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.

The GREAT Kindness Challenge!

This past week, our district participated in The Great Kindness Challenge.  I do have some mixed feelings about this week-long event.  It is a bit sad to think that we have to explicitly challenge people to be kind.  Then again, how awesome is it that for one whole week people are focused on completing random acts of kindness!  Some students sent me some letters this week as one of their challenges.  Most people don't fully understand the job of the superintendent.  Heck, half the time I struggle with understanding the job! :-)

Nevertheless, I received letters from students thanking me for being an awesome superintendent.  Here is one of my favorites, "Dear Kris Corey, I love you as a friend!  Even though we have never met, we still love you.  You are the a great superintendent, the most greatest superintendent of all!  Nothing will change my mind that you are awesome!  No superintendent is better than you are.  You shine on every one in the school.  You are bright like a shooting start.  You are as beautiful as a rose.  You are very cool.  Nothing will bring me down unless you leave us. If you leave us, I will say thank you for everything."  So...I am thinking I will bring this to my next evaluation meeting! This random letter from a student who doesn't even know me certainly brightened my day and brought a smile to my face.

This week, I attended the ACSA Superintendents' Symposium.  I sat next to someone wearing a "Kindness Matters" button.  Wes Smith, Executive Director of ACSA, spoke about school districts that were documenting their one million random acts of kindness.  Many resources regarding kindness are available on the internet.  Please take some time and check out www.kidsforpeaceglobal.org or www.kindness-matters.org or www.greatkindnesschallenge.org.  Let's keep this kindness challenge going strong!  #Kindness365  I like the following Tedx Talk.  "Listening is a great act of kindness!"  

Why Kindness Matters with John Sweeney

How can I make you smile today?

Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District has been working on improving our customer service over the past few years.  We believe our number one customers are our students and their families.  Often times, customer service is tied to businesses that sell something.  If the customer service isn't extraordinary, the consumer may go elsewhere for the product and/or service.  Thanks to compulsory attendance, for the most part, our customers are compelled to attend our schools.  Should these compelled customers get less quality service just because they have to go to school?  I think not!  This week in our discussions around customer service, a colleague told the story of calling a company and being greeted with the following:  "Hello!  You have reach X company.  How can I make you smile today?"  To which my colleague responded, "Well, you just did!"  A first impression is so important.  But, it only goes so far.  Quality customer service must be consistent over time.

For years, my family has frequented a little "hole in the wall" restaurant that serves the best Mexican food.  We go there for the food but also because of the customer service we receive.  Their food is consistently great.  The waiters or waitresses are always friendly and wanting to please.  Over the years, they have learned our drink orders and sometimes have the drinks delivered as we are sitting down to a table.  Every so often, this restaurant is off their A game.  The meal isn't as good, and the coffee isn't as fresh as it usually is.  Guess what?! We forgive them and come back anyway.  You see, that is what providing quality customer service does.  It allows loyal customers to forgive more readily when mistakes occur.

FSUSD will continue to work on its quality customer service because we want to make everyone smile every day.  Next week, FSUSD will participate in The Great Kindness Challenge.  Please visit www.thegreatkindnesschallenge.org to download your Acts of Kindness Checklist and Toolkit.  We believe that being kind is a necessary component of providing quality customer service.

Here is how one of our schools,  Fairview Elementary, has started their challenge.  ENJOY!
Fairview Elementary--Kindness 365!

Be patient! I am a new to blogging!

About ten years ago, I was part of a group project.  We met occasionally, but most of the work was supposed to be done in wiki.  I was paralyzed, and I believe I found a way out of the project.  I also recall when I went back to school to get my Master's Degree.  The first meeting had a demonstration on how to access the internet.  I remember thinking that I would have to quit the program because I knew nothing about this strange thing called the internet.

Fast forward a number of years....I am now fairly proficient on using Twitter and Facebook.  I definitely know how to text and email!  (Unfortunately, I think that too many people know this skill too well and forget to have face to face conversations!)  With the vast changes in social media, it is difficult to keep up.  Nevertheless, I am willing to try!

One of my New Year's Resolutions is that I would begin a blog post.  This is my first published post.  I am anxious and excited as I enter the whole new world of blogging.  I can empathize with the learners in our district as I beg people to be kind, patient, and encouraging. I am just learning!