Tag Archives: Schools

Voices of Learners October 12-16, 2009

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The week of October 12 is going to be different this year.  For an entire week, the eyes of Stark County citizens will turn to schools and youth.

The spotlight will shine on students and teachers, youth organizations and schools that are flourishing, that use their strengths to accomplish great things, and to make a difference in their communities.

PCC is co-sponsoring with the Stark County Educational Service Center an event that is not like anything Stark County has seen before.  Students, teachers, community leaders, parents, and visitors from near and far will convene conversations about excellence.

  • October 12 and 16 will be devoted to field site visits around Stark County and northeast Ohio
  • October 13 is the celebration kick-off at the new and beautiful GlenOak High School in Plain Local Schools
  • October 14 will be at the Timken Senior High School Campus, where students’ graduation rates and achievement are leaping upward
  • October 15 will be at Stark State College, a day to congratulate local schools of higher education for their many contributions to our community and our young people

Sound intriguing? We hope so!

If you’re from Stark County, we need you, your students and staff to help finalize our plans, nominate your outstanding programs, and to come join us as we explore teaching and learning in hands on, intergenerational groups.  It will be fun, join us – you’ll be glad you did!

And to those of you elsewhere in the world, please “Watch This Space”.

We’ll be posting some updates to share our journey with you between now and October – and we know we’ll have lots of news to share with you after the event!

Voices Of Learners Registration Form

Please email Joyce Lemke or call her on 330-705-0793 if you you have any questions or would like further information.

Joseph Renzulli – Words of Wisdom

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By personalizing instruction to match a child’s interests, strengths and learning styles, teachers find that students welcome more challenge and stretch their capacity to learn.

Prescriptive, remedial approaches to achievement are falling short.

Accountability for the truly educated mind in today’s knowledge-driven economy should first and foremost take account of high-end learning skills.

These are the learner-centered skills that grow young minds, promote genuine student engagement, and increase achievement.

Dr. Joseph Renzulli (Director,  National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented. University of Connecticut . Co-founder of Renzulli Learning)

The Power of Commitment

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This is the title of an inspiring article by Nancy Oelklaus, who is a former assistant superintendent of schools in Texas. Nancy is also an executive coach and the author of Journey from Head to Heart: Living and Working Authentically and Alphabet Meditations for Teachers.

Nancy describes ‘the invisible school’ – the billions of neuronal patterns that each of us is carrying around inside our heads. How we think about school. How we feel about each other.

This invisible school has its dark side – our negative responses to others’ imperfections and our tendency to analyse, judge and perhaps condemn.

But as Nancy says:

Since we are susceptible to the phenomenon of mirror neurons-being influenced by another person’s state of mind-we need to protect our brains from invasion by negativity.

A starting point is to write or draw or create in some visual form our commitment to our relationship with ourselves, parents, students, and colleagues. Following are some examples.

My hope is that these words inspire you to write your own commitments, read or write them every day, and have a more peaceful and rewarding experience in education.

Download The Power of Commitment

AI Foundations Course – May 2009

Date: May 11-13 2009
Time: 8.30 am to 4.30 pm
Location: William Penn House
515 East Capitol St., SE Washington, DC 20003
An Approach for Faster and Deeper Understanding of Change

A 3-day workshop for individuals, groups, and group leaders to gain a fresh perspective on an old idea. It is an opportunity to learn how to turn dialog into action.

This workshop is ideal for people in position of leadership, and for groups with projects or tasks that are calling for creative and innovative approaches.

Course facilitators, Marge Schiller PhD. and Joyce Lemke, have worked with a variety of groups from schools to social services, and advocacy groups to business leaders. For three days, they will be at The William Penn House teaching a dynamic and life-changing course.

Cost
$150/person ($125/person for groups of 4 or more*) CEU/CEC available for some professions
*groups of 4 or more from same organization/ project

Contact
For questions, or to register, contact
Brad Ogilvie
Phone: 202-543-5560
Fax: 202-543-3814
E-mail: Brad@WilliamPennHouse.org

The William Penn House is located in the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, convenient to DC Metro

Download Flyer

Asking Great Questions – April 2009

Asking Great Questions … get GREAT results!

