I can't resist a CHALLENGE!

I'll take your 5...Challenge!

Here is my 1,2,3,4,5 Connected Educator Challenge thanks to Jeff Kubiak, principal of Cordelia Hills Elementary School. @principalkubiak

Jeff Kubiak challenged me to the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Connected Educator Challenge. I am so proud of his leadership and thank him for challenging me along with others to do what is in the best interest of kids!

1. What has been your ONE biggest struggle during this school year?

Wait, what? I only get ONE? As this is only my third year as superintendent, I consider myself very new. My first year I was blissfully ignorant. My second year, I knew what I didn't know. In my third year, I know what I don't know and now am trying to do something about that! My biggest struggle has been my calendar. I hate to even glance at the upcoming week for fear that I will hyperventilate the entire weekend because of the many upcoming events. The struggle with my calendar is that I am jumping from one meeting or event to the other with very little time between. I liken this to a teacher who has ten different preps in a day with no time to prepare and plan for those preps. Because of my calendar, I wonder how proactive I am able to be and how effective I am in regards to establishing systems. When I look at my calendar, I do ask myself, "Is there anything on this calendar that isn't important?" The answer to that question is always, "NO!" The other struggle pertaining to my calendar is that every event is planning for a future event. I find myself living in the future rather than the here and now. We are forever planning for the next Board meeting, the next school year, the next election. I do believe that as I mature in this position, I will be able to delegate more, empower others more, and become a bit more proactive. Thank goodness I have two AMAZING and WONDERFUL people monitoring my calendar and literally telling me where to go!

to Linda and Martha!

2. Share TWO accomplishments that you are proud of from this school year.

Wait, what?  Only TWO?  I am proud of so many things that our district has accomplished this year.  I am extremely proud of our facilities work and completing the Facilities Master Plan.  This was a huge process that involved many, many stakeholders in the community.  We have a ten year plan that is flexible, yet it outlines our district needs in regards to the facilities.  This plan will assist us in being more proactive in our decision making in regards to facilities.

My other accomplishment of which I am very proud is working with an amazing school board that has come together as a team.  At the end of June, one of my goals from the Board was to solidify our team by organizing a retreat and board professional development.  This was a very positive accomplishment which seemed to solidify our respect for one another and discuss roles and responsibilities.  What I appreciate most about this accomplishment is that I believe strong governance is key to making lives better for students.

3. What are THREE things you wish to accomplish before the end of the school year?

1. A HUGE CALL TO ACTION for educators in our district who really want to tackle some difficult issues and make our district vision become a reality. Our vision is this, "Fairfield-Suisun is a premier learning community that empowers each student to thrive in an ever-changing world." This is our VISION, unfortunately, this is not our reality. We have numbers of students who have no chance of graduating attending our high schools. We have numbers of students who continuously receive F grades. We have students who continue to be expelled and suspended from school. How are these behaviors empowering each student if we are excluding even one? One of the things I hope to accomplish is opening the door to a discussion surrounding equity and change in practices that are not beneficial for students.

2. Another major accomplishment would be if our district was successful in placing a General Obligation Bond on the ballot for voters to consider. The last bond passed was in 2002 and generated $100M for facilities. Thanks to some matching funds from the state, our district actually received over $200M. As a result, we were able to build a few new schools and complete some much needed modernization. However, the majority of our schools are between 25-68 years of age. Many of our schools have over twenty-fiver percent of their classrooms as portable buildings. We have some schools that do not have libraries. One of our middle schools has no indoor eating facility and no kitchen. Again, how is this meeting our vision of being premier? On February 25, our Governing Board will be considering a resolution for a General Obligation Bond on the June 2016 ballot.

3. My final accomplishment would be if I continued in my recent efforts to take care of myself. I am one of those people who has always loved to exercise. For years, I walked every single day, no matter what. I also took time to go to the gym, do yoga, or swim. Since becoming a superintendent, exercise went by the wayside. By the time I get home from work, the last thing I wanted to do was go work out. The couch and a mindless TV show became my best buddies. I have recently vowed that I need to commit to exercising once again. I don't need to feel guilty if I don't do something every day, but I need to at least exercise three times a week. I have my Fitbit charged and have taken on the 1M step challenge, 10K steps for 100 days!

Give FOUR reasons why you remain in 

education in today’s rough culture.

1. I believe with my heart and soul that public education is a right and is an extremely powerful mechanism to change this world for the better.

2. I LOVE learning myself and know that even the most challenging situations can change if an adult shows care and compassion to a student.

3. The students! The MAIN reason I ever chose education as a profession was because I so enjoyed being in the company of kids. They are so funny, smart, and insightful. I love visiting the schools and seeing how much they are learning. I especially enjoy hearing the success stories and the impact a teacher or an activity has had on the life of a student.

4. Educators are the funnel to the rest of the professions. I enjoy being around people who are excited and intense about improving the lives of our students and positively impacting our community and society. I enjoy hearing stories of compassion, challenge, excitement, imagination, collaboration, and LEARNING. Education is forever evolving. There is no ceiling so it always presents a challenge. And, as I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I love a good challenge.

5. Which FIVE people do you hope will the take the challenge of answering these questions.

1.  Sheila McCabe. I have worked with Sheila for many years. She has a moral imperative like no other. She is essentially the ambassador of everything FSUSD!

2. Stacy Burke. She is one of the most creative, divergent thinkers on this planet. Her insight and compassion for kids has always been impressive. Plus, I would love to see her answers because I know they will make me laugh.

