Mrs. Caryl Makes A Difference!

Third grade teacher Cindy Caryl loves teaching.  When talking about teaching her students, she said, “Working for Columbia Schools is a true blessing.”  Each day when Mrs. Caryl stands at her classroom door she exudes happiness and true joy.  When you see Mrs. Caryl with her students it is easy to see why her fellow teachers and staff members voted for her for the “You Make A Difference” award at Columbia Upper Elementary School. 

Mrs. Caryl mentioned that, “The amount of support I receive from my team of teachers and my administration makes my school the most amazing place to be.  Columbia is filled with people who embrace that Eagle Pride and it makes coming to school so enjoyable.  Every day I am reminded how fortunate I am to teach in such a terrific community with extraordinary students.”

This spring when faced by the closing of schools, Mrs. Caryl continued reaching out to her students to keep them involved in learning activities.  Her caring spirit extends to her students and she wants to make sure that they are continuing to learn and grow.  Mrs. Caryl said that, “When you feel so blessed, the rest of the job becomes easy. 

Mrs. Caryl is sad that school is closed for the balance of the year, because she feels that, “The best part of my school day is the hugs I receive in the morning as they walk through my classroom door.  Those little hearts are so full of energy and have so much love to give right back.  They give me my purpose for which I am so grateful.  I am lucky to be a part of their little lives.” 

Columbia School District loves having Mrs. Caryl teach third grade!  Her positive outlook and quick smile benefits not only her students, but all those who cross paths with her each day. If you are interested in learning more about Columbia Schools, email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.

Mrs. Jenness: CES Teacher of the Year!

Kathy Jenness’ classroom is a designers dream.  Filled with brightly colored frogs, it looks like the perfect learning environment for first graders.  She says that she feels “blessed and fortunate to be teaching in the district that I and all three of my daughters graduated from.”  As she talked about teaching, she continued by saying, “I feel honored to be part of the amazing teaching team at Columbia School District and I am truly a Golden Eagle at heart.”

Kathy said that, “As a teacher I get to contribute to my community in a meaningful way by inspiring little minds to do great things!  Seeing a student’s face light up when they learn a new skill is so rewarding.”  When you talk to Kathy, she beams with love and caring for her students.  Even her email signature says, “A teacher takes a Hand, opens a Mind and touches a Heart.” 

Kathy is an expert at touching the hearts of her students and her fellow teachers.  This year Mrs. Jenness’ fellow staff members at Columbia Elementary School voted her Teacher of the Year.  It is easy to see why her fellow teachers and staff members respect her teaching ability.  When the Governor closed schools and told teachers and students to stay home earlier this spring, Kathy stepped up and immediately began hosting online daily reading activities for her students. 

Kathy’s love for teaching and learning is infectious!  Her students are always working to up to their potential.  She said that she loves her “first graders and the joy they bring each day into the classroom.  Their laughter, smiles, and hugs, are truly a blessing!  As a teacher, I am more than an educator, I am a hug giver, fist bumper, mentor, boo-boo fixer, cheerleader, confidant and friend. I love it all!”  Columbia School District is fortunate to have Mrs. Jenness teaching at Columbia Elementary.  If you are interested in learning more about Columbia Schools, email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.    

Mr. Luppo Makes Social Studies Fun!

“My son’s favorite teacher!” “He makes social studies interesting and fun.”  These statements are in praise of Dennis Luppo, a popular Columbia Central Junior High School social studies teacher.  This past year, he was nominated and voted “Teacher of the Year” by his fellow junior high school teachers.

Columbia School District has a great group of teachers and Mr. Luppo is just one of many positive hardworking academic instructions.  Mr. Luppo recently received the Superintendent’s Award of Excellence which recognized Dennis Luppo for his outstanding performance, hard work, and dedication to Columbia School District.  His dedication to our students, family and staff is greatly appreciated.

Mr. Luppo is consistently working to advance his students to higher levels of academic achievement through careful planning and focus on increasing his student’s educational excellence.  He works to motivate his students by encouraging them to exceed their expectations and their past social studies performance.  His caring and nurturing spirit supports students both academically and socially.

Mr. Luppo said that, “There are endless reasons why I love teaching and love Columbia. What I love most about teaching middle school students is that they challenge me daily to be a better educator. Their needs change on a daily basis, and I love the challenge of figuring out how to empower them to become successful learners. The people at Columbia are wonderful to work with and they really care about the school, staff, students, sports, and our image. I wouldn’t trade being here for anything in the world.” 

