Another Reason to Be Proud

I became aware of an incredible event that happened in one of our classrooms yesterday. Our high school choir director, John Beck, arranged for his choir to perform for the COMPOSER of one of the pieces they'd been practicing. They used "Skype" to patch in, and Paul Carey, watched Escanaba High School students sing "My Friend Elijah." Amazing! These experiences simply cannot be measured by the ACT test or the MME--but I believe they are just as important! Great job!

EHS Performs "My Friend Elijah"

Escanaba Success Stories Update

The Web page for the Escanaba Success Stories is "live" and we most recently added the story of Michael D. Fry--EHS Class of 1962. Can you think of an Escanaba High School grad who ended up to be "a success" in some way? How about writing a short story about that person? Help our district recognize and pay tribute to our Eskymo grads by participating in this project! 

The goal: Identify AT LEAST 150 "successful" graduates by the Esky 150 celebration scheduled for July 2013. 

Let's celebrate these people along with the Escanaba public schools that gave these individuals their foundation toward their successful future! Visit the updated Escanaba Success Stories site for more information: CLICK HERE!

http://success.eskymos.com/

Esky Students Brighten the Day For Others!

I just learned that EHS Student Council members delivered hand made Valentines to the Bishop Noa Home and Christian Park today. One of our staff members sent the following:

Here is a picture of the students with "Frank." Frank was so pleased to see us and commented, 'If everyone had hearts as big as yours, the world would be a beautiful place.' I'm really glad we did this and I think the kids are too." 

Academics and extra-curricular activities are important in the full development of our students--however community service is also a "deal-breaker." Good job Escanaba students and thank you for making the day a little more special for our senior citizens! 

Playing for Pancakes!

The Esky Band Boosters help support the band programs by entertaining the pancake-eating crowd!

Escanaba Success Stories Home Page Goes LIVE!

Back in December, I announced the project "Escanaba Success Stories" whereby people can write  stories to recognize Escanaba graduates who have ended up being a "success" in some way. The goal is to highlight AT LEAST 150 people in time for the Esky 150 Celebration scheduled for July 2013. As I have said, I am certain we can identify MORE than 150 people!

This is not a competition. Think of it as a CELEBRATION of the achievements of so many who got their foundation...here, at the Escanaba Area Public Schools.

THANKS to Robert Viau, our technology director, who put together the Escanaba Success Stories Web site. THANKS also, to Dr. Catherine (Kay) Johnson, one of the Esky 150 chairpersons, who is strongly supporting the Escanaba Success Stories' effort. Kay has enlisted some volunteers to review submissions prior to us publishing them on the Web site!

While this is an opportunity to pay tribute to some of our successful graduates, it is additionally an opportunity for us to reflect on the people, programs, and activities offered in our school system. What things at Escanaba Area Public Schools HELPED these people succeed later in their lives?

For more information, please take a look at our new Escanaba Success Stories Web page. Let's continue to build our tradition of excellence. There is no deadline and no limit to how many people you can nominate. We are hoping to have at least 150 submissions published by July 2013--and we would be tickled to showcase even more!

Here's the site:

ESCANABA SUCCESS STORIES

http://success.eskymos.com/

Escanaba Success Stories

Public schools have been successful, and it is time for us to provide more proof! At last night's Board meeting, we launched a wonderful community project: "Escanaba Success Stories." The goal of this project is to identify AT LEAST 150 individuals who have graduated from the Escanaba Area Public Schools, and who have gone on to be "a success" in some way. We hope to meet or exceed this goal by the Esky 150 celebration that is scheduled for July 2013.

What is success? It can be many things, actually. Perhaps one can be successful in business, athletics, music, service-to-others, "first one in the family to attend college," or even "person who saved a life." You see, success CAN be many things. Think of the number of students that have graduated from our high school in the last 5 years alone! The impact of all those students "paying it forward" in some way could really be amazing, couldn't it?

This is a project open to the community and to YOU.  I am hoping people (or a group working together) will submit a "product" of some sort to be shared.This product can be a one page "commercial" about the individual,  a You-Tube video (we could link to it), or perhaps a piece of art (scanned/saved as a pdf, jpg --along with a short caption).

We hope to showcase these success stories on our Web site,  and at the Ruth Butler building during the summer celebration.

Here is a form to help people organize their thoughts for a product, but we will appreciate a "finished project" such as a neatly typed document or a video link that is "ready to go."

For a form to get started: --CLICK HERE 


EXAMPLE:
Mr. Don Aronson, former Lemmer Elementary School teacher, agreed to tell the FIRST story. It is about his father. I am including the neatly typed document he put together, as well as the YouTube video link, so that you can see an example.


For the narrative--CLICK HERE

Here is the video (above)

We Care About Our Students

I am sure you, like me, have had the news on over the weekend, and probably have teared up as well, watching the aftermath of the awful tragedy in Connecticut. Over the weekend, I sent a letter to our staff members to share some thoughts about how we will respond to our students, to our parents, and with each other to address fears, as well as to continue our own safety measures. Each school has procedures in place to protect our children against violence. We work with the Michigan State Police each year on our "crisis plans." These plans are not published, as this is part of the plan. The plans are contingent upon the situation that arises, and staff members know what to do. The security and safety of our schools are important, but the human factor may be actually MORE important.

I stressed to our staff, that we need to reassure our students, in the loving environment our schools provide; but at the same time we also need to display confidence in ourselves, and to build the confidence of our children. Children will be watching the adults, and seeing how they react to events too. Our staff members will be observing our students, to make sure "all is well" in their world.

Here are some sites that I received from some of our staff members that could prove to be helpful to our families:

"Talking to Your Kids About Natural Disasters, War, and Violence" is a Scholastic article that offers advice from a child-development expert about how to talk with kids about violent, disturbing news. 

"Talking to Children About Community Violence" is a tip sheet from the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry about how to handle discussions with kids about violence in local communities. 

Dealing With Tragedy in the Classroom is a site on Edutopia that has several resources parents may find helpful.