SMS Principal Blog

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."  — General George S. Patton, Jr. In education, we often use gold stars to signify a job well done. This week, we get the opportunity to teach our students about a different way in which gold stars are used. The 2nd Annual Gold Star Ride will be passing in front our building on Wednesday at approximately 11:15 am. While this timing is not ideal, I believe it is an opportunity we cannot pass up, so this Wednesday, we will walk our classes out to main street in front of our building and encourage the veterans and active duty soldiers who are completing a 5 day, 500 mile endurance ride to honor and preserve the legacy of Illinois service members who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. These men and women will be stopping at the American Legion hall for lunch on the first day of their trip, which will begin and end in Springfield, with the final leg c...

"Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It's teh impetus for creating change." -Max Carver This week we will take an entire day off from regular classes to help our students understand empathy. I chose to start the day by having them watch the movie Wonder  because I think that our students will genuinely empathize with the character of Auggie. I don't think this is just a miracle of movie magic taking hold of them. I truly believe a student like Auggie would be welcomed almost universally in our school. I have watched students in this district be highly supportive and encouraging of peers that they can clearly see have challenges beyond their control. However, my hope is that by engaging them in conversations about the other, less visible challenges of being an adolescent, they will begin to see that everyone needs that kind of support and encouragement. I am hoping that we will empower them to show empathy toward one another...

"Education is improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it." -Marian Wright Edelman We have made it through our first week of September, so in my mind, we are no longer in the first weeks of school. We have entered the long grind that is the entire school year between the "start" and "ending" which we all know is a 2-3 week buffer on both ends where we are either energized to be back or energized to be almost done. This middle part, though challenging, is where our real impact is made.  About a week ago, I had a conversation with a former student of mine who decided late in her college career to pursue teaching. She has found that she has a true passion for the profession, but like many new teachers, she feels overwhelmed only a few weeks in and the prospect of fighting an uphill battle for another 30+ weeks is daunting. She told me she loves her students and wants to be the best teacher she c...