The Art of Creative Dialog

Date: April 20-22 2009
Time: 8.30 am to 4.30 pm
Location: Duncan Conference Center, Delray Beach, Florida

We have been taught to look for the right answers but perhaps it’s actually the questions that determine our quality of life! You may have spent time and energy finding answers, but we’d like to suggest that the real answer lies in the questions we ask of ourselves and each other. When you ask a question, you open worlds.

Why settle for less?

Learn to build strengths on strengths.  Energize the BEST in people AND your church, organization, or business.

This two day workshop is part of a series on Appreciative Inquiry and Leadership. It is appropriate for those who are new to Appreciative Inquiry and those who have had experience.

Workshop facilitators, Marge Schiller PhD. and Joyce Lemke, have worked with a variety of groups from schools to social service, and advocacy groups to business leaders. Marge is the author and editor of “Appreciative Leaders: in the Eye of the Beholder”. Joyce is a noted educator and thought leader for Appreciative Inquiry.

Cost $185 per person with lunch; 3+ from one organization @ $165 ea.

Download flyer and registration form

Or contact Deb McLaughlin
The Duncan Conference Center
15820 S. Military Trail Delray Beach, Fl. 33484
Phone: 561-496-4130
Email: dmclaughlin@duncancenter.org

Note: The Duncan Center has overnight accommodations for 80 people. Semi-private rooms with private bath. Rooms are spacious and quiet with small lounge areas in each building. Each room fitted with twin beds and some queen beds, and has its own library, clock radio, and individual climate controls.

Living Values Education at Aventura School

Dear Partners in Positive School Cultures,

Some of you know abut Living Values Education Program (www.livingvalueseducation.org ) which is a ten year old non-profit all volunteer organization dedicated to being a part of a global movement for a culture of peace in the framework of the United Nations International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World. All of our approaches are strength based.

We incorporate Ai in to all our staff trainings and have been working with school systems in USA and the countries around us and belong to such groups as the Character Education Partnership out of D.C. where we provided a presentation at their annual conference on the results of our parenting groups in Dade County. We have a series of books that help adults come up with activities with different ages in 12 values (http://www.livingvalueseducation.org/Resources/Book_Overview/Book_Overview.htm )

We have just learned that one of the schools (Aventura School in Florida} we have worked with these past seven years is a finalist for national recognition. Here is the official release.

TWENTY-SEVEN SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS SELECTED AS NATIONAL FINALISTS IN PRESTIGIOUS CHARACTER EDUCATION COMPETITION
Winners to be selected in late May
February 25, 2009 . . . Washington, DC

The Character Education Partnership (CEP) has named twenty-five schools and two districts as National Finalists in its National Schools of Character (NSOC) awards program. CEP, the nation’s leading advocate for quality character education, chose the 27 National Finalists from a record 185 applicants across the United States. CEP will be conducting site visits to all National Finalists throughout the end of April. CEP’s Blue Ribbon Panel will then meet to select approximately 10 winners in May.

“CEP congratulates all the applicants and commends them for the important work they are doing to develop young people of good character,” CEP Executive Director Joe Mazzola said. “Character education has never been more important. It is a genuine honor to recognize these exemplar schools that are setting the standard for the rest of the nation.”

Schools or districts selected as the 2009 National Schools of Character will receive the award, national recognition, and a financial grant at CEP’s 16th National Forum on Character Education, Citizens of Character – the Foundation of Democracy, to be held October 29-31, 2009, at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center outside of Washington, DC. Having demonstrated the success of their initiatives through the rigorous NSOC application and screening process, winners use their grants to serve as national leaders and models for other schools and districts seeking to improve their character education efforts.

“We know the NSOC application process is time-consuming and demanding,” NSOC Director Janice Stoodley said. “But applicants repeatedly tell us they benefit from applying. We know the process works. We are able to find schools and districts doing innovative things to connect with kids and connect kids to their communities. We see first-hand the remarkable results these schools are able to achieve in terms of academic achievement and school climate.”

CEP selects the National Finalists on the strength of their written applications, which demonstrate their outstanding work in encouraging the ethical, social, and academic growth of their students through effective character education. In addition to the 27 National Finalists, 28 schools will receive national honorable mention as a result of the strength of their work. CEP’s Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education, which defines excellence in character education, guides the evaluation and selection of finalists and winners.

