CSA Lincoln Newsletter
Friday, September 21st
Principal's Notes and Highlights
Happy Friday!
You will never lose. You either win or learn.
While scanning through Instagram, I came across an ad for a Father & Son-Best Friends Forever watch. I hadn’t been searching for this, but I often tell Calvin we are best friends. Michelle and I are certain that our phones are spying on us and using our conversations to promote items we might purchase. I’m not ready to buy him a watch, but the quote engraved left an impression on me.
To My Son
I want you to believe deep in your heart
-that-
you’re capable of achieving anything you put your mind to
-that-
YOU WILL NEVER LOSE
YOU EITHER WIN OR LEARN
Just go forth and aim for the skies
I can’t promise to be here for the rest of your life
But I can promise to love you for the rest of mine.
Love, Dad
Try reading that with dry eyes. Those are powerful words. I shared that quote with our staff a few weeks ago and challenged them to have this mindset when they teach. Imagine what we could do if our students believed this!
Does it shift your perspective on winning and losing? Now, I'm not saying we should give everyone a participation ribbon and be on our merry way. I do think that for some, participation is a success. It is a starting point to build upon, but we can want more for them. I've yet to meet a parent who said, "I want my child to achieve the bare minimum." Every parent wants the best for their child. I believe we should start with the intent of being successful in anything we do. There is nothing wrong with having high expectations. Just go forth and aim for the skies.
So what happens when our children don't win? We know that this will happen. Not winning can sometimes be a devastating experience. It can be difficult to help them understand why it happened and how to move forward. As a teenager in the 90's, I had a No Fear poster in my bedroom. This was a popular sports apparel company at that time and one of their tag lines was, "Second place is the first loser." Do you remember this? Or how about our beloved Ricky Bobby saying "If you're not first, you're last". Those are high stakes quotes. There is not much room for growth.
Maybe we should just throw in the towel now and set goals of being average. It sure seems like there may be less disappointment involved.
I say no. You will never lose. You either win or learn. You can't always win, but you can prepare and work hard towards achieving your goal. You can turn it into a learning experience to be better next time. I'm not just talking about sports. This can be applied in all aspects of our life.
Calvin is now at the age where we can start working on life lessons. Audrey still has a few years, but the messages I share will directly impact their perspective on...well...just about everything. It is an incredible responsibility we have as parents. It is not one to be taken lightly.
I want you to believe deep in your heart that you’re capable of achieving anything you put your mind to.
I'm still relatively new to being a parent and most of you probably already have this figured out. Your children are amazing so you are obviously doing something right. :) This message really tugged on my heart and made me think. Thought I would pass it along.
Have a great weekend!
Brett
Updates and Announcements
- The Mill Race Fun Run is tonight at 6:00 p.m. and it is free to enter! Be sure to register and choose CSA Lincoln as your school. Look for the CSA Lincoln sign and Mrs. Cash in the park before the race. We would love to get a group photo! Also, good luck to anyone participating in this weekend's races. The forecast looks to be in your favor!
- Parent-Teacher Conferences are next week. We hope you will attend your scheduled conference. A strong positive relationship between parents and the teacher has a great impact on student success.
- It is also time for the Book Fair! We are partnering with Viewpoint Books again. Information is included below.
- Thank you for your support of the Serve-a-thon Fundraiser. Our students raised $11,616.53! That is almost double what our school goal was! A special thank you to Wrigley Stinkleface for motivating our students. You'll have to watch the student announcements to get that reference. Because we met our school goal, every student will receive a CSA Lincoln water bottle! Miss Cook's class won the pizza party and our top ten students will be Principal for a Day next Friday. Our principals will be Emma Gibson, Matt Moore, Kate London, Kate Franklin, Hazel Kelley, Jack Hale, Stella Streeval, Ethan Hall, Sydney Graham and Mary Sparks. I'm sure Mr. Shipley will be organizing details for the dodgeball tournament. Details for how each grade will be serving the Lincoln Central Neighborhood Foundation are in the process of being finalized.
- Attached is a flyer about a poster contest for Fire Prevention Week. See details if you're interested in participating.
- I will be back at school on Monday. Audrey rolled over yesterday. I was glad to be home for that moment. Thank you for your patience and support! I'm excited to see my 'other' kids!
Reading Challenge and Book Fair Information
We have a few heavy hitters for our CSA Baseball Reading Challenge this week.
We had numerous players in our weekly drawing for 3-6th grade for finishing books this week and our lucky batter for the week was Graham Wheeler.
For K-2nd grade, we want to congratulate Hazel Kelley, Emma Gibson, Amelia Meadows, Ali Copeland... who all flew past first base and on their way the second!
Reading is fun and rewarding, keep those pages turning!
Next week is our book fair with Viewpoint Books. It is going to be "out of this world"!
Hours of operation will be:
Monday: 8:00-3:00
Tuesday: 7:30-5:00
Wednesday: 7:30-5:00
Thursday: 7:30-3:00
Students will get the opportunity to shop and browse during their scheduled library date and time along with the additional listed hours after school. We look forward to seeing you here.
Husky Gram Winners
Miah- Rae Byrum
Braxton Morgan
Lola Thompson
Tyler Butcher
Jackson Day
John Warble
Savannah Shreve
Gibson Deckard
Lily Garrett
Andrea Orlandi
Graham Wheeler
Aditi Karthick
Paige Loichinger
Alyssa Whitted
Perfect Attendance Contest
Attention Huskies is time for our Perfect Attendance Contest.
From September 4th to December 14th.
Be at school everyday, on time. No appointments, no tardies, no early dismissals.
Students with perfect attendance during this time will be eligible to receive a special prize.
PTO Update
Got Coke Codes?
Remember to be using the https://us.coca-cola.com/give site to donate your Coke rewards codes to CSA Lincoln or send your Coke codes in to school with your student and we'll enter them for you! Each cap code is worth 5 cents and boy do those nickels add up quickly! And don't forget the codes printed on the inside of 12 and 24-pack boxes...those are worth even more!
Volunteer Support
THANK YOU! to all those who signed up to provide snacks during parent teacher conferences next week. We were able to fill the sign up sheet before it got put in this newsletter today so great job, parents! If you're bummed that you didn't see this volunteer opportunity before spots were filled, please email Shawna at ptocsalincoln@gmail.com and tell her you'd like to be added to the PTO email list!
CSA Lincoln on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter
Instagram: CSA_Lincoln
Facebook: CSA Lincoln Community
Twitter: @csaprincipal
Brett Findley
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
Email: findleyb@bcsc.k12.in.us
Website: http://www.bcsc.k12.in.us/site/default.aspx?DomainID=788
Location: Columbus Signature Academy Lincoln Campus, 5th Street, Columbus, IN, United States
Phone: 812-376-4447
Facebook: facebook.com/CSALincoln
Twitter: @csaprincipal