"I believe in the human race. I believe in the warm heart. I believe in man’s integrity. I believe in the goodness of a free society. And I believe that the society can remain good only as long as we are willing to fight for it—and to fight against whatever imperfections may exist."
Jackie Robinson delivered those powerful words as part of a recorded essay in 1952. In that recording, he spoke eloquently of his beliefs and of his fight against prejudice. This week, Lia Nudelman used those words as part of a culminating hall display (along with art of the time) in connection to her historical fiction novel In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. Students listened to Robinson's essay, connected it to the well known NPR This I Believe program, then connected to their own heartfelt I Believe list poems. Stop by her second grade classroom to read through the writings and browse the art they created and the thought behind their choices of artist. I believe you will walk away inspired by the learning connections and, most importantly, the belief statements of our children.
Zach Scott wrapped up their inaugural after school program this week, with both performances by K-2 and 3-5 on two separate days. I briefly heard and saw our younger set telling jokes on stage, while our older kids performed the short play Peter Pan and The Lost Girls. Nat Miller, ed director of Zach, was my seatmate for the latter and we both left impressed that the actors not only had great presence, but also had total responsibility for the behind-the-curtain work (rearranging sets, staging of actors, etc). Zach does first rate work and we're exploring additional ways to pump this up for next year, both in and out of the school day. Special thanks to Rog Wall for a very well done second semester acting class.
In case you didn't know, April is National Poetry Month. In honor of this special month, librarian Cheryl Mullins got students fired up about all things poetry and implemented the school-wide Poem in Your Pocket Day on Thursday. Many big and small Scotties carried a pre-selected favorite poem in their pocket throughout the day - some by well loved poets (mine was Robert Louis Stevenson's At the Sea-Side, a personal childhood favorite) or original ones written especially for the occasion - then pulled them out when asked to share. So as you can imagine, we had poetry shared in classrooms, hallways, cafeteria lines, and more. Our after school childcare director and lunch monitor Mrs. Castro was so enthused, that she wrote an original poem to share (very well done!) and had kids performing at the mics while their peers ate lunch. In fact, we had such fun sharing, we're thinking of making Poem in Your Pocket Day a part of our monthly lunch routine around here next year. Cool.
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| The JOY! of poetry |
Now, a nod to all things STAAR testing. I believe our kids did their level best, I believe our teachers (here and elsewhere) "taught their guts out", and I believe this year above any I've had at HP, we all worked hard to keep the learning as inter-connected and creative and meaningful and joyful as we possibly could each and every day for every child. And we will continue to refine and work hard and grow next year and beyond for the continued good of our children, for the goodness and integrity and humanity Robinson spoke of in 1952. Because honestly, I do believe, when it's all said and done, these are the things that will matter the most.
