Green Grass, Blue Skies and White Snow!

When the school and parents work together, a strong partnership is formed which enhances our child’s level of education.  Our child’s education begins at birth through positive child parent interactions.  Parents and grandparents begin by talking and reading to their new infant.  As their child grows, education becomes more defined.  Parents tell their child about “green grass”, “blue skies” and “white snow.”  Their child responds by learning their colors and gains precious information about the world around them.

The partnership between parents and the child’s teacher is of utmost importance for our students.  Working with the child during the day, the teacher helps him or her to learn to read and do math, while the parent continues to assist the child in learning about their surroundings.  The role of the parent in education is important as he or she works with their child on the “three R’s”: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.  The time put into completing learning activities at home results in greater achievement in the school classroom.

This relationship between teachers and parents is embodied by the following poem by Cleo Swarat.

I dreamed I stood in a studio and watched two sculptors there,

The clay they used was a young child’s mind and they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher: the tools she used were books and music and art;

One was a parent with guiding hand and gentle loving heart.

And when at last their work was done, they were proud of what they had wrought.

For the things they had worked into the child could never be sold or bought!

And each agreed she would have failed if she had worked alone.

For behind the parent stood the school, and behind the teacher stood the home!

In the Columbia School District, as teachers continue to work side by side with the parents of the children in their care, we are building the future for our community and our students.  The partnership we build to enhance learning opportunities for your children is of utmost importance.  If you have a question about your child’s educational progress, please call or email your child’s teacher.  If you are interested in learning more about Columbia Schools, please email me at pam.campbell@myeagles.org or call at 517-592-6641.  We all want what is best for our children!

January is School Board Appreciation Month

As citizen leaders, individual school board members face complex and demanding challenges. School Board members are alternately described as having the most important volunteer jobs in the country and facing the toughest challenge in elected American government. Yet school board members are just ordinary citizens with extraordinary dedication to our nation’s public schools. All of us need to appreciate and recognize the vital and crucial contributions made by these generous men and women in the education of our children.

Public education is the backbone of American society, and local school boards are deeply rooted in U.S. tradition. It’s the foundation on which our democracy was built. Today local school boards continue to do the most important work of their communities—that of educating our youth.

The Columbia School Board members' job is to establish a vision for the education program, design a structure to achieve that vision, ensure schools are accountable to the community and strongly advocate for continuous improvement in student learning. The job of a school board member is tough, the hours long and the thanks few and far between. Too often we’re quick to criticize school board members without really understanding the complex nature of their decisions.  With January being School Board Appreciation Month, now is the time to thank our board members for their untiring efforts.

School board members come from a variety of backgrounds, yet they share a common goal—helping students achieve in school and life. As a state, Michigan has faced many challenges, but the key to a brighter future is a strong public education system.

We often forget about the personal sacrifices school board members make. Board members contribute hundreds and hundreds of hours each year leading their districts. The time spent in board meetings represents just a small fraction of the hours school board members spend leading their districts. Collectively, they spend almost 7,000 hours on professional development to keep abreast of the latest trends in educational leadership, are deeply involved in community activities and spend many hours at extracurricular events. They continually advocate for the children of our state, and in the past year school board members made countless passionate pleas to legislators, speaking out against budget cuts and pushing for important reforms.

The month of January marks the annual observance of School Board Recognition Month. Collectively, let's show our appreciation and begin to better understand how local trustees work together to prepare today’s students to be tomorrow’s leaders. In January, join with others from throughout our district and state to salute the men and women who provide grassroots governance of public schools.  If you are interested in learning more about the Columbia School District, please contact me at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or call 517-592-6641.

The Speed of Technology

Years ago as I helped my dad work in his backyard vegetable garden, I noticed the presence a snail sliding across leaves and gliding over rocks and small twigs.  It was amazing to see this little creature, with his slimy foot move his body, carefully encased in his shell across the ground.  Wow, how funny he looked with his eyes on the end of what looked like alien antennas, waving around in the air looking from side to side.  One of the interesting things was how slowly he seemed to move.  I checked and one reference quoted that a snail was clocked at 0.00758 miles per hour!  That is only 40 feet per hour.  It seemed to me that snail was incredibly slow. 

