a class.  I begged and pleaded and tried to make deal after deal with them.  But they stuck to their guns and wouldn't let me run track.  I was so mad at them, but I knew they meant business and I did NOT make a "C" the next year, that's for sure!
Accountability of Teachers:  Why do you think we have all these assessment tests in schools these days?  It's not to keep "no student left behind", but to make sure the teachers are actually TEACHING the courses.  Like I said, one bad apple...

[Catwoman]

Ah, as far as the accountability of teachers goes...are you referring to the "No Teacher Left Behind" program?    Scripted programs are the definite result of this trend toward making sure that lower-functioning teachers are brought up to the level, through scripting, of more proficient educators.  The problem is, those scripted programs bring down (temporarily) the level of the higher-functioning educators...until they get accustomed to the program and then the high-functioning educator uses the program, rather than the program leading the educator.  And, yes, this is a direct result of NCLB.

[pepelect]

I really think this school need more hands on training.   I have been trying to employ highschool kids as much as possible for the last ten years are I can tell you that the skills aren't there.   I mean it is rare the find a person that can correctly count change in a reasonable amount of time.   The problems I have ran into are not knowing how to get out of bed in the morning every morning.  Stay till the end of the day every day.   Work on weekends if needed.   I can always tell who has had a voag course and who hasn't.  But we need to expand this program.  A high school student should know what crops their parents grow.  How to change a tire.  Which end of the hammer hurts the worst.   What the difference between a 1/2" socket with a 3/8" rachet and a 3/8" socket with a 1/2" rachet.  What are linemans anyway?  Is a fish tape something that catches fish.  Sweeping the floor should not take two people.  One to do it and one to redo it.   There are 16 little marks on each inch of a tape measure so stop counting them every time.  A masonary drill and a wood drill are both bits that fit into the same drill.  Screwdriver doesn't mean chisel.


new classes for the year:   

• 
  Mold abatement 101.
  
  


• Why not to text at work

[pam]

Lol Pep, you have touched on a subject close to my heart. I am always amazed at the number of people who come to work on a construction site that have no idea how to read a tape measure! You get to their house to pick them up and you've been out of bed for a couple hours at least cause you have kids and husbands to take care of before you go to work and this goober makes you wait cause they aren't even out of bed yet! And then get pissy if you tell em to hurry the hell up. Have no idea how to set up a ladder much less a walkboard, I realize everybody had to be shown once but you just wanna say hey it ain't rocket science bud, you been here a couple years now you oughta be pickin some of this up LOL

[flo]

  OH, MY, counting change, one of my pet peeves.  The computerized cash register tells them the change is $6.39, so they hand you the money and say "your change is $6.39".  No counting, so they have no idea if they gave you the correct amount.  More than once what was put in my hand was not $6.39, sometimes in my favor sometimes in their favor and sometimes hard to convince them of their mistake.  AND DON'T DARE TRY TO GIVE THEM THAT EXTRA PENNY, IT WILL SCREW WITH THEIR MIND BIG TIME.  When I worked retail, I always counted the change back.  This was for my own satisfaction that I wasn't making a mistake, which happens, and because that's the way it should be done.  Something I learned in lower grades.  My girls all learned counting change in second grade under Alberta Young.  She had a "store" set up in the back of the room and this was part of math.  Do they not teach this anymore? Guess not