Spreading Holiday Cheer Throughout IWCS

If you were in any of our schools today, you may have seen a very festive group of people walking through the buildings. That  would have been me and my Executive Team.  We started a tradition where we visit all the schools, and hand out candy canes to elementary students.  There are also toys, donated by Toys for Tots, distributed to Kindergarten through 2nd graders. The costumes are loud and bright, and you really need to see them for yourself.  Here's a short video of our visit to Windsor Elementary School.  Just look at their faces light up as the candy canes and toys are distributed.  And the students were excited too!

Central Office Elves at Windsor Elementary School  (video)

Keeping it Cool at SMS

Last week I wrote a blog about the Cell Expo in Mrs. Peterson's room at Smithfield Middle.  While I was there, I stopped by Mrs. Browder's science class, where they were building insulation cubes. The students were preparing to test their cubes to see what insulation materials worked the best.  During my visit, I talked to the students and the teacher about the projects and captured their comments in a video.  I hope you will watch the movie below and see the deeper learning taking place in Mrs. Browder's 8th grade science class.  This is definitely a "cool" project.

Mrs. Browder's Insulation Project  (Video)

A Cell-a-bration of Cells in Mrs. Peterson's Science Class

There is always something exciting happening in Ellen Peterson's 7th grade science class at Smithfield Middle.  When I stopped by last week, the students had created Giant Plant and Animal Cells and were serving as tour guides inside of the models.  They were also studying cells under the microscope and using Virtual Reality goggles to simulate a roller coaster ride through a cell.  I had a great time visiting the class and could see, and hear, the learning taking place from the students.  The video below highlights my visit to her class and shows the importance of giving students hands-on, deeper learning opportunities.  And I'm sure you will enjoy a few laughs, possibly at my expense, but it was worth it.

Mrs. Peterson's Cell Expo  (video)

Reading Buddies

Members from the Central Office read to elementary students weekly as part of the Reading Buddies program. The video highlights our program and includes comments from some of our readers and our students.  I hope you enjoy the video.

Reading Buddies (Video)

Transportation Appreciation

We love our bus drivers and appreciate all they do each and every day.  I've put together a video that includes interviews with several of our drivers, where I ask them what they like about driving and what the challenges are with driving a school bus.  I also heard from the students about what they think of their drivers.  Finally, I rode on one of our buses as it took students home from Westside Elementary.  I hope you will take a few minutes to watch this special video that highlights our drivers and the job they do.

Transportation Appreciation  (video)

 

Honoring our Veterans

Today our schools are closed in honor of Veterans Day.  On Thursday, there were activities and ceremonies throughout the division to celebrate Veterans and their service.  I have never seen a school division and community celebrate Veterans Day quite like Isle of Wight County!  So I had to do a Veterans Day video blog.  The video below is from the Westside Veterans Day program.  One of the Veterans who attended the ceremony for the first time shared the following with us:

It was an honor and a great privilege to attend today's Veterans event at Westside Elementary. Today has been the most patriotic and heart felt event I have attended in my 23 years of service. I am still in awe about the love and support the students and staff showed us. I never thought our children in public schools cared this much. My children ages 11 and 8 do not have these events for holidays like this. I have to take them out of school, because those days are usually snow make up days. We will go volunteer somewhere to give back to those who have gone before me. Thank you so much for teaching our future generations the importance of supporting Veterans. I wish more districts would follow your lead on this, it really brings our communities together. Thank you all! 

Thank you again to all of our Veterans. 

I hope you enjoy the video.

Veterans Day Ceremony at Westside Elementary School (video link)

Giving Students a Chance to be Heard

Recently I started visiting schools and sitting down with students to hear from them on various topics.  These Student Advisory Committees are informal conversations between me and the students that allow them to share their likes and wonders about school.  They are usually very eager to tell me about their experiences during their time in IWCS. I asked them about classes or teachers that made them feel successful, and their comments reinforced the importance of developing positive relationships.  The video below is a compilation from a few of the groups talking about those teachers who had a significant impact on them.  One student calls his teacher his "lucky charm"! There is a lot more to share from the Student Advisory meetings, which I'll highlight in future blogs, so stay tuned!

Superintendent's Student Advisory Committees (video) featuring students from Windsor Elementary, Hardy Elementary, Georgie Tyler and Smithfield Middle schools.