Each year since 1998, the NSOC awards program has recognized K-12 schools and districts that provide exemplary comprehensive character education programs that consistently yield positive results in student behavior, citizenship, school climate, and academic performance. For more information about CEP or the NSOC awards program, visit www.character.org.

Character Education Partnership2009 National Schools of Character Award National Finalists:

  • Alta S. Leary Elementary School, Warminster, Pennsylvania
  • Ashland High School, Ashland, Ohio
  • Aventura City of Excellence School, Aventura, Florida
  • Bayless Elementary School, St. Louis, Missouri
  • Bayless Junior High School, St. Louis, Missouri
  • Beverly Elementary School, Beverly Hills, Michigan
  • Beverly Woods Elementary School, Charlotte, North Carolina
  • The Blake School, Hopkins, Minnesota
  • Brigantine Elementary School, Brigantine, New Jersey
  • Col. John Robinson School, Westford, Massachusetts
  • First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Fox C-6 School District, Arnold, Missouri
  • Fuguitt Elementary School, Largo, Florida
  • Greenfield Elementary School, Beverly Hills, Michigan
  • Hamilton Township School District, Hamilton, New Jersey
  • Kehrs Mill Elementary School, Chesterfield, Missouri
  • Lake Riviera Middle School, Brick, New Jersey
  • Long Elementary School, Crestwood, Missouri
  • Lore Elementary School, Ewing, New Jersey
  • Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy, Alexandria, Virginia
  • Milwaukee College Prep School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • Parkside Primary Center, Bethalto, Illinois
  • Peak to Peak Charter School, Lafayette, Colorado
  • Seminole Elementary School, Seminole, Florida
  • Sullivan Primary School, Sullivan, Missouri
  • Walnut Street Elementary School, Uniondale, New York
  • Westwood Elementary School, Friendswood, Texas

Geographic distribution:
The 2009 National Finalists represent 15 states. Five states have two or more National Finalists: Missouri (6), New Jersey (4), Florida (3), Michigan (2), and Pennsylvania (2). In 2009, 26 states participated in the State Schools of Character awards program, a preliminary step in reaching the national level of competition. All of the 27 National Finalists were part of this process and named State Finalists in their states.

Demographics:
Most of the 2009 National Finalists are public schools although two are districts and one is a private school. Nineteen of the twenty-five schools are elementary schools, two are middle schools, one is a high school, and three have a mix of grade levels. Most National Finalists are located in suburban settings, although nine of the schools are urban and one of the schools is located in a rural area. A number of the National Finalists have student populations that may be described as low-income; 10 have one-third or more of their students eligible for free and reduced price lunch.

Anne Rarich
Certified Executive Coach and Facilitator
Inscape Publishing
Authorized Distributor
Phone: 978-369-9071
Web: http://www.learning-exchange.com

Appreciative Inquiry Foundations Course, January 2009

Date: January 20-22 2009
Time: 8.30 am to 4.30 pm
Location: Duncan Conference Center, Delray Beach, Florida

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is research into the root causes of success. It is asking,  ‘What goes well around here, and how can we get more of it?’

This theory-based and highly practical course will focus on:

  • Identifying the basic principles, assumptions and practices of Appreciative Inquiry
  • Identifying how and when to use Appreciative Inquiry
  • Defining a topic
  • Designing questions
  • Telling stories
  • Using the data from stories

Our 3-day course for individuals, groups, and group leaders provides opportunity for participants to gain a solid basic understanding of AI, with many opportunities to learn by doing.

This workshop is ideal for individuals, leadership groups from organizations, educators, clergy, and anyone who is interested in ‘change at the speed of imagination’!

Course facilitators, Marge Schiller PhD. and Joyce Lemke, have worked with a variety of groups from schools to social services, and advocacy groups to business leaders. For three days, they will be at the Duncan Conference Center teaching a dynamic and life-changing course.

Cost: $250 per person (Reasonably priced onsite accommodation also available)

Download Course Flyer

For more information or to register, call Veneta at 561-496-4130 or email her on vlorraine@duncancenter.org

Mail registration and payment to:
Duncan Center
15820 S. Military Trail,
Delray Beach, FL. 33484
http://www.duncancenter.org

Note: The Duncan Center has overnight accommodations for 80 people. Semi-private rooms with private bath. Rooms are spacious and quiet with small lounge areas in each building. Each room fitted with twin beds and some queen beds, and has its own library, clock radio, and individual climate controls.