Welcome Back, MCAC success and the Road to Proficiency

We would like to welcome everyone back to the final stretch of the school year. We are headed into a very busy, fast paced, exciting and celebratory time of year. Buckle up and try to enjoy the ride. Before we know it our seniors will be on their way to new and exciting things....and, speaking of seniors…

The actions of the senior leaders of MCAC (and the other MCAC students) provided a series of thoughtful and engaging activities for students the week prior to break. Their actions are evidence that our work and systems are producing students who can Act Effectively to make a difference in our school and the broader community. They showed us what happens when passion and focused work come together. I look forward to seeing what this group does next. Please join me in thanking MCAC for caring about something and trying to make a difference. (MCAC - Morrisville Climate Action Committee)

While I have your attention, for the remaining eight weeks of school teachers will be increasing their use of Scholarly Habits by connecting them to curriculum and lessons. This increase in use and focus on thinking and talking about these habits with students is a new and challenging thing to grapple with at this time of year.  This is, however, a good thing to grapple with. Our growth and experience with the use of Scholarly Habits will make us better educators and our students better learners.

The Scholarly Habits are designed specifically to be applicable and used across all disciplines and throughout school. They are measured independent of content mastery and should not be averaged with or included in a content grade. They are different from content. They are skills and behaviors, that when practiced, lead to success. Our goal in using them is to help students realize this, too, and thus, work at improving them. We use them to help our students become more aware of how to learn and where they can improve as learners. Giving them regular and ongoing feedback (in all of their classes and TA) will be monumental in helping them and us achieve our collective goal of graduating students who can express, construct and act.

ECO WEEKO!

This Friday PA students will kick off the first annual “ECO WEEKO”. Designed and developed by the student led Morrisville Climate Action Committee (MCAC) “ECO WEEKO” is a week long series of student created activities to increase understanding and awareness about climate change and it’s effect on our natural environment, economy and local community. Some highlights will be local speakers, fun scavenger hunts and, for some students, a trip to the Vermont Youth Rally for the Planet.  The student members of MCAC began their work on this week way back in the fall after attending an important Youth Summit at UVM. These students hope that through their activities that each PA student can commit to one way to reduce their ‘environmental footprint’ that will have a positive impact on climate change. Please talk with your students about the activities and learning from the week and support them in efforts to reach their individual goal.