Bear Tracks
June 15, 2018
Coming Up:
Friday 6/15 - 4th Grade Sandy Hook Trip, 1st Grade Author’s Showcase
Week of 6/18:
Monday 6/18 - Kindergarten End Of Year Party, 3rd Grade Publishing Party
Tuesday 6/19 - Marking Period Ends, 2nd Grade End Of Year Picnic, 4th Grade End Of Year Party, 3rd Grade End Of Year Party
Wednesday 6/20 - Early Dismissal, Pre-K PM in AM, Preschool Graduation, 1st Grade End of Year Party, 5th Grade End of Year Party
Thursday 6/21 - Early Dismissal, Cardboard Arcade
Friday 6/22 - Early Dismissal, Last Day, Staff Show, Clap Out
Key Information:
- Faculty Meeting - We will be having a faculty meeting on Monday. Don't ask questions, just indulge me...
- Early Dismissal Days - We will follow the Early Dismissal Schedule on Wednesday 6/20 and Thursday 6/21. We will not follow a master schedule on the last day (think May Day).
- STAFF SHOW!!! - We will have our End of Year Staff show on Friday, 6/22 We'll begin at 10 am. Be there and be ready for some fun!
- CLAP OUT - We'll be doing the 5th grade clap out again on the last day. We'll start around 12:30.
- Room moves- if you are moving rooms (you will have been told), just pack your things and label; do not move boxes or items before summer.
- Please report to Lauren if you have students that you know are moving after this school year. That will give us time to check in with parents and send withdrawal forms to them for more accurate enrollment #s.
Article of the Week
Quote of the Week:
Note from the Principal:
Happy Friday!
This is it. The last time this school year that you'll open a Bear Tracks on a full day of school.
This time of year always brings me to the same thought...
I remember vividly watching the Summer Olympics in 2004. American wrestler Rulon Gardner had won the bronze medal... then he sat in the middle of the mat, took his shoes off... and left them there! (Gardner became really famous four years earlier when he stunned Russian Alexander Karelin to win the gold medal. It was Karelin's first international loss in 13 years!)
I thought it was odd to see a man leave his shoes on the mat, so I paid attention. Garner was retiring and said afterward, "To leave them on the mat meant I left everything on the mat as a wrestler." Turns out, it is a bit of a tradition when you are a really good wrestler (in college or the Olympics) to leave your shoes on the mat, to signify that you gave it all that you had and had no regrets.
I'm not suggesting that anyone retire! But I love the symbolism and we can draw a huge parallel to a school year as we enter next week.
With the 5th grade Promotion Ceremony, the Pool Party and so many other culminating activities happening, I am seeing such positive changes in our students from where we started in September. I am utterly convinced that each of you does, in fact, change the world. I say that because you change the reality that so many of our students live in. You change what they think they can do, what books they think they can read, what they think they should do when they are stumped and what they do when a friend needs help. And if that is not changing the world - their world; I don't know what is.
The last week is such a bitter sweet series of moments. It is relieving and rewarding, but it is also sad. We'll never have this moment again. And someday we'll undoubtedly look back at now as 'the good old days.'
So enjoy the week. Enjoy every second of it. Please read the article of the week. Take a day or a period to just experiment and try something. But most of all, give yourself the permission to bask in what you've accomplished for a moment. This year, we gave our students all of ourselves and that is exhausting, but it is also so fulfilling.
Take pride in who we are; what we do, and where we are heading. We have certainly left it all on the 'mat.'
I love Bear Tavern and am so fortunate to be your principal. Thank you for a great year. So finish strong and make the conscious decision to soak it all in!
Sincerely,
Chris
(All wrestling references are dedicated to Chris and Lori Ayres!)