Bauer Bits
February 16, 2024
From the Principal's Desk
Part 3:
How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking
Vignette: A formula that will work wonders for you
Remember that other people may be totally wrong. But they don't think so. Don't condemn them. Anybody can do that. Try to understand them. Only wise, tolerant, exceptional people even try to do that.
Seeing things through another person's eyes may ease tensions when personal problems become overwhelming. Elizabeth Novak of New South Wales, Australia, was six weeks late with her car payment. "On a Friday," she reported, "I received a nasty phone call from the man who was handling my account informing me if I did not come up with $122 by Monday morning I could anticipate further action from the company. I had no way of raising the money over the weekend, so when I received his phone call first thing on Monday morning I expected the worst. Instead of becoming upset I looked at the situation from his point of view. I apologized most sincerely for causing him so much inconvenience and remarked that I must be his most troublesome customer as this was not the first time I was behind in my payments. His tone of voice changed immediately, and he reassured me that I was far from being one of his really troublesome customers. He went on to tell me several examples of how rude his customers sometimes were, how they lied to him and often tried to avoid talking to him at all. I said nothing. I listened and let him pour out his troubles to me. Then, without any suggestion from me, he said it did not matter if I couldn't pay all the money immediately. It would be all right if I paid him $20 by the end of the month and made up the balance whenever it was convenient for me to do so."
Tomorrow, before asking anyone to put out a fire or buy your product or contribute to your favorite charity, why not pause and close your eyes and try to think the whole thing through from another person's point of view? Ask yourself: "Why should he or she want to do it?" True, this will take time, but it will avoid making enemies and will get better results – and with less friction and less shoe leather.
"I would rather walk the sidewalk in front of a person's office for two hours before an interview," said Dean Donham of the Harvard business school, "than step into that office without a perfectly clear idea of what I was going to say and what that person – from my knowledge of his or her interests and motives – was likely to answer."
That is so important that I am going to repeat it in italics for the sake of emphasis.
I would rather walk the sidewalk in front of a person's office for two hours before an interview than step into that office without a perfectly clear idea of what I was going to say and what that person – from my knowledge of his or her interests and motives – was likely to answer.
If, as a result of reading this book, you get only one thing – an increased tendency to think always in terms of the other person's point of view, and see things from that person's angle as well as your own – if you get only that one thing from this book, it may easily prove to be one of the stepping stones of your life.
PRINCIPLE:
Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
Mark Your Calendar
- Wednesday, February 21st: Sports Team/Jersey Day and Popcorn Day
- Friday, February 23rd: Early Release - 12:15pm
- Saturday, February 24th: Bauer Girls' Night - 6:00 - 8:00pm (more info below)
- Monday, February 26th: Parent Teacher Conferences and Jet's Pizza Night
- Wednesday, February 28th: Parent Teacher Conferences and Jet's Pizza Night
- Tuesday, March 5th: Culver's Night - JENISON LOCATION - 5:30 - 8:00pm
Please check the HPS Student Calendar for early release dates and breaks for the 2023-24 school year! You can also check out the 2024-2025 student calendar here.
STEAM Tidbits
PK students have started their spatial sense and coding unit. They are using coding cards to write a program for a robotic mouse that will run a course to find some cheese! Students are working on writing a complete program and debugging the program along the way. Kindergarten students are learning about forces through pushes and pulls. We've been investigating where we see pushes and pulls in everyday life. First grade has just started their animal adaptations unit. We're identifying features of all types of animals that allow them to survive in their environment. Second grade is just about to start a coding unit. They will be creating a video game using Scratch Jr. on classroom iPads. Third grade is just wrapping up their simple machines unit where they had to create a solution to save a tiger from being stuck in a ditch at the zoo. In 4th grade, students are working with electricity. They have been tasked with making different objects run (fans, LED, small speakers) by using solar power, hand crank generators and small battery packs. They're using alligator clips to complete circuits. I've been pretty impressed with the outcome! We might have several future electricians in 4th grade!
Have a great weekend!
-Mr. Lloyd
Spring Parent - Teacher Conferences
If you haven't scheduled your in person Spring Parent - Teacher Conferences for February 26th or 28th you can do that HERE!
For most of us the routine for conferences is pretty clear, but for the sake of clarity here are a few things to be mindful of:
if there is anything you'd like to discuss please make the teacher aware ahead of time so that they can be prepared and budget time for the discussion
make sure to arrive a few minutes early for your scheduled conference
teachers will likely use timers to help them stay on schedule and honor time for all
if more time is needed, please end the conference on time but make plans to follow-up on unfinished business via phone, email, or another agreed upon format
if there are areas where the teacher is noticing your child is struggling, please consider asking for resources for how you might also help address the issues at home
while we recognize that you know your child best, we have the best perspective on your child within the context of school and the dynamic of school is different from home
Bauer Parent Club News
Lots of great things are happening at Bauer this month – please hang with us and read through all the BPC updates. As always, we will also share information on our Facebook page.
Bauer Girls’ Night Out
Time to saddle up and grab your tickets for Bauer Girls’ Night Out!! Bauer girls and their special guests are invited to kick up their boots at The Barn at Stanton Crossing on Saturday, February 24th, 6-8 PM.
Bauer girls attend this event at no cost and may bring one special adult guest of their choosing. Tickets are $5 per adult and should be purchased ahead of the event as credit card payments and cash change will not be available at the event. Please grab your tickets here now (select Bauer Elementary School from the list of available category filters and then select the Girls’ Night Out event).
