Thankfulness at Thanksgiving!

Earlier today I read an article by NPR (National Public Radio) that discussed Thanksgiving traditions in the early 20^th Century.  According to the article, people in larger cities (between 1891 to 1950) would dress up and parade around the main streets in masks and costumes – very similar to outfits that would be worn for Halloween.  Many of the children dressed as “Ragamuffins.”   Since this was a new revelation to me, I found it fascinating!  

To me Thanksgiving has always been about giving thanks, not about dressing up and parading around.  First of all I am thankful for my family, friends and colleagues.  Since we all have so much to be thankful for this year, I put together my “list.”  Columbia School District has so many wonderful children, from terrific families and incredible staff members.  To illustrate what great students we have I will share a recent communication I received.  The very complementary letter came from a basketball official, who for the first time was refereeing a game at Columbia Middle School.  He was so thankful to the players, fans and staff he sent over a thank you email letter.  He mentioned that the players would always say, “Thank you” when he handed them the ball.  He went on to write that he had never encountered kids saying “Thank you” when refereeing a game.  He continued by writing, “Usually when we see kids at the scorer’s table, it’s not a good thing.  But last night the kids that were there were better than some adults we see at the table.  They were polite to us, kept score correctly, and kept time great.  If we had a question about anything, they could look in the scorebook and answer our question immediately…   If these kids are at the table all season, there will be nothing to worry about.”  He concluded by saying, “I’m looking forward to any other trips I make to Columbia Central to officiate.”   It is easy to see why I am especially thankful for our great students.

I am also very thankful for great teachers and staff members who go the extra mile with a terrific attitude.  For instance, this past weekend (Friday through Sunday) we had many staff members

involved in special afterschool activities at Columbia Middle School on Friday, the Robotics competition on Saturday, the Solo Ensemble for CMS students, and the musical “Snow Off White”.   Every day, I could identify many special activities, programs and projects our staff members work on to inspire our students and to help raise their level of achievement.

All of our students and staff members are thankful to our wonderful community for passing the bond issue!  So many people came together to educate our community on the opportunity to create a safe, warm, dry and smart environment for our students.  At this point we have a much safer drop-off and pick-up area at the Columbia Middle and Elementary Campus, a new roof which is keeping us dry and a terrific new playground to encourage our students to get out and exercise.  Our students are enjoying using new Chromebooks and iPads to enhance learning activities in their classrooms.  Recently I met with the entire seventh and eighth grade to give them an idea of how their new “school – within – a – school” will look.  The students were excited and asked well thought out questions.  They showed their thankfulness through their positive attitude.

I could go on and on about the great staff members, families and students we have in Columbia, but I will end with a heartfelt wish for each and every one of you to have a blessed Thanksgiving with your loved ones!  If you have any questions about Columbia School District please email me at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or call me at 5175926641.

Help Us Celebrate American Education Week!

Help Columbia School District celebrate American Education Week beginning November 16^th. This week of celebration commemorates those who are making a difference every day in the lives of our children and gives us a chance to rejoice with and honor the dedicated and passionate individuals in public education. 

Beginning in 1921, various groups and community members have joined with the National Education Association to celebrate American Education Week.  We take this week to give our educational professionals a virtual round of applause for their tireless work with our most prized possessions; our children.  In addition to celebrating the work of teachers, American Education Week celebrates the local public safety personnel who help keep our children safe, and the wonderful educational support personnel who care for our children. 

The work of our educational professionals has grown over the years.  In response to the increasing needs, our educational support personnel serve breakfast and lunch, bus children back and forth to school, and provide support services during and after school.  Our teachers help to bu

ild a solid foundation for a bright future for our students by teaching more than the core subjects.  They work with students integrating technology into the curriculum, providing character education (including anti-bullying lessons), and teach students how to become life-long learners.

How can you help us celebrate American Education Week?  Send a note or email to an educational professional thanking them for their hard work and commitment.  Stop by and tell your child’s teacher of your gratitude for all he or she does.   If your child or grandchild plays an instrument, sings in the choir or is in the musicals, you could email the director and let him or her know that you appreciate their dedication to your child.  What if your child has graduated?  Send his or her favorite teacher or support person a note telling him or her of your gratefulness for the lasting impression he or she left on your child.

Because the education of our children is a partnership between parents, the community and the educational professionals, it is paramount that we continue to celebrate the gains we have made and continue to make.  Educators have made tremendous progress by increasing the level of excellence in education through hard work and tenacity.  Make this week special for our educational professionals and join me in saying, “Thank you!”  If you are interested in learning more about Columbia School District, email me at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.

Amazing Learning Opportunities!

On the first day of preschool this year, one of our new four-year-olds told his teacher that, “This is the best day of my whole life!”  Education can be magical, and for this young man, school opened an incredible learning portal.  As students grow and mature they can still feel excited about learning opportunities. Last Saturday some students from U of M came and worked with twenty of our middle and high school students opening up the world of exploration and development of space.  This group, called Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), is a worldwide student run organization whose mission is to enable progress in space exploration.  The occasion gave our students an opportunity to have a very amazing day of learning.

