I love a Parade!

Today Kennedy Elementary School held their first ever Vocabulary Parade. This was a fantastic event. We had well over 300 students dressed as a vocabulary word. From "Princess", to "Entertainer", to "Inundate" to "President. The winners for the best costume and vocabulary word were Brody Ham as "COOL" for Kindergarten, Ethan Guthas as "INFINITY" for first Grade, Cambree Henson as "EDIBLE" for 2nd Grade, AJ Millbrooks as "PRESIDENT" for 3rd Grade, Chloe Hogan as "INUNDATE" for 4th Grade, and Ashley Banner as "MAGICAL" for 5th Grade. Mrs. Bray-Teate's Class won for the best class as "FOUR SEASONS" and Mrs. Whiddon won for the best teacher costume as "PATRIOTIC". Thank you to Mrs. Paramore for organizing the parade. I would also like to thank all the teachers who helped out and supported by having their students dress up. This was a fantastic way to end our RED RIBBON WEEK and get ready for Halloween while still making it educational. I would also like to thank Ms. Bachman for her wonderful work with the Red Ribbon Week. The Winners for the door contest were Mrs. Paramore's Class, Mrs. Dercola's Class and the Grand Prize winner was Mrs. Pittman's class. What a great week it was!

Thank You Mr. Freddie!

I had a parent say something to me that made me feel really good. The parent told me that she had asked her son what he would do if someone was bullying him. He told them that he would, "Just get Mr. Freddie!" She was a little confused, and asked why. He said, "Because Mr. Freddie knows everyone in the school, and he will definitely keep me safe!" Although I would have loved for him to say that I would go to the teacher or Mr. Butcher it made me feel good that everyone from Principal to Teacher to Custodian knows, cares, and keeps every child at KES safe.

Fall Carnival SUCCESS!!

Today was a fantastic day. We had families all over Kennedy Elementary School having fun. Thanks to Jenny Evans for her organization of it and all the teachers for their participation. It was great to see Kennedy Dragon at the school on a Saturday jumping in the jump zones, winning goldfish, cake walking, and dunking their teachers in the dunking booth. My hands having finally thawed out enough for me to type.

Thankless Job!

When talking with someone (who happens to be a teacher)about an article I wrote on my blog, they mentioned to me that it was nice to thank the parents for what they did for KES, but did I thank the teachers for what they do EVERY DAY?

I thought for a moment before I answered, "Probably NOT like I should!"

Teachers don't teach because they want a "Thank You"; they get that when a child learns a new letter sound or figures out how to use transition words effectively in their story, or finally organize their notebooks like the teacher has been showing them for weeks. Teachers teach because they have a passion for making a difference in a life. They see it as their mission to impact the future 1 kid at a time. Teachers teach because they know deep down that if they invest themselves in the life of a student that it will never come back void. They may not see the impact for a day, a month, or even years down the road, but they will see the change eventually. Every person has a story of a teacher that changed their lives (Mine was Ms. Gabrielli in 3rd Grade), and every teacher has a story of a student who has come back to them (in a letter, phone call, email, or visit) and said how they changed their life. That is the THANK YOU teachers need.

With that being said, I do need to thank the teachers at KES for what they do EVERY DAY. Kennedy has an amazing group of people that just happen to be great teachers as well. I thank GOD for allowing me to be the principal of such a great group of people.

Thanks!

I wanted to take this time to thank some wonderful parents who organized a staff tailgate party yesterday. Stephanie Waters, Rachel Merrill, Charity Lee and a few others were able to put together a nice lunch time feast for the teachers and staff at KES. There was chili, stew, hot dogs, snacks, and a whole lot of desserts!! It was very nice of the parents to organize this to say thanks for what the teachers and staff do for their children each day. I want to say thanks to them.