Our Girls’ Night Out committee is still in need of a few volunteers to help make this event run smoothly. This is a great time to jump in as a volunteer and this is sure to be a fun event! Please sign up here. Hope to see y’all there!
School Supply RE-STOCK Bauer Parent Club is helping to facilitate a school-wide School Supply Restock! As always, our teachers are grateful for your donations each fall, but at this point in the year the tissues have been sneezed in, the glue sticks have dried out, and the Ziploc bags are MIA. Teachers are currently working on item-specific lists and we will share those next week. Thank you in advance for your contributions! Jet’s Pizza Nights We’ve teamed up with Jet’s for TWO pizza nights on Monday 2/26 and Wednesday 2/28 so no matter which night you have conferences, Bauer families have a quick and DELICIOUS dinner option! Please consider making this your special conference night meal to celebrate your hard-working students! Jet’s generously donates a portion of sales from these nights back to Bauer Parent Club AND provides a pizza party for the class with the most orders! Participating in Pizza Nights is EASY - simply order your favorites from Jet’s Pizza (3735 Baldwin Street) on February 26 and 28! Call 616-662-9333 to order and be sure to mention your classroom teacher for pizza party consideration! Spring Conference Meals Thanks to our Walkathon fundraising success and continued contributions from Pizza & Restaurant Nights, we are able to provide our teaching staff with conference meals from Jet’s and Jimmy John’s this month! Our Bauer community is hard-working and supportive all the way around and we love to see it!! Culver’s Night - TAKE TWO! Delicious food served by your favorite Bauer staff?? This is a can’t miss event! It’s going down Tuesday, March 5th, 5:30 - 8:00 PM, this time at the JENISON Culver’s! The JENISON Culver’s is located at: 7393 Cottonwood Drive…in JENISON. A portion of sales will come back to BPC to fund all the great activities your students enjoy - so please save the date, come hungry and bring your friends! Bauer Parent Club Meeting Our next meeting is Monday, March 11th at 7:30 PM in the Bauer Library. We’ll be joined by special guests Doug VanderJagt, Superintendent at Hudsonville Public Schools, and a member of our HPS school board. Dr. VanderJagt will be discussing the May 7th non-homestead vote and answering any questions you may have. We hope to see you there! WHO YA GONNA CALL? Have you ever needed goods or services and wished you had a directory of Bauer families and alumni that you could go to first? The Bauer Parent Club feels the same! The BPC has created a directory to house Bauer family businesses, trades and vendors. Participants will be responsible for maintaining up-to-date information and we hope this will be a handy tool to connect and support Bauer families. If you would like to be represented in the directory, please visit the BPC Facebook page to look for the pinned post or search “business directory” on the page. You can also follow this direct link. Please contact the parent club at bauerparentclub@gmail.com with any questions or concerns. BPC on the ‘Gram Whitney said “the children are our future” and we agree! (Young folks can google this reference.) We’re trying to add a social media presence over on Instagram, but many on your current BPC board are *elder millennials* so please be patient. We understand there may be differing views/comfort levels with internet privacy but – since we’re concerned with elementary age kiddos and the internet is a complete jungle – our IG account will be private. (Just like our Facebook group page, you will need to request to follow.) Thanks for following along!
2024-25 PK/Kindergarten Registration
2024-2025 school year PK/Kindergarten enrollment link is open!
To be eligible for pre-kindergarten or kindergarten for the 2024-2025 school year, children must be five years of age on or before December 1, 2024.
Attendance
If your student will not be attending school due to illness or other reasons, please call the office at 616--669-6824 or email ehuizen@hpseagles.net AND apalmbo@hpseagles.net BEFORE 9:00 am. Students who are not called in by a parent/guardian will be marked with an unexcused absence.
If your student will be late, arriving after 8:45 am, please call the office at 616-669-6824 in the morning.
If your student will be late and needs a hot lunch, please let us know when you call. Hot lunch needs to be ordered by 10 am.
COVID Tests
Free at home COVID tests are available in the office.
Drop Off Procedures
If you are dropping your child off in the mornings we ask that you are mindful of a few details. When dropping students, please use the entire straightaway. We are having issues with folks stopping too soon and this creates a less efficient drop off. When you are allowed to pull forward, please pull all the way up to the grassy area at the end of the straightaway. The drop off area extends from this grassy area all the way back to the paper gator. Even our youngest students are capable of walking this short distance to the south building doors. Please have them exit your vehicle and head straight to the sidewalk to make their way into the building. Additionally, we close the doors at 8:45 sharp. If you arrive at 8:45 or later, please send your child in through the front/office doors by the flagpole.
Your attention to these details will make things more efficient so THANK YOU in advance!
Volunteer/Visitor Policy
The HPS criminal background check is required for all school volunteers. In order to complete this request, we ask that you fill out this volunteer form at least 48 hours prior to volunteering. Once your request is submitted, all Volunteer status updates (Approval, Denial or Limited Access Approval) will be sent directly to the building you have selected to volunteer in.
The Hudsonville Public School District has the right to approve or deny your request if your background check does not meet the standards of HPS Board Policy.
If you have any questions regarding the Volunteer Background Check process, please contact our Human Resources Department at 616-669-1740 or by emailing our office at eagles@hpseagles.net.