Parent Involvement

Parent involvement still makes a difference during middle school and high school years.  Columbia Middle School and Columbia Central High School needs parent volunteers just as much as the elementary does.  What do you do when the school needs parent volunteers for an event, but your schedule is already busy and your teen is begging for you to say away?  “Don’t come to my school,” she says, “let the other parents do it.”  It’s tempting to be persuaded.  Does your teen really need your involvement anymore?

Research is clear: Parent involvement in education makes a huge difference for kids of all ages.  The results can include improved attendance, better behavior and higher grades.

This doesn’t mean you have to be at every school activity.  You might help with a dance, for example, but skip a play.  You may join the Athletic Boosters, but not help with the Science Fair.  In fact, lots of “involvement” happens at home.  The National Education Association strongly suggests talking about school, helping with homework and monitoring your teen’s time.  These are things you can do every day.

Meanwhile, steps such as visiting the school occasionally and staying in touch with the staff are small but essential.  They teach your teen that “School is important,”  “I care about your success,” and “Teens, parents and schools are an unbeatable team.”  Deep down, teens get these messages, so even when they say, “Don’t come to school,” they’re actually glad you are involved.

Columbia School District offers many areas for parents to get involved.  Our upcoming Back-to-School Days are a kick off to the school year.  Monday, August 26^th from 5 to 6:30 pm is the Columbia Middle School Back to School Open House.  Columbia Central High School Freshman and New Student Orientation begin at 6 pm on Tuesday August 27^th and the CCHS Open House for all students kicks-off at 7:00 pm.  The Columbia Elementary Back-to-School Bash is Tuesday August 27^th from 5 to 6:30 pm.

During the Open Houses you will have an opportunity to join the Band Boosters, the Athletic Boosters and the PTO, meet your child or teen’s teachers, and get reacquainted with old friends.  After school begins if you have time during the school day, you may want to become a mentor in the Brooklyn Buddies Reading Program or volunteer on the playground.  If you are interested in registering your child to attend Columbia School District, please call 517-592-6641 or email me at pam.campbell@myeagles.org .

Getting Ready for Kindergarten

Kindergarten is an exciting time for children and their parents.  As your child moves from preschool or daycare to Kindergarten they may need you to help prepare him or her for this big step.  You may be able to build their confidence by doing family activities to help your child learn what school will be like.  Over the next several weeks before school  begins on Tuesday, September 3rd you may want to try some of the following activities:

·     Doing art projects with your child and incorporating the use of crayons, markers, glue, scissors, paint, and other supplies will help him or her to be familiar with activities he or she will do in school.

·     Math activities such as counting pennies, grouping items into similar categories, matching numerals with numbers of items, talking about time, and discussing differences in sizes of items such as big, little, small and large.

·     Reading books together.  The Public Library is a great source for choosing books at random or about a particular topic your child is interested in, such as dinosaurs, dogs, animals, or space travel.

Columbia School District is offering all day Kindergarten, Young 5’s, and Preschool for your children.  We believe that all day Kindergarten and all day Young 5’s program are successful in providing additional learning opportunities for our students.  The additional time allows teachers to expand and advance our curriculum providing increased academic experiences for our Kindergarteners and Young 5’s.  Our teachers are excited about the growth and achievements they see in our children who participate in all day Kindergarten.

Since beginning all day Kindergarten we have seen many benefits.  Our students learn to read in Kindergarten and they are excited when they get an opportunity to read to each other.  They are able to work on additional math facts and learn about how to count coins.  The students count pennies, nickels, and dimes.  They also have an opportunity to work with guided writing strategies.  Many of the current standards and benchmarks are very similar to what used to be taught in first grade.

Transitioning from preschool or daycare to Kindergarten or Young 5’s is a big step for children.  If you haven’t had an opportunity to register your child for one of these terrific programs, please stop by Columbia Elementary or call 592-6632 or email Mrs. Powell @ deb.powell-principal@myeagles.org or lori.hunter@myeagles.org.   Together we are Building a Brighter Future for our Students!

The Red Barn

Each morning I pass by a big red barn on my way to school.  This spring I have noticed subtle changes in the barn.  Although some of the window casings are still fairly white, the red paint has become worn and thin.  Some of the doors which keep the wind and rain out of the barn are a bit crooked and do not quite close as nicely as they did when the red barn was new.  The white trim on the corner of the barn is warn and dirty.  It looks as though some of the windows are becoming crooked and worn.

