By Tommie Saylor
Kennedy High School Principal
“A
team without vision is not a team”
Now
that we have just entered the new Trimester, let’s look upon this as an
opportunity. An opportunity to “hit
the reset” button and fix all those little things that annoyed us in the first
Trimester.
Remember,
you have total control of your environment, of your classroom, and if you did
not like how things went in the first Trimester, or if this procedure or that
procedure just did not work out, this is your opportunity to make a
change. Be brave enough, bold
enough to tell your students that you are changing how we conduct business that
you are not willing to continue to do something that has proven itself to be
non-effective, that you are not willing to continue to make the same mistake
over and over again. Students can
and will respect this approach, and in turn, gain a deeper respect for you for
being brave enough to make a change. Your classroom is your world. Make it a
good one.
In
the spirit of having an opportunity for a new beginning, let’s review our
Mission, Vision, and the process of achieving our vision through the
application of our mission:
Mission
Statement: John F. Kennedy High
School is a community committed to improving the lives and education of its
students.
To
implement, apply, or carry out our mission, we employ the three R’s, Rigor,
Relevance, and Relationships.
Rigor
means more than just being hard on students, for being hard on students without
heart is easy. Rigor is about academic integrity. It is about not accepting
anything less than a student’s absolute best. If the student turns in subpar work, give it back to the
student and tell them to do it again, that it was not their best effort and
that you are not going to accept anything but their absolute best. Rigor is
about having clear classroom expectations, clear grading expectations (rubrics),
and upholding standards while pushing your students to achieve the
standards.
Rigor
is about being content tough and academically fair. Like the student, don’t
like the student, “good” student or “bad” student, if they “get” it then grade
it accordingly. Remember, it’s about learning not about how compliant the
student is when it comes to procedures, guidelines and rules. Rigor is about
honestly preparing the students for the next level, and this may come with
tears, frustration, and anguish.
But giving them a “free ride” in high school only to see them fail in
college is more of a sin than hurting their feelings in the loving and
supportive environment of high school.
Relevance
is about, as the students would say, “keeping it real.” It is making
connections between what is taught in class and the real world. How many times have we heard the
question, “when will I ever use this in life” as the student groans about
learning a new concept? Well, have
an answer for the student, be prepared for this question and turn this question
into a learning opportunity for the entire class. When I was teaching (science) and I was confronted with this
question, I would respond by asking the students what is the point of the
football team hitting the blocking sled during practice? During the game there
is no blocking sled on the field, so hitting the blocking sled during practice
is a waste of time.
Inevitably
a student would answer that hitting the blocking sled better prepares the
football team for the game. With
this, I would respond “EXACTLY!”
Science “exercises” your brain, helps you to think logically, critically
which will help to prepare you for the “game” of life. You may never use this information
again, but you will use the processes and logical thinking strategies your
entire life.
Relevance
is also about preparing students for the ACT/MME tests, and letting them know
that what you are doing in class is preparing them for these important State
mandated examinations that will have a significant influence on their lives. Relevance is about sparking an
interest, opening a student’s eyes, it is about showing the students “the
beauty they possess inside”, it is about inspiring students to their fullest
potential.
Relationships
means stepping into the student’s world, it is about seeing through the parent’s
eyes, it is about being human.
Like it or not, we are emotional creatures and our emotions are a big
part of who we are. Knowing this, it is foolish to believe that learning does
not have an emotional factor, because it does. Face it, by human nature you
work harder for someone you know, you like, than for someone you do not know,
or for someone you dislike. Given this, cultivating good positive relationships
between you and your students, by showing an interest in your students, or just
simply letting them know that you care is not only educational productive, it
is also professionally rewarding and personally satisfying. Simply, “students
don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
As
the three R’s are implemented, we monitor our progress through the Professional
Learning Communities (PLC) process.
Through the PLC process we ask ourselves what is working, what is not
working, how can we make the educational process better for our students? By meeting a couple of times each month
after school, free from the constraints of time and the distractions often
associated with students, and by meeting collaboratively in our individual
areas of expertise to evaluate our programs, make changes, and adjust to better
serve the needs of our students, we strengthen our efforts and renew our
resolve through self-regulation and oversight. Without the PLC process, we would have no oversight of the
application of the three R’s, and therefore would not be able to accomplish our
mission as expressed in our Mission Statement. Simply, the PLC process is the filter through which we pass
our efforts to better hone and direct our labors to achieve the mission in
which we have previously dedicated ourselves.
Through
the implementation of the three R’s, and the oversight of the PLC process, we are
able to realize our vision as presented in our Vision Statement.
Vision
Statement: The community of John
F. Kennedy High School, through innovative techniques, applied technology, effective
instruction, and lasting relationships, will prepare students for a successful
and diverse future.
Our
“road map” and/or journey is now been laid before us. We start with the
Mission, travel along the trails of the three R’s guided by the PLC compass and
arrive at our Vision. This is a never-ending journey that renews itself at the
beginning of each new Trimester.
What
starts here, changes the world. Making Kennedy the school of choice. Excellence
by design.
