Kittitas School District
November 2022
Snow Days
If there is a late start or cancellation of school due to poor weather conditions, staff members will receive an email through their district email account. If a staff member’s cell number is updated in Skyward, they may also receive a text message and call through the district's messaging system.
Upcoming Meetings and Trainings
November 28 - All Covered/Abadan Expectations Meeting at 3:00 p.m.
November 29 - Student Discipline Training from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
November 30 - Interviews for LPN (Nurse Assistant) at 3:00 p.m.
December 7 - Community Advisory Committee at 6:00 p.m.
December 12 - Teacher Mentor/Mentee Workshop at 3:00 p.m.
December 21 - School Board Meeting at 7:00 p.m.
Uceny's students working with Dixon's 1st graders!
Elementary students getting creative on the playground!
What can we learn from the 1936 Olympics?
During the Great Depression, the University of Washington’s crew won a gold medal in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. While getting to that level of athletic achievement, the nine men, who were sons of loggers and farmers, worked hard to pay for their own education. Despite the perception of crew being an elite sport, they were able to excel over the historically best and more privileged rowers in the country, like collegiate rival Berkley and other Ivy League schools. They were not expected to win, but they did through a coach's love of the sport and the team's determination.
The book, The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown depicts their drive and perseverance to be the best. The author described how the movement of the oarsmen was in a state of "swing", where their boat almost lifted off the water. Swing is an ideal state of harmony that can only be achieved when all rowers trust and respect each other. It symbolized the unity and bond between the nine rowers on that day. They felt they could accomplish anything.
What did they do differently?
- The sport is physically demanding and technically challenging, but the nine young men showed up every day for three years during the cold winter months in Seattle to prepare themselves.
- Their coach was relentless and had high expectations for the unconventional crew.
- The crew focused only on what was going on "in and outside" the boat.
- Their oars were positioned correctly with each movement and stroke dependent on each other.
- They tuned out the noise and focused on "the moment", chanting "mind and boat".
- They believed in what they were doing and in each other and didn't want to let each other down.
I can see similarities between the UW crew of 1936 and our staff. Our community of hard-working people send their children to us every day to learn. We inspire our students as their coaches or mentors, and we must continue to demand the best from them. They depend on us to work together as did the winning crew. What we do everyday is bigger than ourselves! Let's find our "swing"!