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UNIONTOWN JH/HS PRINCIPAL NEWSLETTER
August 2017 Edition
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This year's building theme - "17 INCHES"
I was introduced to this article by a colleague. I can't take credit for any of this, but I can take away the lesson that it teaches. Please enjoy!
“DON’T WIDEN THE PLATE!”
As we think about the new school year here’s some good advice we could benefit from.
“During the first week of January, 1996, more than 4000 baseball coaches attended the 52nd annual ABCA’s convention in Nashville, Tennessee. As I waited to register I heard veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name, in particular, I heard often, always with the same sentiment – “John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare.” Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter, I was happy to be there.
Then, there he was. Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career of fifty years. He shuffled to the stage to a tremendous standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which a home plate hung – a full-sized, stark-white home plate. Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy? After speaking for a half-hour, not once mentioning the prop around his neck, he finally did. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had wondered where he was going with it, or had simply forgotten it. Then, finally, “You’re probably wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck,” he said. I laughed with the others, acknowledging that possibility. “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”
Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were present. Several hands went up. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?” Finally, someone ventured, “Seventeen inches?” “That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth’s day?” “Seventeen inches?” a guess from another coach. “And high school coaches? And college coaches? How wide?” “Seventeen inches!” we said in unison. “And Minor League? Major League? Seventeen inches!” he confirmed. “And what do we do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over the plate?” (Pause) “They send him to Pocatello!” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter.
“What they don’t do is this, they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. You can’t hit a 17-inch target? We’ll make it 18 or 20 or 25 inches so you can hit it’.” (Pause) “Coaches, what do we do when our best player shows up late for practice? What if he gets caught drinking or breaks other team rules? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Widening home plate?” With a marker he drew a house on the plate. “This is the problem in our homes today, with our marriages, with our parenting and discipline. We don’t teach ourselves and our kids that there are consequences for failing to meet standards. We widen the plate! And with our values…and our schools…our churches… our government. We keep widening the plate.” He concluded, “If we keep going on this path, there is only one thing to look forward to.” He turned the home plate around, revealing its dark side. “Dark days ahead!”
Finally, “Coaches, keep your players, your own children, your schools, your churches, your government, and, most of all, keep yourselves, at ‘seventeen inches’.” Certainly, in our day, we see so much ‘widening the plate’.
Keep it at 17 Inches.
College and Career Ready?
In the 20th century world of work, knowing a lot of facts – memorizing tables, rules and formulas – would certainly position one to devise and articulate a plan of action and to approach each task with confidence. Those who could recite the most facts were often counted among the best and the brightest.
But what does it mean to be college and career ready in the 21st century? To answer that question, I’ve used a quote from a colleague who has taken a few liberties with something Albert Einstein once said: “The real value of education is not in knowing a lot of facts, rather it is in training the mind to think about the things that cannot be found in a textbook already written by someone else.”
In a survey conducted by eSchool News, today’s students reported needing five things from their school experiences.
Today’s students want to experience real-world application and relevancy. They want to see first-hand what makes something work the way it does. Students are well aware that their future is full of jobs that haven’t even been created, yet they are not content to work with models of reality.
Students want choices about the classes they study, but they also want choices within those classes. They want to be able to slow down when something is difficult or when they find it particularly interesting.
Sometimes parents and educators believe we can assure student success by replicating the same activities and experiences that made us successful in school. But we cannot ignore the fact that innovative technologies and experiences that engage students outside of the classroom today are quite different than those of our youth. It is important to capitalize on the ways that students enjoy learning and the tools they will choose for a lifetime of personal and professional endeavors.
Students have always performed best when the teacher respects and cares about them, but today more than ever, students need teachers who engage them in the wonder of learning rather than ‘telling’ them about the things they need to learn; they need a curriculum that connects the ‘what’ and ‘why’ to their lives.
Today’s students want to interact personally with their learning. They want hands-on experiences where they can try things out and talk about it with their teachers and with others trying it for the first time. They want to reflect on what they observed, and then, they want opportunities to try it again. People don’t stop doing the things they enjoy just because they reach a point in time. In a system where learners can continue to explore on their own, they can and will continue to learn!
Change is hard for humans, especially when we know that something has worked for us in the past and when the result of the change is not yet visible in a perfectly formed picture.
For today’s college and career-ready students, just knowing the facts is not enough. The future requires them to design paths that lead beyond anything we can possibly dream; to indulge in creative endeavors unbound by the tedious work of facts and figures; to imagine solutions to problems that never before existed; and “to think about the things that cannot be found in a textbook already written by someone else.”
For those of us who found success and solace in the power of facts and figures, it can be an uncomfortable transformation. Just as our parents and their parents before them witnessed dramatic change through the infusion of new technologies, we too, should expect a future filled with surprise and the wonder of a new generation.
UHS Volleyball Receives Academic Honor
Uniontown High School Girls HS volleyball team is a recipient of the 2016-17 AVCA Team Academic Award. Congratulations!!!
This award honors teams who have matched their dedication to the sport of volleyball with excellence in the classroom. Meeting the award standards is an accomplishment of which you and your team can be proud.
KVA Team Academic Honors
2016 Uniontown Varsity Volleyball Team Members
KVA Team Academic Award
Holly Shinn, Madelyn Ard
Blair Rockhold, Hannah Beerbower
Keely Goodridge, Lauren Shinn
Danielle Nading, Alissa Button
INDIVIDUAL KVA ACADEMIC HONORS
Holly Shinn All-Academic First Team
Blair Rockhold All-Academic Honorable Mention
Madelyn Ard All-Academic Honorable Mention
Lauren Shinn All-Academic Honorable Mention
POWERSCHOOL PARENT ACCOUNTS!
You have the ability to log in to Powerschool and see your child's grades daily. You will have access to live updates on grades. At enrollment contact one of our front office staff to get more information. All you will need is internet access!!
September School Menu
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS! (Click on the link below)
USD 235 Enrollment
Tuesday, Aug 22, 2017, 08:00 AM
Uniontown, KS, United States
USD 235 Enrollment
Wednesday, Aug 23, 2017, 12:00 PM
Uniontown, KS, United States
FALL SPORTS PICTURES
Thursday, Aug 24, 2017, 08:00 AM
Uniontown High School, 5th Street, Uniontown, KS, United States
STUDENT'S 1ST DAY
Tuesday, Sep 5, 2017, 07:45 AM
Uniontown, KS, United States
6TH GRADE BAND PARENT MEETING
Thursday, Sep 7, 2017, 06:30 PM
West Bourbon Elementary School, 5th Street, Uniontown, KS, United States
TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION
KEEP MOVING FORWARD! EXPECT MORE.
Mark Calvin, Principal
Transportation Director
Email: mcalvin@uniontown235.org
Website: www.uniontown235.org
Location: 601 5th St, Uniontown, KS, United States
Phone: 620-756-4301
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Uniontown-Public-Schools-USD-235-214196485265605/