Columbia teachers recognize Mr. Luppo for his leadership in the classroom and as an important part of the school improvement efforts.  For several years he has coached the junior high school football and basketball teams.  His enthusiasm for learning in various settings is illustrated by his ability to demonstrate creativity and innovation in his lesson plans and using teaching methods that inspire students to learn.

Columbia School District appreciates the hard work and excellence in education provided to our students in Mr. Luppo’s classes.  The students benefit from his tenacity, educational enthusiasm, and positive ethical spirit.  Mr. Luppo is an extraordinary dedicated teacher, blessed by his various teaching gifts. He is an exemplary teacher who fosters a collaborative environment for his students through his deep passion for learning.  If you are interested in attending Columbia School District, please email me at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.

Ms. Brinkman Makes A Difference!

Ms. Brinkman makes a difference in the lives of Columbia Central High School students!  She said that she, “loves being a teacher because of the students, and the positive relationships I get to make with each of them.”  Her enthusiasm for teaching and supporting her students benefits them as they grow and mature.  She mentioned, “I've always loved working with youth and have had the honor to do so around the world, in and out of classrooms, organizations, and public speaking events for 14 years now.” 

She continued by commenting that, “When my sister passed unexpectedly a few years ago, I finished off that school year and decided to take a break. I didn't know what I wanted in life anymore and I didn't know if I had anything left to give. So I took the first quarter off from teaching. I say only a quarter, because by second quarter I was so hungry to get back to school, I couldn't help it.”

Ms. Brinkman said, “The students inspire me and I learn as much from them as they learn from me. It's important to me to be real and authentic in my life and career. I want students to know life can be tough, but not impossible; that it's okay to be yourself, it's okay to fail, and it's okay to keep trying regardless the outcomes.”

She believes that being a teacher at Columbia Central High School is fantastic.  She said that, “I love what I do, there isn't a day that I feel like I am actually going to "work" and I am so grateful for my CCHS family!”  She continued by saying that, “Since I was in middle school, I dreamt of becoming a teacher. I had an amazing ELA teacher and basketball coach that year, who inspired me to follow in her steps. It's the people and teachers in our lives that can inspire us the most, and I wanted to do just that.”

When you see Ms. Brinkman, you know she enjoys working with students and teaching them English because of her positive enthusiastic personality.  She mentioned that she, “loves coming to school each day!  School is always a new adventure that I am grateful to be a part of.”  Her bright smile greets students.  She is very professional as she collaborates with teachers and students just like the Columbia School District Mission says: “Nurture Dreams.  Empower All. Create a Better World”.  Because Columbia has a positive academic environment, she said that it is especially important to communicate the Columbia Vision to our students, “Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow”.

This year Ms. Brinkman was recognized by her fellow teachers and staff members as a person at Columbia Central that has a fantastic impact on the lives of the students.  For her hard work and dedication to the children, she received the “You Make A Difference Award.”  Ms. Brinkman is deserving of recognition for all of her incredible focus and enthusiasm on providing a positive and caring classroom.

Activities to Learn at Home!

This week as you work with your child on their curriculum, you may want to focus on your child’s ability to think critically.  Critical thinking is important in each area of the curriculum, whether your child is working on mathematics, science, language arts, history, physical education, foreign language, or fine arts.  Here are some ideas to help you work with your child to improve his or her critical thinking skills.

Ask your child to identify similarities in various objects in the room.  Take turns choosing two or three objects in the room. The items may not appear to have anything in common, like a picture and a tennis shoe.   Your child could say that both the picture and the shoe have body parts: the people in the picture have heads, arms, legs and more, while the shoe has a heel and tongue.  Your child may focus on the colors in the picture and in the shoe, for example, the people in the picture all have something white on and the shoe has white stripes.  You may include preschoolers in this critical thinking activity.

Children like learning from fairy tales.  Whether your child is able to read a fairy tale, or she listens to you read, she can increase her ability to think critically through this activity.  Motivate your child to edit a well-known fairy tale through the opinion or voice of another individual’s view.  For example, in the story of Little Red Riding Hood, your child could tell the story through the voice of the wolf.  He or she could give various details and new information that would help the wolf look like the good guy, rather than the big bad wolf.

Most of us have played Connect Four, Risk, checkers, chess, Chinese checkers, or other strategic games.  These games are not only challenging, but they build critical thinking skills.  When you play these games with your child you can help them process some of the thinking skills they are learning.  You may help them learn to look two or three moves ahead.  You may also want to introduce your child to singular strategy games, like solitaire, Rubik’s Cube, and Sudoku.