Thinking about watching the snail’s pace all those many years ago and how agonizingly slow he went made me think about technology and how fast it has changed and how slow many of us are when we are adapting to new technology and the power it gives us to increase our ability to communicate with each other.  One of my passions is communicating with parents and community members regarding all of the great things that are happening in the Columbia School District.  Last week I sent an email communication out to parents that included a link to our new weekly E-Letter.  The E-Letter features information regarding each one of the schools in our district.  The electronic newsletter has clickable links which help to facilitate navigation around our website. 

The E-Letter contained a link to our school calendar, the elementary newsletter, and my blog and twitter site.  It also featured items regarding events that have taken place over the past week along with upcoming events.  This initial E-Letter went directly to staff members and parents who have submitted their email addresses to the school.  Parents and guardians may edit their email addresses directly through their student’s PowerSchool web portal or sending it to me by email.  Community members may access the E-Letter by submitting their emails to me at Pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or may read the E-Letter by going to our home page at myeagles.org and clicking on the link at the right for the District Newsletter. 

Some of the pictures featured in the E-Letter were taken by a parent during the second grade musical, “A Martian Christmas.”  Do you have great pictures that could be used in the E-Letter or on our website?  You may submit the pictures in an email to me or drop of a flash drive or DVD containing the pictures.  In order to achieve my goal of keeping everyone up to date and informed, I will need your assistance with information and pictures.  The next E-Letter will go out on January 11, 2013.   If you have questions please email me or call me at 517-592-6641.

Tragedy at Newtown, Connecticut

As our hearts and prayers go out to the community of Newtown, Connecticut and the victims and families affected by today's senseless tragedy, we find a grave sadness in our hearts. I am including resources to use as we work with our own school family. Please refer to the following information from the National Association of Elementary School Principals contained below:

"Helping Children Cope With Tragedy" Report to Parents: http://www.naesp.org/resources/2/Report_to_Parents/2005/rtp11-05.pdf

"Coping With Loss" Principal magazine article: https://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/Schonfeld_Quakenbush_ND12.pdf

"A Death in the Family" Principal magazine article: https://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/Boris-Schacter_MA11.pdf

National Association of School Psychologists: www.nasponline.org

Students' Talents Shine Brightly!

Driving around town the other evening I noticed the brightly colored Christmas lights were twinkling through the misty evening sky.  As I continued making my way down street after street I could see the thoughtful care that contributed to each well lit display.  All of the lights in the creatively designed displays made me think of how our many students are similar to the displays.  The various colored lights, each with their contribution to the overall display represented our students and their growing talents and academic strengths.

Some of our students are great in mathematics and see things in a mechanical way.  For those students who exhibit a high level of interest in hands-on math, they have an opportunity at Columbia Central High School to participate in Mrs. Sampson’s engineering class.  As I walked through her classroom earlier this week, her students were involved in project based learning tasked with solving a multi-step problem simulating the sorting of refuse at a landfill.  They used mathematical and scientific properties to design and build a system to solve the problem.  The students were knowledgeable and motivated to succeed. Others of our students have a high level of interest and proficiency in technology.  Entering into Mr. Smith’s classroom, students were involved in learning how to use animation to connect to others.  Working at their individual computer stations they had the opportunity to design and animate their own graphic creation.  Not only did this assignment help to enhance their technological skills, it may have opened the door to a possible future vocation.

For those students who love to express themselves physically, Columbia School District offers physical education classes at every level.  Visiting with Mr. Iott’s physical education class at Columbia Elementary School you might find them outside doing laps on the track, learning a new game, or testing themselves against a challenge that he set up to build their skill while giving them a work out.  As the students race to complete a physical task, you can see their faces light up, much like the brightly colored lights in the Christmas displays.

Other students reveal their talents as their brightly colored lights shine while doing an art project.  If you haven’t ventured past Columbia Elementary in the past couple of days you may not have seen the adorable winter mural painted by students in the front windows which is a tradition at this time of year.  The parents had the paint all ready for the students as they excitedly approached the mural.  The students worked cooperatively as they painted various areas of the mural resulted in an experience many of them will remember forever.