On Saturday some of our students presented information from their forensic science course to the Jackson County School Boards Association.  Similarly to the exuberance of the four-year-old, the students were excited to present the things they have been learning.  In cooperation with the Columbia Fire Department, the students had set up crime scenes and then challenged their peers to figure out the solution.  The students presented the scenarios and the solutions, and these educational leaders were also excited about forensic science.  This class gives students an opportunity to use the basic biology, anatomy and chemistry foundational elements in a practical hands-on real-world setting.  Columbia School District is dedicated to provide our students with a solid foundation for a bright future.

At Columbia Middle School we have students who are excited about learning the fundamentals of engineering.  They are learning while they are using hands-on activities and investigation techniques to complete projects and solve assigned tasks.  Some of the engineering students are also part of the two robotics teams at Columbia Middle School.  The students not only learn about engineering, they also use collaborative team based strategies to learn about robotics and how to program a robot.

These are just a few of Columbia School District’s courses that focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).  Our students have an opportunity to learn STEM through inquiry and project based educational activities.  These activities are helping all of our students to be enthusiastic about learning, just like our new preschool four-year-old student.  If you are interested in learning more about Columbia School District and our STEM activities, please call me or email me at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org.

Building Your Child's Critical Thinking Skills

Each week when I receive the newspaper there are advertisements for appliances from Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, ABC and other stores.  They advertise many models of refrigerators; there are side-by-side with or without ice in the door, French Door refrigerators with one or two drawers and regular basic no-frills one door refrigerators.  This week I looked at a low cost refrigerator that was advertised for $367, while another more expensive model was on sale at $2898.  Although all of the refrigerators keep our food cold, some have more options than others.  As you shop for a refrigerator, you would actively collect data and choices for your comparison.   As you compare and contrast the prices and options for the refrigerators, you would use the skill of critical thinking. 

In each classroom in the Columbia School District, students use critical thinking in their daily assignments.  Critical thinking is an important skill that will help our students be successful in all of their school subjects.  Let me offer some examples for you to work with your child on his or her critical thinking skills.

The first example is: Finding similarities in our daily lives.  Take a look around a room and find two things that do not seem to have anything in common.  You may say a lamp and couch.  Challenge your child to use his critical thinking skills to find a minimum of one thing that is similar in the lamp and the couch.  She may tell you that they both sit on the floor or that the lamp shade has a pattern with material and so does the couch.  You may repeat this in other rooms in your house or in outdoor settings.

A second try at increasing your child’s proficiency of their critical thinking skills is to play games.  You may choose word games to play in the car.  You may mix and match comparing and contrasting words like; river is to ocean like plant is to what?  You might choose games that your child can look ahead to predict the outcome like checkers or chess.  You may ask them, if you move there, then I might move here and where would you move next?

Finally, you may help your child and his or her friends make up a story or rewrite one they already know.  To write a new story together, have one of them begin something like, “I was walking in the woods one day and”, then the next person takes over, and each person puts in a sentence as they write their new story.  You may tell them what the last sentence should be, or let them write in a freestyle way.  Not only will they end up with an intriguing story, they will have fun!  When using their critical thinking skills to rewrite a story, you could choose a traditional children’s story like “Little Red Riding Hood” or one of my favorite, “Horton Hears A Who.” You could have them think about writing their story from the wolf’s point of view in “Little Red Riding Hood” or describe what happens to Horton or the Who in the next chapter.

Just like we use critical thinking in our daily lives to make large purchases like a refrigerator, our children use critical thinking skills to make decisions and complete their school work.  Your encouragement of their ability to think critically and assist them as they practice these skills, will help to make them more successful students.

If you are interested in learning more about Columbia School District or our programs, please email me at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or call me at 5175926641.

Celebrating Homecoming at Columbia!

It is that time of year again: Homecoming!  Homecoming is a special time of year where our alumni families gather with current students to cheer Columbia on to Victory over their foe!  It is enjoyable to see friends and family and watch the students take part in the week’s activities, ride in the parade and compete in sports.

The Columbia School District celebrates Homecoming at all levels. The Student Councils at all of our schools independently work with their advisors to specify what they will wear on which day.  This gives the students an opportunity to take on a leadership role at their school.  For the youngest students at Columbia Elementary School they began the week by dressing up in gear from their favorite sports team, and culminated the week with our favorite colors: Blue & Gold Day! 

Columbia Middle School students celebrate Homecoming in a somewhat more flashy way beginning with Clash Day, where students wear clothes that are mismatched and then ending with Blue & Gold Day.  This year Columbia Middle School they have added a new day: Scrabble Day.  During the day they will collaborate with each other to create academic specific words or phrases as classes.  The students may spell out robotics in their engineering classroom, exponent in math class or genetics in biology.

