MES Principals Blog (Visitors: 1366) 

Wow!   The turnout for Vision Night was fantastic.  The opportunity to see students sharing what they are learning with their parents was great.  The response was so overwhelming that we are already discussing how we can do things differently in the future to help with the crowds.  Teachers had done an excellent job of preparing the activities.   Hopefully all involved in the evening have a better understanding of opportunities we are creating for students.   As we studied what skills students will need in the future to become successful, it soon became apparent that the type of expectations and skill knowledge that we acquired in school, does not adequately prepare our students for the unknown future.   Do you realize that the majority of the jobs  that todays elementary students will have do not even exist right now.  The knowledge base and technology is changing so quickly that how we are preparing students must also change.  In reading several articles and studies about what employers are looking for in potential employers, it is apparent that we need to prepare students to work in groups, think flexilby and problem solve.  In visiting classrooms today, you should see students who are working together, expressing their ideas and explaining their reasoning.  It is exciting to listen to children explain their reasoning.   Hopefully parents will try it over the summer.  Students need to be prepared to verbalize their thinking and explain their thought process.

I am looking forward to the upcoming week.   We have several opportunities for parents to spend some time with their students at school.   First on Thursday, the 2nd grade musicians will present the Bremontown Musicians Musical.   Afterwards the communication committee is sponsoring a school-wide Vision Night. It is an opportunity for students to bring their families and share some of the things they have learned this year.   Also students and parents will be able to participate in activities that show what they will be learning next year.  Participants will be able to participate in such activities as Hallway Tree of Knowledge, Magnetic Problem Solving,  Decimal Wars, The Money Story, just to mention a few.   In addition door prizes will be awarded and food will be available in the cafeteria.  This is a great opportunities for parents to spend time with the children while reinforcing concepts and knowledge that students have learned this year.    Hoping that alot of our families will come between 1700 and 1900 to participate in the festives.   I know that the communication committee has worked extremely hard to make this a fun and rewarding evening for everyone.

Then on Friday, the 9th, students will participate in the school-wide field day.  Students will be participating in various track and field events.   Family members are encouraged to join us for a day of fun in the sun.

I have learned over my many years in education how important family involvment in school activities are in the education of students.  Children treasure the time that get to spend with their parents (even though the older ones may say otherwise) and it sends a powerful message that they are important to you and you take their education serious.   We only have three weeks left in the school year.  I hope to see everyone at Vision Night and Field Day.

One of the things we have worked very hard on this year was developing a vision statement for the school.   We spent time talking about what life would be like for our students today in the year 2020 and what do we need to be doing to prepare them.  The one thing that was obvious to all of us is that our students need to be able to think.  There are alot of different types of thinking.   You can find information on critical thinking, responsible thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, etc.   We didn't want to concentrate on just one aspect of thinking so we decided we wanted the students to be thoughtful learners.   In other words we wanted them to be creative, critical, responsible problem solvers who are able to express and explain their thoughts.

In addition we felt like it was important that all of us involved in the education of the students continue to be learners ourselves and find ways for our parents to join us in our journey.   So basically that is how we arrived at the vision statement:  "Thoughtful learners achieving success."