Out-of-the-Blue
January 19, 2024 Issue 12 Vol. 4
PD: The Key to Helping Teachers/Staff do their Best Work
On Monday, February 5, our K-12 educators/staff will participate in the third and final Professional Development Day (PD). Only our educators and staff report to school.
These dedicated professional learning days serve multiple purposes for teachers, administrators, staff members, and paraeducators, as well as parents and students. As a district, we support and encourage ongoing training and education. Fostering ongoing professional development supports a growth mindset for our educators and staff helps to improve students’ experiences and outcomes in the classroom, at home, and beyond. We believe that continuous learning is key to helping teachers do their best work – to educate, inspire, and help students reach their fullest potential.
What we find through these dedicated days is that our educators and staff gain new skills and abilities. They learn the latest methods, tools and training, and best practices to better engage students and inspire them to learn. These days help build stronger relationships, collaboration, and trust. Our district benefits from an overall improvement in performance and ratings. Students experience positive outcomes through improved instructional practices and learning.
We put a special twist on our last official PD Day of the school year. As part of our 2023 Digital Learning Grant, we developed a new teacher mentor program. At the beginning of the year, all new teachers were paired with a mentor who spent at least 10 hours with the new hire throughout the first semester. As a capstone project of sorts, new hires were given the opportunity to take the lead role on a professional development session of their choice for February 5 PD Day. This gives our new hires ownership and a sense of directly contributing to our district, while also demonstrating that they can bring their "A" game in learning and teaching to their veteran mentors. We have three sessions running concurrently each hour in the morning, so our staff have a choice in what they are learning. We have found that differentiating professional development makes it more meaningful and engaging for staff. The staff then come together after lunch for Curricular Material Documentation Work for the remainder of the afternoon.
Some of the topics set for this PD day include: De-escalate and Manage Student Behaviors using the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) Training model; new pilot reading program, Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) Amplify (Science of Reading); Explore Your Why Through Art: McKinney-Vento Training; Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS); and Classroom Culture: How Kids Enjoy Class Regardless of Subject. Click here to see all session topics and schedule for the day.
While the full PD days in the school calendar provide a large dose of professional learning a couple of times a year, our educators and staff continue to spend time individually, work in small groups known as Professional Learning Communities (PLC) in their buildings, attend conferences, and webinars to name a few throughout the year. Our educators and staff’s focus on lifelong learning enables TCSC to provide the highest caliber instructional practices and impact for overall student growth, engagement, and success. #BlueFuture
Here’s what a few of our educators had to say about Professional Development days at TCSC:
“Professional Development Days are an opportunity for teachers and staff to MODEL the importance of being lifelong learners for our students! These uninterrupted days afford us the ability to learn from professionals in the field, as well as our fellow colleagues. Education is an ever-changing discipline, and as such, it is so important that teachers are ‘in the know’ constantly striving to improve upon their practice. I am grateful that TCSC has dedicated time and resources to making professional development a priority!”
-Diane Degenkolb, TES 2nd Grade Teacher
“Building Professional Development Days into our schedule is important because it allows us time to collaborate with other teachers. Hearing what others are doing in their classrooms gives me the opportunity to implement new ideas or strategies in my classroom and grow as an educator. Every person has an area of expertise, and we can always learn from those around us. After talking with others, we are able to go right back to our classrooms and immediately implement those new ideas. Our students’ needs are always changing, and we need to make sure we are addressing and meeting the needs of our students. These days also allow teachers to interact with other teachers that we don’t get to see and interact with on a daily basis. It helps us to connect more as a school and feel like a family.
Members of the Building Level Leadership Team recently had Lauren Cooper [Director of Outpatient Services and Community and School Based Services at 4C Health] visit. During this time she talked about how the emotional and mental needs of our students are changing. She had the members “check in” using an emotional scale, and just this quick activity gave me a lot of information about everyone in the group. I decided to take this back to my classroom and implement it the next day. This quick check in each day allows me to see how my students are feeling at the start of each day and allows me to have more meaningful one-on-one conversations with my students. Feeling energized and refreshed after professional development benefits everyone involved, both students and staff.”
-Cheri Leffler, TES 4th Grade Teacher
“Professional Development Days allow our teachers to learn from each other. These days give us a chance to share something that we've found useful or a strategy that we've learned that works. Topics like classroom management, checks for understanding, engagement, online resources, building relationships, assessment building, and many more have been useful to my own growth as a teacher and ultimately a benefit to my students. This time has allowed me to reflect on what I am doing, engage in meaningful conversations, and advance as a professional.