Each student has positive qualities, talents, and strengths they will build on over their lifetime.  As a community, our job is to support our children as they grow and develop their interests and talents.  Over the past several months, the Columbia School District has worked to redevelop our budget to maximize those areas which especially support and enhance the maturing of our students’ talents and academic strengths.  As we join together to support our teachers and students there are ways you may partner with the Columbia School District.  Sign up to volunteer in our Buddy’s Reading program at Columbia Elementary.  Check out and join the Columbia Community Fitness Center through which community members work on their personal fitness goals while supporting the center which benefits our high school students by providing after school fitness activities, along with great fitness equipment they benefit from during their physical education classes.  Donate to help support bringing upgrades in technology to our students.  Your willingness to actively partner with the Columbia School District may change a child’s life forever and make their light brightly sparkle!  If you are interested in partnering with the Columbia School District, please contact me by email at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or call 517-592-6641.

Creating Art Projects With Your Child

Providing sensory experiences for your child is positive for his development.  Creating and experimenting with art allows your child to use his senses and build his brain.  Playing with play dough, painting, drawing, and making collages all spark connections in the brain.  Having these experiences will help your child be more successful in school.  Christmas time gives us many opportunities to invent creative art project ideas which tie brain development together with the season.

You can help your child get the largest benefit from creating and experimenting with art by:

·        Encouraging him to enjoy the process of creating art.  The most important part of the creative process is that the child should interpret what the project should look like.  Your child will be more apt to explore his creative desires if we accept his finished project without any criticism.

·        Providing materials.  It’s great if your child has access to crayons, paints and paper.  Household items such as fabric scraps and catalogs are also fun to use when creating art projects.

·        Say something specific about your child’s artwork.  “You used a lot of yellow and blue in your picture.”  Your comment could also sound like, “It’s great how you incorporated Santa’s reindeer into your picture,” or “The sculpture of the penguin has a nice long beak and big feet.”

·        Hanging his creation on your refrigerator, setting a sculpture out on a shelf or giving the results of an art project to a favorite relative will make your child feel appreciated.  By displaying the artistic creation your child will feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.

By encouraging your child to be creative he will benefit by increased brain activity and a higher level of self-esteem.  Your attention to a project which he is proud of will help to spark his sense of ownership and will encourage him to experiment with his creative side to a greater degree.  Have fun creating with your child!  If you have questions about this article or about Columbia School District, please call me at 517-592-6641 or email me at Pamela.campbell@myeagles.org.

The Potato

Talk to anyone about their years in school and they will have many stories about teachers, classmates, tests, and athletic events. This year my grandfather, who was born in 1900, would have been 112.  As a small child I listened to him describe his experiences in school.  One story that stands out described a daily ritual through the cold winter months.  The scenario begins with how my grandfather and his friends would cook a potato at home in their old wood stoves.  The boys would then carry their potato to school and use it as a hand warmer in the cold winter weather as the snow blew across their paths.  Once at school they would put it in the wood fueled stove to keep it warm and later, they would eat it for a hot lunch. 

When my grandfather was young the schools were small and all the children were educated together in one room.  His school did not have a bus or any type of transportation.  Earlier this year, the Columbia School Board began examining the cost of maintaining our aging fleet. The cost of parts and tires were mounting and could be minimized if only our fleet was newer.  The newest bus in our old fleet was built in 2003 and one of the older busses was built in 1991.  Due to the age of the fleet, it was time to upgrade the safety aspects for our students and their drivers.  In the end, the cost of the old fleet, the parts, tires, and maintenance of our old busses was comparable to leasing a fleet of new busses.

After studying the bus situation the Columbia School District Board of Education arranged to lease new busses for two years.  This week the students who attend Columbia School District are riding on new busses!  One of the positive aspects of the new busses is that the seatbacks are taller and provide increased safety for our children.  Because the engines and transmissions are new and more reliable there is less chance of breakdowns.  In addition, the busses have digital cameras and new radios. 

As you are driving around town, keep a lookout for our new busses.  They are clean, shiny and most of all safe for their precious cargo.  If you are interested in taking a tour of one of our new busses or learning more about Columbia Schools, email me at pamela.campbell@myeagles.org or call me at 517.592.6641.