Cowboy Courier
September 5, 2019
Thank you for your attentiveness during faculty meeting yesterday. It is so important that everyone follows the systems we have in place to identify and serve students appropriately. I want to appreciate Jennifer, Lori, Courtney, and Christal for presenting yesterday.
I want to share an article I found that helps us understand the distinction between social emotional learning and mental health intervention. I am so proud of the lessons we are teaching. These competencies we are teaching students are critical to their success. It is a pretty quick read, but try to get through the first half at least. It helped me frame some of the conversations I have about our Club CREED course.
Have a great evening and a happy Friday!
Amber
Patriot's Day Parade
CLUB CREED CLASSES: Students will line the halls at the beginning of Club CREED at 9:35.
The event will start at 9:40 with the national anthem (so we need to ask students to be respectful) and then students will begin parade. It should conclude by 9:55.
Parade will start upstairs in the 8th grade hallway, loop around to 7th, and we will finish by going through the 6th grade hallway. Art, resource, technology, and yearbook classes will need to line the main downstairs hallway since we will NOT be going down those hallways.
Wear red, white, and blue and encourage students to do the same! Enjoy a jeans day for showing your patriotic spirit!
Tornado Drill Location Assignments
Many classrooms do not have tornado maps. Please see the attached link for the updated tornado location list. We will be holding a “Shelter in Place” aka Tornado drill Friday, 9/13 at 2:15 pm. If you are assigned a hallway, please file into the area sitting by lockers and along the walls, while leaving space for doors. We anticipate having to make some adjustments to the locations, so let Machost know what is not working.
We will have the September fire drill prior to the tornado drill. The fire drill will be at 2:00 pm.
MEF Grants are Open
FOR QUESTIONS:
Please email mefgrants@mckinneyisd.net with questions. Sign up for MEF Grant Workshops in Eduphoria. Two workshops are offered on September 5th.
The McKinney Education Foundation Grant Application is open. All requests are due September 30th at 11:59pm.
Lunch Detention Info
As the honeymoon phase comes to a close…below you will find the lunch detention link. We will having a hard stop at 10:30 am for lunch detentions that could be served day of to help with cafeteria prep. If you issue a lunch detention, a student may serve it the following day. Thank you for your patience.
From Amber: also remember that a lunch detention will not fix an on-going problem and it won't engage a disengaged child. You can't punish a student into wanting to be good for you. It is an appropriate and sufficient consequence in some cases, but if lunch detentions fixed real issues, anyone could do our job. Thank you for being mindful, reflective teachers who problem solve every day.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfrVdV2pP5KndnBPhL3e8NLmbUb7Ahub7HZW5uX6dT4zhm5Tw/viewform
Fundraiser Kick-Off
Wednesday Meetings
9/11 Faculty Meeting
9/18 Leadership *SpEd teachers will be in Xlogs/MSB training.
9/25 No Meeting
10/2 Faculty
Attendance Notes
We have an new email for submitting absence/sick notes for students. I will put this in the Parent Courier, but feel free to send in your newsletter too.
Please use cockrilloffice@mckinneyisd.net email for submitting your student absence
notes. Please only use this email address for attendance/absence communication. All absence notes need to be received by the third day following an absence.
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Club CREED Staff Dare
Kudos!
Mrs. Stanley, Thank you so much! What a great note to get today:)
Our daughter is really enjoying middle school so far and ELAR is always a favorite subject of hers. I know she is really enjoying you as her teacher too! I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you from many other parents and students too...so keep up the good work! Good teachers are so special to have!!
Enjoy the long weekend:)
Happy Parent
Hi Nicole,
I just ran across your (or one of your parents’) YouTube video of my piece “La Mariposa” and want to tell you that, including high school performances - yours is the best recording of the piece I have heard. I loved the way you conducted it! So full of energy and life!!! Your orchestra is very impressive (and colorful too!) I am a retired band and orchestra teacher from Colorado and watching you conduct this made me wish I was there for the performance. (It also made me want to be the one conducting it!) Kudos for a job well done!
Lorrie Baum (Composer of "La Mariposa")
Dear Mrs. Epperson,
Tonight, I am sending this email as a parent and not a fellow educator. You have an excellent educator on our staff and I would like to take a moment to brag on him. My son takes medication for his ADHD, so sometimes small things seem monstrous and overwhelming for him. This afternoon, my son arrived home in near tears. He had lost his social studies notebook and was worried to the point of not eating. (You know it's serious if a 12 year old boy doesn't eat!) He feels like it took so much time for him to get the notes written in the first place, that trying to make up that information while keeping pace with new information is impossible. Of course, any suggestion I made was immediately shot down because I couldn't possibly understand the seriousness of the situation. I'm just mom, not THE teacher.
So I sent THE teacher, Mr. Kenealey, an email briefly explaining the situation, knowing that this is a holiday weekend and that I would probably not hear back until Monday. Well, Mr. Kenealey responded within the hour. Not only that, but he was kind and calming. He assured me that my son could get the information next week and that there was some already on Canvas. He also asked me to tell him to please not worry and just wait for Tuesday. In an instant, my son's mood lifted and he ate 3 plates of dinner. Mr. Kenealey could have waited to respond. He could have told my son he would have to figure it out on his own and to keep up, buttercup. But he didn't. I know this seems minor, but Mr. Kenealey saved our weekend and dramatically lowered the stress level in our home just by typing a quick response to an email. I am grateful beyond measure!
Thank you to Mr. Kenealey for saving my hair! He really is THE teacher!
Sincerely,
Happy Parent
I asked a student who his Pre-Algebra teacher was. His response…”Mrs. Maki, I love her! She treats me like a son!” -Kerra
Cockrill Middle School has the best staff ever!!!
We had multiple staff members who gave up an evening of their time this week to attend the unlicensed diabetic care assistants training. (UDCA)
This is just ANOTHER example of the many ways our staff members are doing an outstanding job of taking excellent care of our students.
I want to send a personal thank you to these people! GOOD JOB!!! Nurse O'Grady
Thanks to :
Nicole Brown
Lynn Buchmiller
Bethany Crawford
Amanda DeLaGarza
Sarah Fox
Derrick Jeter
Austin Kincaid
Miranda Matte
Aaron McNeil
Mark Murdock
Suzette Perry
Maegan Puckett
Dorrie Seamans
Shelli Wandersee
Gary Williams
Robin Winters
Thank you to the history department for helping with the fundraiser. I appreciate you all being willing to help! -Amber
Thank you to Sandra for organizing the fundraiser "stuff". It is so much...but she does it with a smile! -Amber
Thank you to 6th grade teachers for rearranging your schedules to make a 7th period assembly work at the last minute. You are the best! -Amber