What’s been going on in deary old January?  We had four of our guys caught smoking pot in the park and that has resulted in three suspensions to our ACES program and one expulsion hearing.  That’s the bad news, but on the positive side, we have a program to keep three of them working on credits (they are seniors).  Our Alt Ed instructor and I wrote a letter of support for the young man heading to the expulsion hearing.  Yes, he was on his third strike, but there was over a year between the 2nd and 3rd offense and he was re-engaging in his education through the Alt Ed program.   We don’t know what the school board will decide; chances are he will be expelled, but he knows we went to bat for him, his father knows we recognized the good in his son and he will still be able to enroll in our county accommodation school.  Not all good, but not all bad.

One more pregnant girl (a senior who will make it), more students identified as homeless.  One of our Alt Ed moms with two children made it out of town;  a good thing as she was in a domestic violence relationship.  I was sad to see her go, but glad to hear her voice on the other end of a phone 300 miles away.  She was walking to her new school as she talked to me.  I’ve admired her resiliency many times and I’m confident that she is going to finish high school.

Rocky weeks for the two seniors trying to make it on their own, but so far they are hanging in there and coming to school – sometimes.  We are realizing we have many students not living in their own home; not even with a family member.  We are identifying and lining up services for two to three per week.

Cold, foggy and snowing tonight, but January won’t last forever.  The Spring sports start soon and warmer days are ahead.  Our team will continue to work on trying to keep every student in school and probably before we know it, I’ll be wondering where the semester went!

I’ve been busy scouring transcripts, especially for seniors.  Those who can finish are excited and they have that ‘I’m going to graduate’ twinkle in their eyes.  Those who are behind are re-energized and looking for advice on the best way to get themselves to the finish line. 

By the end of the week we will take stock of who has not returned and begin the process of locating where they are and why they have not come back.  There are of course a few who are giving up at this time because they know they can’t graduate on time.  Our HS Support Team has been very successful at getting these students back into the fold and we’ll no doubt have some influencing to do in the coming weeks.

I enjoyed visits today with four students who completed their credits last semester.  I think they each stopped by to see the words “completed” next to their Credit Progress Report.  Two of these students were mothers and one brought her daughter by for me to meet.  Two male students were past their cohort but stuck it out and now can move on with diplomas.  One is heading on to college.  Their faces were a mix of relief, accomplishment and pride. 

The update on the two homeless students is that they are both back in school this semester and can graduate on time.  I know there will be challenges, but I have faith that they will follow through and graduate.  They now have a third roommate to help with the rent.  He is a 2009 graduate (I’ll call him DT) who was written off by many last year, including his counselor*.  DT gave us the heads up when his friends were living in a motel and has been a constant source of encouragement to his senior friends.   I find it inspiring to see DT “paying it forward” to his buddies.  He felt like giving up many  times last year, but the Credit Recapture teacher and I kept  telling him  he could make it and he did.  He not only graduated, but he wound up on the front page of the local paper in his cap and gown arms in the air responding to the cheering crowd.  That made my year.

So it’s Happy New Year to most, but to high school students it’s Happy New Semester! 

*A coda to the DT story: when he went to his counselors office last May to let him know that he had finished the credits he was told he couldn’t do, his counselor said, “Good job,  I’m proud of you.”  DT’s response was: “I needed you to say that months ago.”  He stopped by my office and sheepishly asked me if he should go back and apologize.  “Was I disrespectful?” he  asked.  I told DT that an apology was not necessary.  Perhaps the counselor should thank him for teaching him a lesson. 

If we have words to share with a child, why not make them inspirational, motivational, encouraging?  Why use the same amount of time to say something discouraging?  I hope if you are reading this that you will realize the power of encouragement (not to be confused with empty praise).

 Encourage a child – you could be the voice that makes a difference!

www.sharonwoodard.com

I also wrote a chapter for a new book, The DNA of Success Stories, built a website and started two blogs.  I spent most weekends on the road co-directing an Indoor Percussion group (Dark Sky Percussion) and we made our second trip to the WGI National Championships in Dayton Ohio.  That  was a Spring – whee!  I was busy and I enjoyed it all, well most of it.

The summer was writing year-end reports, data to the state for our Dropout Prevention grant, collaborating on a new curriculum for our Study Skills course which compliments our Credit Recapture program.  Then off to NJ for some family time and R & R: walks in the woods, walks around the lake, walks around the stores.  Good to see my family, really good.

I run Freshmen Orientation and lots of great student leaders come in early to help out.  We had a good day.  Maybe the year was more “good” than “interesting” – well the Fall was challenging, good and challenging.  We had a 2009 graduate pass away, a sophomore die, the 1-year old son of another sophomore die, a mom in critical condition for months, two students to residential treatment, two more to foster care and more drinking (during the day) than I can remember. 

The off campus suspension program was filled beyond capacity by the end of the semester.  Not the direction we had hoped for.  On the positive side, we had less pregnancies than last Fall; two who were pregnant finished their credits early and will not have to return next semester.  Four students received support after being identified as homeless.  I think about them every day.

Now it’s the holiday break – we had such a nice visit with our sons home; relaxed, lots of laughs, food and drink; a little snow, a perfect tree.  Our sons are grown, but it’s still hard to watch them drive away – wish we could slow down our time together, but we did our best. 

So now it’s almost New Year Eve.  2009 will be done – a whole decade.  It’s been good, but I’ll be working on great.  It has had its challenges but that’s true for most everyone I suppose.  I know from my position at school that there are many families and students far younger than me who are facing far more challenging situations than I. 

Life is good.  I hope yours is too.