In much the same way as the old red barn, our school buildings have began to become worn and tired.  Over the past several weeks between thirty and forty community members,  have been working on creating a Facilities Master Plan focused on the needs of our current and future students.  Below you will find the summation of the meetings to date:

May 21, 2013 Meeting

The team held discussion and worked on creating guiding principles to lead us through the task of making the best decisions regarding what improvements that should be included in or facilities master plan and recommended to the board. 

May 28, 2013 Meeting

The team toured the high school, middle school, elementary school and the options & adult education buildings; to see firsthand the needed updates and replacements.  The building principals lead the tours along with the director of building operations.

June 4, 2013 Meeting

Discussion was held regarding the committee’s observations of the building tours.   Questionnaires were completed on the subject of the current infra structure conditions and the needs for improvement. A considerable amount of time was spent holding discussion on the topic of accessibility, technology and security needs and issues.  The committee also worked on prioritizing the infra structure’s needs. The main focus is to assure a safe, comfortable and secure environment along with assuring meeting ability to meet the District’s technological needs.

The Facility Improvement Team will continue to meet in the high school library on Tuesday evenings, at 6:00 p.m., to continue to create a Facilities Master Plan.  If you have any questions regarding the process, please email me or check out the Columbia Facility Planning Facebook page.

Congratulations!

On behalf of the Columbia School District Board of Education, staff members and teachers congratulations to the Class of 2013.  Our graduates leave high school and our adult education program with many memories from their years of schooling.  Many graduating seniors are headed off to college armed with an excellent education.  They have a whole community of people cheering them on to success.

Many of our graduates have received scholarships from universities located all over the country.  Our students’ academic abilities that have precipitated the awards are the result of excellent learning opportunities provided by their teachers and staff of Columbia School District. 

As the Class of 2013 approached graduation many students commented on their opportunity to participate in leadership activities like the student blood drives, service learning activities and Communication Camp. They reminisced about their experience in AP English and the fun they had discovering DNA during their Biology class.  Others talked about their opportunity to participate in vocationally focused classes through the Jackson Area Career Center.  Still other students fondly discussed their trip to France and the accidental bonus day in Germany.  A future writer said that he was well prepared for college and another student said she appreciated being able to take mathematics up through Calculus.

A future scientist mentioned his opportunity to take AP Chemistry and about how he feels well prepared for college.  One student commented on how pleased she was to have had an opportunity to participate in the Band and the musicals.  Another student described his satisfaction at being able to enhance his creativity through his experience in art class.  One thing many students mentioned was how proud they are of earning their high school diploma from Columbia and how much they have appreciated their teachers and staff members.

Over the years the families and the teachers of our hard working graduates have labored in partnership to sculpt our students into the fine young men and women they are today.  Our graduating seniors have been a terrific group of students.  They have laughed together and cried together.  Best wishes to our graduating seniors for a successful future!  Congratulations to the Columbia Central High School, Columbia Options High School and Columbia Adult Education Class of 2013!

Building Blocks Towards Success!

When my boys were young they were excited to play with blocks.  As they matured and gained greater dexterity, they began playing with Lego’s and other types of toys to build structures, vehicles and machines.  Sometimes they would begin with a single block and then build wider and wider structures until they toppled over.    However, when they built a structure with a wide base of support, they were successful in building amazing buildings, towering over the little Lego figures.

In much the same way our children must gain a wide base of learning to build on as they grow.  Children who begin with a basic understanding of their multiplication facts and work to broaden their understanding through practice will be successful when they have to recall those basic facts.  The same idea holds true in all of their subjects.  It is important for our young children to begin reading each day so that when they are in middle school and high school they have the necessary skills to successfully complete their assignments.

Last evening I had the chance to see the results of a good learning foundation and how it affects our students as they grow and mature towards graduation by attending our Honors and Awards ceremony.  Many students in the Class of 2013 have worked diligently over the years to earn high grades and a solid educational base.  Our Top Ten seniors are: Joshua Angles (Valedictorian), Hannah Butler (Salutatorian),  Sara Blumhardt, Joshua Callison, Katharyn Hogle, Matthew Lane, Christian Reed, Kamil Lawrence, Tyler Smith and Rebecca McComas.  In addition to our Top Ten seniors, there were 28 additional seniors awarded with a designation of Highest Honors and Honors.

