Pardon the Interruption
And now the break flies by like it was in a hurry or something. I hope everyone is fully recharged and ready to rock and roll for this Spring semester. A lot of the time, the spring semester gets a bad rap. The winter is fraught with snow days (little secret, teachers like them just as much as the kids do), Basketball games feel like there is a different one every day, and you go to school while it is dark out, and leave when it is dark out. Then all of a sudden it is spring break and you get a mini recharge week in there for the big push. After which, there is the long dark of the last three months of school as we rifle through track meets, softball and baseball games, prom, promotion, graduation, summer! Spring break always feels like both the longest semester and the shortest at the same time.
Here are a few of my general rules that always helped me survive spring semester as both a student and a teacher.
1. We are all in this together. Teachers, students, staff, community. We are all in this for the same reason. We want this school and its students to shine.
2. Make the most of it. Students hear this all the time and here you are hearing it again. Make the most of your time this semester. Seniors are in their last semester in school and for underclass, these are your last days with these seniors. We also have staff retiring this year so take the time to let them know how much they are appreciated for their years of service. Make sure that you can look back years from now and know you made the most of your spring semester.
3. We all want to be outside. As the weather starts to get warmer, don't think for one second that I don't want to be out on the water catching crappie when the spawn hits. We want to be outside just as much as you do. It's like reverse cabin fever. Lets all take care of each other and work together. this is kind of like rule one but rewritten slightly different, but the point is still the same.
4. Help each other. Never underestimate the power of kindness. Be kind to each other and it will greatly alter how this semester goes.
While I don't have much to discuss as we just fired up, there is a lot coming down the pipe that is worth noting.
Keep on making a difference.
Derek E. Smith
JR/SR High Events This Week: Jan 9-14
Monday:
Board Meeting @ 7:00
MS Pep Rally 2:45 pm @ Elementary Gym
MS Boys BB Vs St. Benedict @ 4:30 pm
Tuesday:
HS BB @ Oskaloosa 4:30 pm
Wednesday:
FFA Speech @ Marysville 9:00 am
Thursday:
MS Boys BB @ Valley Falls 4:30 pm
HS Scholars Bowl @ Holton 4:00 pm
Friday:
HS BB Vs JCN 4:30
Saturday:
Powerlifting @ Ft. Scott
HS Scholars Bowl NEKL @ Horton 9:00 am
Derek E. Smith
On the last day of school last semester, Britt's brother Bryan, passed away. He was an incredible young man. He had been confined to a wheel chair his entire life and was never able to communicate audibly. Through these apparent disadvantages, he managed to touch the lives of uncountable people just through his smile alone. He was able to make incredible artwork though the use of an art tracker that would ask him hundreds of questions per brush stroke on a canvas that he was able to answer through eye movement. I personally only got to know him over the past ten year, but his influence on my teaching style is palpable. He is pictured here hanging out with Britt and Dietger (my service dog that was retired Air Force K-9) on one of their visits. Everyone Bryan met instantly enjoyed his presence. To say his sudden passing was a shock is an understatement.
As her entire family lives in Ohio, we immediately planned to fly Britt up there to be with her family. As Erica was inbound the same day, myself and the boys stayed here in Kansas to get her. We wound up spending Christmas day apart, but Hiccup decided that daddy should talk Santa into waiting on our house until mom can be home and we could have Christmas as a family, which Santa obliged us and came the following Friday night with the whole family plus the Ohio chapter of the family getting to be there as well. While there was hardship and difficulties for the Smith family over the break, we made the most of it and enjoyed each other all the more and recharged for the upcoming Semester.
Always try to be nice, but never fail to be kind.