Sharon

Today started with the news that one of our 2009 graduates died from exposure over the weekend.  It’s sad and senseless; our hearts break for his siblings and parents.  He was visiting the school on Friday and sharing that he was heading to Culinary School, now he’s gone. 

To end the day, the Dean of Students and I dropped off bedding, towels, kitchen and bath items for Johnny and James (not their real  names.)   As we walked to the car, we both let out a huge sigh of relief.  The apartment is bare except for what we shared, but they are out of the cold.  We’ll be working on more items, like beds this – yes, it’s social work, but I also got both of these guys to take their 3rd hour final so I’ll take that as a victory . . .  at least it reminds me that I work for a school!

Prayers and condolences to the Kaibetoney family on the loss of their son, Lyle. 

What a year.

One of my recent challenges has been two young Navajo students who are caught in between being adults and being students.  One is a 19-year-old special education student – I’ll call him Johnny (not his real name) and the other is an 18-year-old I’ll call James.  

These two guys are friends and not related.  They have both disconnected from their families and receive zero support or assistance.  They can both graduate this year if we can keep them attending and working in their classes.  About a month ago, we noticed that James and Johnny were not attending.  Why did they suddenly stop coming?   That takes some detective work and sometimes just luck.  We put out the “All Call” to see if anyone had heard anything.  A student told our Dean that she knew where they were and our Attendance Liason found them in a local motel room.  It turns out they were working extra hours and closing at their jobs to make enough money to pay the motel bill which was $250 per week.  They were on their third month of this but it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep up, not to mention eating and having laundry money. 

After we invited them to return to school and get some help, the boys pooled all of their remaining money and paid off their motel bill.   The local Domestic Violence shelter agreed to take them in for a few days, but they didn’t show up.  This resource is meant for battered women and their children so I guess they weren’t keen on staying there.

Now I have been working with a number of people in town to secure a rental that will be less money (than a $1000 motel room!) and hopefully more secure.  This has not been easy as you can imagine.  The guys are understandably considered risks as renters and of course are struggling to come up with enough up front money for deposits and utilities.  We are making progress and today came a bit closer.  Tonight I feel better that we found funds to put them up in a two bedroom apartment/motel for two nights.  This will give Johnny and James a chance for a good night’s sleep and a hot shower.  It will also give us two more days to work on the deposit for an available apartment. 

A county resource will be helping with turning on their electricity and a state fund is helping with food.  Of course at school, the boys are on Free Lunch, but I hope that soon school will also mean getting back to classes and homework.  This semester is almost over and so far Johnny and James are still enrolled – not the perfect educational scenario, but they’re not dropouts and I hope it stays that way.

Perhaps you don’t agree with mixing education and social work, but I work at a school in which this is a daily reality and if we’re going to keep some of our students – it’s a daily necessity.  Every week includes meetings with probation, CPS,  Behavioral Health services and many in-house strategies.  The good news is we are keeping our students in school.  At a school with 80% on Free and Reduced Lunch, 22% SPED and a huge ELL population, we have a 3% dropout rate.  I hope that means that I will see Johnny and James at school tomorrow.

www.sharonwoodard.com

I am one of two educators in the book and we share co-author status with Chicken Soup’s Jack Canfield and success guru Bryan Tracy: these two gentlemen are clearly recognized as successful speakers, authors and no doubt their bank accounts!  In The DNA of Success Stories, all 20 authors share equal status which allows the reader to to choose their own perspective on success.

My chapter recounts years of coaching and directing a high school band program.  I have experienced plenty of success as defined by wins, trophies and accolades, but my experience and thoughts on the topic have certainly evolved.  I call my chapter “Embrace Your Journey” and I know that those of us in education who do embrace our roles can really make a difference, influence lives and feel our purpose most days year in and year out.

I hope you will consider getting a copy of this new and affordable book for yourself and perhaps as a gift for a friend.  You can read posts regarding some of the chapters HERE or go straight to my shopping cart to purchase a copy at BUY

Educators – we “succeed” when we choose to earn a modest salary and measure our success in the happy, healthy lives of our students. I think we don’t stop often enough to realize our purpose and influence; it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day craziness of teaching, classrooms, standards, meetings, et al and lose site of the journey – I hope you embrace yours.

During the last 3 weeks of the semester, we engage a strategy we call Triage.  The gist of this intervention is to sacrifice a class that cannot be saved: i.e the grade is 20%.  The teacher and student agree to triage the period so the student uses the time for the last 2-3 weeks to work on assignments for other classes in which the credit may still be earned.

Academically at risk students who are failing most or all of their classes are identified by our Support Team.  These students are in danger of earning no credits or less than half (our students earn 4 credits a semester in an 8-period A/B block schedule.)  So in the spirit of the battlefield medics who will take the leg to save the life, we give students an opportunity to save their academic life.  Of course it is only effective  for those who accept the opportunity, show up to the Triage Room and do a lot of work to raise failing grades.

Our data shows that over 90% accept and more than 2/3 finish the semester with more passing grades than when they were identified.  I wish we didn’t need this last chance program, but the fact is we do.  To clarify, the student “accepts” the F in the class that is triaged.  Their parents are notified and can reject the assignment - almost no one turns down the opportunity and most are grateful for the chance for some success for their child.

This is a dropout prevention strategy I introduced four years ago.  Each semester approximately 75 students are placed in Triage (out of 1000 total students).  A substitute teacher runs the Triage Room, taking attendance and assisting students as needed.  The advantage for a percentage of our student’s has been tracked and proven.  For the school’s stats this strategy helps the attendance rate (keeping students engaged who would typically just give  up on the end of the semester) and in the long run it helps the graduation rate.

~ So Deck the Halls it’s Time for Triage – falalalala, lala, la,la ~

Happy December!

http://www.sharonwoodard.com