#HighlanderNation 1.12.18

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

― Neil Gaiman 

HHS Student TEDx Event

In my last post, I informed you about the TEDxHowellHighSchool event scheduled for November 9, 2017. The first ever TEDx event in Howell was amazing! All of the students involved took a huge risk and put their stories out there for us to enjoy, reflect on, and learn from. Through humor, happiness, sadness, and enthusiasm, these students shared their unique story by engaging the audience through real emotions. The students who presented at the event were John Seck, Ashley Dunn, Gwyneth Labine, Allison Mitter, Jordan Chantaca, Jakob Ferris, Andrea Spisak, Mikayla Norton, Jenna Wincher, Jared Osborne, and Emmaly Badgett. The topics discussed ranged from overcoming the challenges posed by dyslexia to the importance of community service and celebrating diversity. One talk even covered geckos and their role in nanotechnology development. I am so proud of all of them and for laying the foundation for future events. Special thanks to Jason Schrock (HHS Principal) and Brian McCarthy (HHS Assistant Principal) for their leadership and support of this event. All of the stories were captured by our Video Production Program and can be viewed by clicking here. 

Telling Our Story
In the spirit of the TEDx event, the importance of "telling our story" cannot be emphasized enough. I have the opportunity to travel to our buildings and observe, and sometimes participate in, the amazing things going on across the district. We have taken intentional steps to share these stories with our students, staff, families, and the community. Most recently, a couple of our talented and amazing teachers have started a podcast to share innovative "out of the box" instruction and other practices occurring in the district. Ryan Horne and Brian Riordan launched their first podcast on January 8. To listen to this podcast, visit ryanandbrianshow.com and click on Episode 1 - What's This Show About Anyway? In addition, I encourage you to nominate a guest by using the tab on this website. Let's all take part in telling our story!

K9 Sweep
I received a few questions from staff members about the recent K9 sweep at the high school. In our efforts to support a substance-free school environment, each year we partner with our law enforcement agencies and conduct a K9 drug sweep of the high school campus. These sweeps are unannounced and occur after the campus is put into a shelter-in-place. Any hits by the dogs are investigated and followed up by both school administration and law enforcement. We will continue to utilize this approach as part of our overall strategy to address substance abuse in our community.

Coffee Chats
This year I am hosting quarterly Coffee Chats. The intent is to update participants on district work as well as answer questions. The next Coffee Chat is scheduled for Thursday, January 18 at 6:00 p.m. at Crosswinds Aviation (3308 W. Grand River). The location will allow us to highlight one of our unique programs at the high school, Private Pilot Ground School. Coffee Chats are open to anyone in the community.

United Way Campaign
Thank you so much for your support of the United Way campaign. Jeanne Clum, Development Director for the Livingston County United Way, sent us a thank you note that I wanted to share with you.

Thanks so much for all the great effort!

Following up with our conversation earlier today, I wanted to share stats from this year’s Howell Public Schools United Way campaign. You have MUCH to be proud of!

Looking at the HPS outstanding campaign, here is a little data:

2017 Campaign Success - $10,728, 178 employees giving (27%!), 60 employees gave online
2016 Campaign Success -  $5,368.49, 102 employees giving (15.5%)
Congratulations to you and your entire team!

Jeanne Clum
Development
Livingston County United Way

Thank a Teacher
We asked students and parents to write thank you notes to our teachers. We received more than 1,700 notes! I hope these notes provided a little insight into the impact you have on our students. You can view a short video of some of our teachers receiving these notes by clicking here.

FIRST Robotics
At the January 8 board of education meeting, the board took action to approve robotics clubs at all schools in the district. While robotics clubs already exist in several buildings, this formal support provides a stronger partnership with our parents who have been so instrumental in building the foundation of these programs. In addition, we can begin to increase access to these opportunities since we will now have a club at each school. I look forward to seeing our FIRST Robotics Programs continue to flourish.

Secondary Innovative Learning Initiative
At the December 11 board of education meeting, the Innovative Learning Initiative Team provided a report to the board regarding the alternative learning opportunities we plan to provide for some of our secondary students. For more information on this process, you can view the presentation by clicking here. The passion and commitment of this team is amazing, and I look forward to continuing this process.

Expansion of Early College Model
As you know, in partnership with the Livingston County Educational Service Agency (LESA), we launch an Early College this year with two pathways (Health Sciences and Manufacturing). We plan to expand these pathways next year to include such opportunities as Construction Management, Information Technology (IT), and Hospitality Management.

Twitter Chat
The HPS leadership team started a Twitter chat series as means to engage in some "out of the box" professional learning. We just finished discussing Innovator's Mindset by George Couros and will now be focusing on some specific district-related work. On January 15 at 9:00 p.m., Melanie Post and Julie Morrish will facilitate the next Twitter chat, a discussion on cross-curricular inquiry. Please feel free to join this chat at #highlanderchat.

Board of Education Organizational Meeting
At the January 8 board of education meeting, the board elected its officers for 2018. The following positions were filled:

President - Stacy Pasini
Vice President - Brent Earl
Secretary - Marcus Wilcox
Treasurer - Courtney Tarara

Gregg Gilligan, Grace Trudell and Mike Yenshaw are trustees for 2018. I am very thankful for the leadership provided by Mike Yenshaw as board president these past three years.