One by one the students received honors, awards and thousands of dollars in scholarships for their outstanding achievement in academics, service and athletics.  Many of the students exhibited a breadth of ability in their achievements.  Five students were awarded with the designation of earning the Lenawee County Athletic Association’s Academic All Conference Award.  They were Andrew Cherry, Daryn Davenport, Kamil Lawrence, Christian Reed and Alexander Snow.  Two students, Dwight Blucher and Brianna Ahrens, received awards for their membership in the Jackson Area Career Center National Technical Honor Society.  Congratulations to all of our students who received honors, awards and scholarships last evening.

Many of our seniors started their academic journey in the Columbia Elementary preschool or in our kindergarten.   These wonderful students began as young children intentionally building a solid foundation of learning and understanding.  Their focused learning has resulted in a successful tenure at Columbia Schools.   If you would like to have your child begin their education by attending our preschool, Early 5’s program, or kindergarten, please call us at 5175926641 or email me at pam.campbell@myeagles.org .

The Puzzle

As I rounded the corner and began walking down the hallway of Columbia Central High School my eyes glanced up at the wall to my right.  I found it interesting that there was a purple colored square on the wall.  It was puzzling, I wasn’t sure what the square meant.  Later during the day there were two, then three, then four squares arranged on the wall.  The puzzle was becoming clear: it was a picture.  As additional painted squares appeared over the following few days more of the picture appeared and I realized that the picture would be of a familiar character from a cartoon movie.

In much the same way, many things in our lives appear slowly, like random pieces of a puzzle, until we finally see the picture clearly.  Currently we are working with Kingscott architects and Granger Construction to complete an assessment of our school buildings and facilities.  As part of the process looking at each piece of the facility assessment puzzle, we are working with a group of community members who are part of a Facility Improvement Team.  

The Facility Improvement Team will work together, gathering input from community members, business owners, school personnel, and Columbia School District students.  Throughout the process the FIT team will use a process to continue to assess, evaluate and gather additional input regarding the concerns with our facilities.  

Currently we are aware of only a few of the puzzle pieces: Our heating systems are over 44 years old and while some areas have updated controls, the core of the system is unreliable and outdates.   The existing roof structures at the buildings have outlasted their expected life-span.  Our technology infrastructure needs are many and improvement of the system would tremendously benefit our students.  In addition to the puzzle pieces of heating, roofs and technology, our students’ safety is paramount.  As we have worked to assess our school facilities, we have specifically noted ways of increase the safety of our children and school staff members.

The entirety of the Columbia School District community is invited to assist the Facilities Improvement Team.  If you are interested in helping to complete the facility assessment puzzle and would be interested in serving on the team, please let me know by sending me an email to pam.campbell@myeagles.org. 

The Educational Rainbow

When our children are small we take every opportunity to teach them.  We begin by encouraging our toddler to “throw a ball” or “see the big red truck.”  With each exchange our children learn more about the world around them and gain an insight into the adult they will become.  As our toddlers grow into preschoolers and then into primary school students they build on their initial vocabulary made up of “mama” and “no” into full sentences which often begin with the word “why.”

As our precious little children begin to grow and develop into preteens they learn math facts, scientific principles, and how to write a five paragraph essay.  As they hunger for more learning opportunities, our children’s teachers forge a partnership with us as parents.  As we work closely with the teachers in our child’s school, we find ourselves in an educational rainbow of opportunities for our children.  This new rainbow of learning opportunities will lead our children to develop their talents in art, music, math, science, reading, social studies and physical education.  By providing the full spectrum of learning to our children, teachers lead them to develop into the leaders of tomorrow.

The rainbow of learning opportunities available to our children through our strong public schools and highly qualified teachers will give our children the tenacity to become a jet pilot, the ingenuity to become a automobile designer, or the enthusiasm to become a kindergarten teacher.  Each day I have the opportunity to see children learning at all different levels.  I see the high school student working collaboratively with his peers in Anatomy class to identify DNA.  Then there are the middle school students who work with their science teacher to gain a deeper understanding of various aspects of the environment.

This year take a moment to visit a public school in your area and discover the rainbow of learning opportunities available to your child.  If you have any questions regarding educational opportunities for your child, email me at pam.campbell@myeagles.org.