By supporting your child as he or she builds his or her critical thinking skills, your child will become more successful in his or her core curricular areas.  As you help your child work on academics, make sure to check in regularly with their teacher’s websites, the Columbia School District Live Feed on the myeagles.org website, and your individual school site.  If you have questions about Columbia School District, email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5162905747.

STEM at Columbia School District!

Although none of our students were born in 1992, most of our community members, teachers and parents remember the incredible devastation that Hurricane Andrew caused in Florida.  The hurricane came ashore a category 5 level storm and damaged many homes and businesses.  Following the storm, 1.4 million were without electricity and 150,000 lost their telephone service (Wikipedia.org).

As the community struggled to rebuild itself, scientists and researchers focused on determining and analyzing the effects of the storm on the ecological continuity and natural surroundings.  Researchers were excited about having a living laboratory to examine the recovery of the tropical fish population in the area and the destructive forces impact on the reefs and sea grass.  In addition, researchers worked to determine the psychological impact on the children who were affected by the storm, while forensic analysts with the police departments studied the increased lawlessness in the form of theft and criminal price overcharging.

In the Columbia School District our students receive the basics so that they can become individuals who have the ability to research, analyze, and measure or determine changes things have on their environment.  Beginning in kindergarten, the students work with their teachers to observe and graph changes in the state of water from solid to liquid.  As our students grow, they learn more about scientific facts and natural effects of weather.  Combined with our Columbia Central High School teachers, our students have the opportunity to take advanced courses in chemistry, biology, anatomy, engineering, and psychology. 

For example, in anatomy our students recently cooperatively and collaboratively worked together to dissect and examine minks.  As they studied the skeletons and musculature structure they could understand the connection to other mammals, including humans.  Much like the scientists who studied the psychological effects of the storm on children, our introductory and advanced psychology courses give our students an opportunity to learn the techniques of research and investigation into how the human mind works and processes information. 

As an extension of the scientific learning activities at Columbia, our students have the advantage that they can access college courses through the Jackson County Early College.  Many of our Columbia Central students are taking free classes at Jackson College.  Other students are taking dual enrollment classes at no cost at Baker College or Adrian College.  At Columbia our students are being prepared to make a difference in their community and in the world around them so that when the next scientific event such as a hurricane like Andrew happens, they can make a difference!  Interested in learning more about Columbia Schools?  Email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.

Many website designers are innovative and creative.  Customers who want to have the best website, want to work with the best designer.  The website designers focus on marketing with an analytical flair.    The websites may link to others, keep track of information, and have detailed analytics for their customers.

As their customers focus on checking the analytics, they gain a snapshot of their website users.  Those snapshots tell a story and show patterns.  What themes will be evident from the analytics?  Will patterns emerge?  Just like the website analytics creates a picture, Columbia families think about the mosaic of their lives, see small snapshots of their families, their children, and their lifestyles. 

At Columbia School District we care about our students and their families.  In the mosaics of our  

lives, the time we are living in is unique and hopefully we will never have to repeat this intense concern for the health of our loved ones. As we work to support each other throughout the next weeks and months, please know that Columbia School District will continue to care for our students and their families.

Our teachers and staff members have prepared child friendly educational resources that may be accessed through the school’s website.  Our custodians are working to sanitize all of our buildings while our children and staff members are out.  Our food service staff members are preparing meals for all area youth (ages 18 and under) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Columbia Elementary School.  Those arriving to pick up the meals will not have to exit their vehicles, but will need to give the names of the youth the food will be going to.  The food backpack program will be provided to families on Friday, March 20^th at the Columbia Elementary meal distribution between 9 am and 11 am.

During the Corona Virus concern the Brooklyn Food Bank will be providing extra food for our families on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am to 2 pm behind ReMax at 131 N. Main Street.  This extra food will not count in the regular six times per year distribution. Families from the area may come one time per week and must bring a picture ID and a piece of mail with their name and address printed on the envelope.  Families will drive up and not exit their vehicle.  The bonus food and forms will be brought directly to the family vehicle.  This plan will remain in effect until the Corona Virus situation comes to a close.  Food donations can be dropped off at the Village Peddler, downtown Brooklyn, Tuesdays through Saturdays.

As we continue to move through this new piece of the mosaic of our lives, we will learn and grow from the challenges.  Continuing to support each other through tough times can bring us closer.  Just like the best web designers, our community is innovative, creative and cares about excellence.  If you have questions about Columbia School District, please email me at Pamela.Campbell@myeagles.org or call 5175926641.