Sometimes our students assign a deeper meaning to their daily choices: In support of our troops abroad, the Columbia Central High School student wore red, white and blue for Monday’s America Day and in support of finding a cure for Breast Cancer, Tuesday at CCHS was a Pink Out, where everyone wore pink.

Many of the activities during Homecoming Week focus on bonding our students and staff members together.  There are competitions between classes at CCHS and sometimes the teachers play the students in basketball or volleyball.  Both Columbia Middle and Columbia Central will end their week with a pep assembly celebrating their athletic teams.

The day culminates with a Homecoming Parade featuring floats and our Columbia Central High School representatives.  This year’s Homecoming Court is made up of: Freshmen  Mackenzee Whipple and Jeff Perry; Sophomores Hailey Dickens and Hunter Martin; Juniors Courtney Hill and Noah Raby and Seniors Garrett Hotchkiss,  Austin Witt, Noah Stump,  Ariel Miller, Jackie Ali and Jordan Diefenthaler.

 

Be sure a join in the Homecoming Festivities with our Columbia Central High School teams!  The Homecoming Parade begins at 5 pm and the Football Game begins at 7 pm.  If you are interested in learning more about Columbia School District and our programs, call me at 5175926641 or email me at Pamela.campbell@myeagles.org.

Creating a Strong Successful Learning Environment

Over the past decade, educational researchers have reviewed practices in various school districts to determine what programs have yielded the most positive results.  One of the practices that has produced increases in test scores and successful acquisition of learning is differentiation.  Differentiation is not just a trendy idea or a slick word, it includes many positive aspects of wonderful learning environments including respecting each other, developing a learning community, encouraging student success, creating various opportunities for learning, and involving everyone in the teaching and learning community.   When speaking about the importance of a positive culture when using differentiation, University of Virginia Professor Cindy A. Strickland commented that “Kids have to feel that they can take a risk, they can fail and it’s going to be okay, that growth will be rewarded and is expected.” 

In the Columbia School District our teachers use differentiation methods to help all of their students learn. Faced with the daunting task of meeting the learning needs of each student our teachers strive to make their classrooms safe and welcoming.  We focus on using educational best practices to enhance teaching and learning. One of the aspects of differentiation that teachers at Columbia embrace is to ask themselves: “Will what is happening in my classroom support student success?”  Teachers at Columbia use various differentiation strategies including academic games, practice, and inventive techniques to yield a higher level of effectiveness in their classroom. 

Our teachers provide the basis for student learning and for establishing an environment that uses differentiation to adapt various activities to the different levels of student readiness.  Although educators have known about the need for differentiation for years, many districts have not embraced this powerful learning strategy. However, Columbia District teachers have firmly grasped the fact that children enter the classroom with various levels of readiness and that we must use strategies and techniques to help all students succeed.

As Columbia School District teachers and staff members continue to improve our effectiveness, we are working adapt lessons and use differentiation to give our students the best opportunity for success.  If you are interested in learning more about Columbia School District and our programs, email me at Pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or call 517-592-6641.

Partnering With Our Community

Approximately 150 Columbia School District teachers, staff and administrators appreciate the opportunity to assist in developing and increasing learning activities to benefit your child’s education. Our goal is to partner with you to provide your child an outstanding educational experience in a safe, positive and dynamic environment.   

At the schools in the Columbia District, we work on being intentional regarding our students’ learning opportunities.  Teachers develop plans which include activities designed to enhance student achievement.  Our terrific teachers use detours and “teachable moments” to allow random events to become learning filled occasions.   The other day I ventured into a classroom where a visiting spider had given the teacher an opportunity to help the students learn a bit about the rather large arachnid.

Increasingly, teachers are integrating technology into their learning activities in their classroom. Our teachers engage their learners by unfolding their lesson by intentionally using technology to boost student interest and understanding.  The teachers are coming up with creative ideas to improve student achievement and to increase the capability of students to be successful problem solvers.  We are empowering our teachers to work with students to harness technology to gather information and to communicate efficiently and effectively.  Our teachers, using best practices, are striving to increase literacy and integration of technology while incorporating digital and blended learning activities into the educational environment in their classrooms.

As a member of the Columbia School District community you may support the teachers’ intentional focus on enhancing the students’ achievement by encouraging your child or grandchild to fully complete their school projects or assignments.  You may encourage your child to take the next step and learn more about topics they are covering in school by conducting web-quests.  You may also support our wonderful teachers by engaging in positive verbal support as you speak with others in the community.  Your enthusiasm for learning at Columbia Schools may also include volunteering to serve on a committee or read a book to a child or cheer our sports teams on to victory.

As we work together side-by-side leading the children of the community to become lifelong learners, our support of education will have an enduring effect on our children! I am deeply proud of the critical and immeasurable community support for the Columbia School District. Thanks to your help, Columbia School District has become one of Michigan’s premier school districts.

If you have questions about how you may partner with the Columbia School District or to register your child for school, please email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call me at 517.592.6641.