This time contributes to the safety of our school. Whether it is watching safety videos, reviewing the ALICE drill, or learning things like CPR, PD days have helped me receive this mandatory training within the confines of my workday. These important topics help to protect everyone that works here as well as our students.
Lastly, PD time helps us all keep up with current issues that need to be addressed in our school as a whole. These issues can change from year to year. There is a lot of thought and input from the administration and teachers when choosing the topics for PD. There are goals that we would like to see met and ways to better support our teachers and staff. This collaboration time helps us all navigate the best way to reach and meet those.
-Nicole Neely, TMS English Teacher
“Professional Development days are days of tremendous growth for me as a teacher. Being an educator is such a rewarding profession. Our students deserve our very best, and the amount of time it takes to maximize their experience, while also being Dad, husband and Coach, can be consuming, Thus to have the time to collaborate with our colleagues, improve our teaching practices and strategies, and maximize our growth in a profession that is always changing, it is not only appreciated, it is valued, and not only is it valued by me as a teacher, it is valued as a parent of children in our school systems. I love seeing how hard our teachers work on these days, and love hearing that carryover into their education here at Tipton.”
-Jason Bales, TMS Social Studies Teacher
“Professional Development (PD)can help build a sense of community. You feel more connected and part of a team (the teaching staff, administration, etc.) all trying to solve the same problems. This can be a big help, as teaching can sometimes feel like a lonely job. These opportunities can give us new tools and methods to try out in class; especially if PD is approached with an open mind and optimistic attitude. PD is valuable for teachers in a lot of different ways. And, if it’s valuable for teachers, if it pushes us to think more about what we’re doing and how what we do affects our students then it’s got to be valuable for students as well!”
-Ethan Worthington, THS Social Studies Teacher
Middle School Concession Stand Window
Middle School Concession Stand Sink
Middle School Concession Stand Casework
Boy's Locker Room Entrance
Girl's Locker Room Entrance
Athletic's Laundry
TMS Boy's Athletic Locker Room
Barricade Down in TMS Gym
TMS Girl's Athletic Locker Room
TMS Athletic Hospitality Area
New Electrical Boxes at THS
New Electrical Boxes at THS
TCSC Hall of Fame Demo
TCSC Hall of Fame Demo
Plumbing Work Starting in New Administration Area
TCSC Invites Community to Invest in the Inferno
“The Inferno,” Tipton High School’s landmark gym, is undergoing a long-awaited renovation in
summer of 2024. The Friends of the Inferno group is leading the charge to raise funds through
sponsorships and donations to give the gymnasium a modern look and feel with new paint,
flooring, digital scoreboards, curtain, gym floor planks, and Blue Devil Hall of Fame section to
name a few.
The Inferno, home to Indiana’s only Blue Devils mascot, built in 1961, seats 3,500. It has served
as a symbol of local identity, the focus of hometown pride, and the backdrop for generations of
memories. The upgrades, expected to cost an estimated $450,000, will update the look and feel of the multi-use space with modern amenities and features to best serve players, students, spectators, and the community well into the future.
The Inferno doubles as an educational space by day and an event destination by night. It is a multi-purpose facility that is used as a large classroom, for sports practices, home games and
tournaments, graduation, school-sanctioned events, community gatherings, and as an
emergency shelter. It draws in an estimated 22,000 spectators each year. Beginning in 2024,
The Inferno will host all home boys’ and girls’ basketball games, home volleyball matches, and
IHSAA tournament contests.
All are invited to consider joining this exciting initiative through a number of available
sponsorships or donating toward this effort. Your investment is an investment in students,
faculty, and the community by providing students with a safe and healthy environment to learn
and grow while also serving as a valuable resource for the community.
“Having a modernized gymnasium instills a stronger sense of pride as our student athletes
continue to learn valuable life lessons through competition and sportsmanship,” said Kory
Fernung, THS Athletic Director. “One of our local business partners, Encompass Credit Union,
has taken the lead on this effort by sponsoring the main gym flooring which will be the new
Encompass Court at the Inferno!”
For more information on sponsorship and donor opportunities, contact us at
THSinferno@tcsc.k12.in.us or call Andrea Campbell at (317)385-0872 or Rob Cochrane at
(317)432-6429.
CAMPUS MAP
Calendar of Events
February 5, 2024-Professional Development Day-Students Do Not Attend
February 13, 2024-Monthly School Board Meeting
February 19, 2024-President's Day (School is In Session)
February 22, 2024-IREAD-3 Parent Meeting
March 12, 2024-Monthly Board Meeting