Dr. Headrick noted that October is National Principal month. Principals will be given a principal placard for their desks. The placard says "Principal: noun an educational leader who lies to inspire, loves to encourage and makes the world a better place.  Synonyms ~ superstar, problem solver, difference-maker."

Staffer, parent and community member, Ryan Grant, wanted to give kudos to Dawn Eliassen for making games work for our girls soccer team. We only have enough to play 5 on 5 so the matches don't count towards standings for anyone we play, but everyone she's asked has said yes. He also acknowledged Middle School football home game, he said there were several hundred people there to watch 7th and 8th grade do their thing. He's proud of all the after school offerings the Middle School has to offer. The ROTC kids helping clean the weeds at the cemetery is always appreciated. 

Kim Glick wanted to shout to the Middle School special education department. It was her younger sons first assembly and found the event a little overwhelming. His supervisory teacher noticed his was looking a little destressed and pulled him aside to a quite location and checked on him often to make sure he was OK. Kim and her son both were very touched by this interaction. 

The focus on October's walk & talks was Promise 2: Focus on Personalized Instruction That Is Engaging, Challenging, and Relevant.

Gabby went to Michael Anderson Elementary, there, everyone like learning new things, especially the new reading curriculum. When asked how they feel about getting help if needed, they said they get help either from the teacher or another student. The love the game Sparkle, a multiplication game and think there should be more brain breaks from frustrating subjects. The students feel the things their learning now will help them in the future. When asked what they'd like to see as improvements, it was more hands-on learning styles, interactive learning and no more tests. 

Gabby also reported on Chuks visit to Hallett Elementary. The students there like learning about new things they will use in the future. The like writing essays, makes it seem like they're doing more "grown-up" things. They'd like more hands-on learning and less computer time. When asked if they feel they can get help, they said their teachers have them try first or ask a fellow student first. The like doing fun activities in class and think that Blooket or Kahoot could be used more in class. 

Trinity went to the High School where the students say the teachers understand their learning styles. While they feel the courses are easy, the challenge is the amount of curriculum being used. They feel they're given adequate opportunities to practice and apply what they know and the teachers give them plenty of time or help either before school, after school or at lunch if needed. Chromebooks have been a good source of assistance and several said more hands-on activities would be good. 

Trinity spoke to Ashley's visit to the Middle School. 6th and 8th graders feel their teachers give them assistance while 7th grade said their teachers ask them to try to figure it out first. All grades felt their work is challenging and engaging. 6th grade felt they had adequate time to complete assignments while 7th and 8th grade felt they could benefit from more time but feel it is probably due to the schedule change. All students felt they had access to resources needed to learn and while they think their might be some improvements to be done, they weren't able to pin-point anything at the moment. 

School Districts are required to have 3 Learning Improvement Days (LID) annually. One of them must be either Social Emotional Learning (SEL) or Cultural Competency, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (CCDEI). This year, we focused on SEL and tied it to the second Medical Lake School District promise #2, "Focus on personalized instruction that is engaging, challenging, and relevant." Each building had their own "choose your own adventure" module in the Google Classroom. Most were asynchronous and self-paced. There were opportunities for staff to do reflections on their modules and provide feedback, some of which, were shared on the presentation. There were graphs depicting the number of attendees in the various class options and one show where the teams were located during their class time. It was a very successful LID for sure. 

Dr. Headrick honored the principals by reading the proclamation.