I also want to take this time to advertise our upcoming Fall Carnival. A week from today on Saturday, October 24th from 12:30-4:30 we will be having our Kennedy Fall Carnival. We will have games, prizes, Bingo, Jump Houses, and even a dunking tank! Not to mention their will be FOOD, FOOD, FOOD!!!!! Come out to Kennedy from 12:30 - 4:30 next Saturday, October 24th to see! You can also see our advertisement for the carnival on Winder TV on 8:00 am, 7:00pm , or 11:00pm all next week.

Awards Day and Early Release

Today at KES we tried to accomplish as much as you could possible accomplish in one day, and we did it in just a half of a day. October 15, 2009 was Awards Day and report card day for every grade level. We tried something new this year by having it in the individual (or a couple of classes) classrooms instead of as an entire grade level in the media center. We wanted it to be a more intimate and welcoming environment that could be personalized by the teacher. (The cookies in Mrs. Ballard's Class were phenomenal I heard!) It was more personalized, but it made it very difficult for me, Dr. J, Mrs. Sears, and Ms. Bachman to get to every class without rushing around. I love seeing the students getting honored for their hard work and dedication, and I absolutely LOVE seeing parents faces when their child (or grandchild) gets recognized. I especially like it when they win the Dragon's Wings award for being Ready, Respectful, and Responsible.

We also had a guest today for our 3rd -5th Graders. Robert Belinic came to play his classical guitar for our upper grades. It was amazing to see him play and interact with our students. He played some Spanish classical music, some Bach, and even some Eric Clapton. Our students were a very good audience and were very respectful. They asked some very good questions, and I had many students comment on how they want to learn to play the guitar. I also learned that we have many student that already play and even have a band. I can not wait to hear CJ Lynch's band play.

We ended the day by leaving at 11:00 so that the teachers could have conferences. This was not the best laid out plan because we also had parents trying to leave from the awards ceremony as well. That was not the more intimate meeting I was looking for. We will look at improving that next time.

Why I Love Barrow County

Many people will probably see this title and think that I love Barrow County because we have a Fall Break that lasts for an entire week. While I have thoroughly enjoyed the time off and feel that the students and teachers really deserve the week off, that is not why I love Barrow County.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to be on a show called the Talk of the Town which is on Winder TV channel 21 on Comcast. The first question that she asked me was, "What brought you to Barrow County?" I had not thought about that for a while, but the answer was easy. It is cliche to say it is the county's motto, but it is the truth. I love the motto, "World Class Education, Hometown Values". The thing is, it is not just a saying. The county backs it. The superintendent knows my name and is supportive of what we do for kids each and every day. The board of education is visible and try their best to keep everything in place to give teachers what they need to educate kids. Teachers work hard to give each student an opportunity to be successful. The best part is that the schools are community schools. All the Apalachee cluster schools "Back the CHEE!", and each Winder Barrow cluster school gives that "Double G" effort. It really is a blessing to be in a county that sets high expectations and doesn't give excuses for not working hard to meet them, but at the same time gives you that face-to-face support and truly backs what you are doing. I love that part of Barrow County. I also think that a TV show doing an interview with the principal of one its elementary schools about their carnival will only happen in a community that TRULY backs their schools.

Cells Never Tasted So Good!

Yesterday our 5th graders in Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Hixson, and Mrs. Liptak's classes created some very neat and TASTY plant and animal cells. This was a culminating activity from their Science lesson on cells. In 5th Grade students should be able to diagram and label parts of various cells (plant, animal, single-celled, multi-celled), Identify parts of a plant cell (membrane, wall, cytoplasm, nucleus, chloroplasts) and of an animal cell (membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus) and determine the function of the parts, and explain how cells in multi-celled organisms are similar and different in structure and function to single-celled organisms.

This activity allowed the students to diagram and label the different parts by actually creating their own cells. Vanilla Wafers were the nucleus, peanut butter or icing was the membranes, the sour strings were the cell walls, candy corns were cytoplasm.

It was a great activity, and as I talked with different students they were able to explain how they were different and similar. Not to mention, they tasted really good!!!!