3. Marie Williams. Being in her second year as Director of Secondary Education comes with many challenges. I know her and know that she also loves a good challenge! I appreciate her tenacity and dedication to the cause!

4. Kristen Witt. Who says you need five years to turn a school around? Kristen's leadership is impressive and impactful. I want her to take the challenge because I know she will challenge others!

5. Kristen Cherry. She is also one who faces challenges head on and says YES to great ideas. I remember when we signed up on Twitter together. She is a spark that creates POSITIVE energy and change. Plus, she will also spread this challenge.

Remember, this parent loves her child...be gentle and kind!

While I was attending college and majoring in elementary and early childhood education, I had the fateful opportunity to take care of three wonderful children.  Little did I know how much this experience would impact my life.  When I began working for the family, the three children were under the age of six, the oldest with Down Syndrome.  According to the National Down Syndrome Society, one in every 691 babies born in the United States are born with this genetic condition which occurs when an individual has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21.  I learned so much while working for this amazing family.  Courtney, the six year old,  was a gift to me and showed me daily how capable, funny, and smart she was.  We spent the summers in the pool whenever possible.  She quickly learned how to dive, do flips, and swim like a little fish.  She also knew how to race out of the car and go throughout the house locking the doors with the deadbolt then negotiating with me to let me and her two brothers into the house.  Her negotiations usually involved me making the promise of going swimming or get a treat of ice cream or french fries before she would open the doors.  She would also negotiate reading stories, seeing the horses, or going to the playground.  She was a girl who knew what she wanted!

During this time, I was fulfilling my college graduation requirements by taking a class on students with disabilities.  One of the assignments was to interview a parent of a child with special needs and ask a series of questions.  Little did I know, my mom saved this paper which I recently ran across while going through some boxes.  One of the questions asked how the parents of a child with disabilities felt they were treated by others. Courtney's mom shared the painful story as to how she was told her daughter had Down Syndrome.  Shortly after she had given birth to her daughter, her first child, a doctor came in and told her in a matter of fact manner the news.  She recalled little compassion and understanding.  She was confused and had so many whirling emotions. In my interview, I wrote how these parents said they were suddenly talked to in almost a patronizing and condescending manner.  Mind you, Courtney's parents are well educated professional people, and her father is an esteemed cardiologist.  Courtney's mom told me, "Here I was grieving the perfect beautiful baby I didn't have, but I fell in love with the one that I did have.  If anything, it made me even more protective of her."  The parents shared stories of the many IEPs in which things were often discussed as a matter of compliance.  The best meetings were ones in which genuine care for Courtney was expressed by her therapists and teachers.

Courtney's parents were her best advocates. They provided her with as many opportunities and options as they could.  She also had some wonderful teachers and therapists during her educational career.   Thanks to Facebook, I get to regularly catch up with this family .  Courtney is now in her thirties.  She continues to be capable, funny, and smart.  She is an avid horse rider and rides in Class A shows and has many wins under her belt.  Her mom shared that recently the family was riding with wranglers in Hawaii.  These cowboys were amazed at how capable of a rider Courtney is.  Courtney told her mom that she loves riding horses because when she rides, she no longer has Down Syndrome.

Everyone is gifted.

Sigh...The Good Ol' Days! Remembering kindergarten.

I had the pleasure today of visiting The Sheldon Academy of Innovative Learning.  The kindergarten teacher asked the class, "Do we want Ms. Corey to be mindful with us today?"  The students were so excited and dropped what they were doing to quickly gathered in a circle on the rug.  The students told me I would have to sit criss-cross apple sauce, close my eyes, be very quiet, and take some deep breaths.  After two minutes of quiet with only the sounds of the students' ocean breaths, the bell chimed and everyone opened their eyes.  The students reported what they thought about or how they felt.

I was instantly taken back 1969 and a small kindergarten building in Lake Preston, South Dakota where I attended school.  One of our school supplies included a small nap rug.  Mine was a rectangular, woven rug with fringe on both ends.  Each day, we students unrolled our rugs and spread out around the kindergarten classroom.  We would lay on our backs and close our eyes.  Our teacher would tell us to take some deep breaths and relax.  Sometimes kids would fall asleep.  I worked hard not to do that for fear I would miss out on being the wake-up fairy.  Students who were particularly quiet and still were chosen to choose a fairy wand and gently tap students who could then open their eyes.  In retrospect, I am wondering if we had a few things right back then.  Most of our time was spent playing in the various settings, such as a kitchen, post office (yest, post office!), doctor's office, grocery story, or building room.  We sang songs and danced a lot.  These were fond memories. At that tender age, I did have some trauma happening in my world.  I often wonder if those kindergarten naps and restful periods helped me in dealing with the chaos inside me.

Sheldon Academy of Innovative Learning is a K-8 school of approximately 700 students.  The majority of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch.  Many of these students come from homes where they have experienced a great deal of trauma.  The kindergarten teachers have reported that since beginning the mindful practice, students are experiencing much less stress, anxiety, and angry outbursts.

A bulletin board posted in the classroom displays what the students say about practicing mindfulness.  "I feel good in my brain."  "I feel peace and quiet."  "I can tell what I am feeling inside."  It takes away annoying stuff."  "I feel some buzzing like a honey bee, and I feel like the honey."  "I feel like I can do anything because I feel calm."  It's making me happy, happy, and more happy."

How often have we been told to calm down and take a few deep breaths?  Perhaps this isn't something that comes naturally to everyone.  People have been talking about mindfulness for thousands of years.  Perhaps we need to go back to the Good Ol' Days.