The New Strategic Plan Is an Opportunity for Shared Success

As the district begins rolling out its new 2018-21 Strategic Plan, it’s important for everyone in CHCCS - staff, students, families and community members - to realize we all have an integral part in it.  When we began the planning process, I wanted to make sure we have a role for everyone, as challenging everyone to be a part of the Strategic Plan will ensure its success.  I wanted it to be more than big ideas on paper, I want our Strategic Plan to be an opportunity.

Our focus is simple:  empower, inspire and engage.  We built everything around these words.   Everyone in CHCCS can do each of these things every day.  When we work towards empowering, inspiring and engaging, there should be no limits and no obstacles.

The four areas of our plan - Student Success, Employee Experience, Family and Community Engagement, and Organizational Effectiveness - encompass the areas CHCCS navigates every day, all year long.  Each of these affect every school district’s main objective - the education of students.

Please watch for more information as we get closer to the beginning of the 2018-19 school year.  We will share more than just the main goals of this Strategic Plan - we’ll also share our subgoals and objectives.  As you learn more about the plan, you’ll begin to see this is a district-wide vision.  It’s more than just a single-focus.  It’s more than test scores.  It’s more than one segment of our community.  It is multi-layered, looking at every piece that goes into a student’s day.

It needs more than just the buy-in of district administrators and some educators.  The Strategic Plan needs you - all of CHCCS - to make it effective.  I’m counting on each of you to figure out what you can do to ensure each student and adult is empowered, inspired and engaged.

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Even When We Don’t Try, Educators are Always Engaged Learners

On the last day of school, if someone had asked, “What are you going to do to engage in learning over the summer,” the answer they received may not have been polite.  We know our business can be mentally and physically exhausting.  In truth, in the back of our minds, we all have a plan to continue learning during the summer.  We set aside books to read during the few quiet summertime moments we have.  We research how we’re going to set up our classroom in August.  We plan on all the ways we’re going to stay in touch with other educators.  We are writing our curriculum, participating in professional learning opportunities, researching best practices and reviewing data.  You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can’t stop him/her from being engaged in learning.

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Be the Inspiration

Where do you find inspiration during the summer?  Do you follow other educators’ tweets to see what they’re doing, reading, learning?  Do you connect with other colleagues and share ideas on how to set up your 2018-19 classroom?  Do you find yourself looking for exciting, new books in the education section of the book store?  Or are others looking to you?  Do you have that novice teacher asking what you’re reading so they can read it, too?  Do you run into students and families in the community?  As educators, we’re always a big part of our community and whether our focus is on our own summer learning or helping another with their learning, I’m sure we always inspire.

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Empower Yourself this Summer

I know, I know, it’s summer.  We have earned these precious few weeks to rest, relax and restore ourselves.  While that’s true, as educators, we are Lifelong Learners.  We can use this time not only to get some much-needed vacation, but to empower ourselves through summer reading, some professional development, maybe attending a conference.  We have plenty of opportunities that won’t take away from our down time and still allow us to grow and prepare for the next year ahead.

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Everyone Plays a Part in CHCCS for Student Success

In general, Strategic Plans can look the same. The way some are written, the plan could be for almost any school district in America. One of our goals was to stand out and be different when creating our new 2018-21 Strategic Plan. We want to make sure we empower, engage and inspire students, staff and our community. We want to ensure everyone in our community is engaged and realize they are a stakeholder in the success of CHCCS students - because you are.

As we start rolling out our 2018-21 Strategic Plan, we will begin to share its details and goals. We will work towards meeting the expectations we set out to accomplish, as well as those of our stakeholders. The timing for our new Strategic Plan couldn’t have worked out better, seeing as I now have a full year of leading CHCCS and learning about its culture. Things are clicking as we continue to take on new challenges, like hiring new administrators and principals to lead our schools.

Here we go, starting a new school year and another exciting journey together. Our focus, like last year, is simple: we want to empower, engage and inspire. We will continue to use these words over the next three years, working hard on our four pillars: Family and Community Engagement; Employee Experience; Student Success; and Organizational Effectiveness.

When we return in August, please look for more information about our 2018-21 Strategic Plan. Soon, we’ll have handouts and information available on our website with all the details. Get ready to gear up, CHCCS!

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Our Community Is Unique

The CHCCS community is not your usual school community. We may have the usual stakeholders - staff, students and families - but we also have a long-standing tradition of including others who don’t have specific ties to our schools. We have retirees and university students who volunteer in our schools. We have active grandparents who move to the area to be close to their families. We have business owners who want to financially support classrooms. We have some big universities who collaborate with us. So it was with this diverse tapestry in mind, we included our Community in the 2018-21 Strategic Plan. Our community is more than the usual - it is unique to us and helps to make CHCCS an amazing place to teach and learn.

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Our Focus Is Student Success

Educating children is what brings us together every day. In our 2018-21 Strategic Plan, we are focusing not just on the student, but on Student Success. We understand each child is different and has his/her own way of learning. We want to help students learn who they are as people and as learners. We want to engage them for every moment they’re in CHCCS classrooms. We want to help all students take the reins of their education because that’s the best way to make sure they’re lifelong learners and accomplish all the goals throughout their lives.

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Continue to Be More, Class of 2018

Tomorrow CHCCS will celebrate the graduation of our high school seniors. Our graduates have worked hard to reach this milestone - the moment when they hear their name called and then walk across the stage to receive a piece of paper that will change their life. There is no need to quote numbers, everyone knows the importance of staying in school and how having a high school diploma will enable someone to earn more, give more, help more, be more.

It is important to honor these seniors for their achievements.  Whether they are top of their class or not, putting the diploma in their hand gives them a boost for the rest of their lives. Today’s high school journey is not easy and CHCCS seniors know this - there is an understanding that they will graduate. In addition to classwork, students have extracurriculars, sports, arts, work, volunteering, all while squeezing in some moments for fun. Our students live in this pressure cooker of expectations.

To our Seniors: The reward for all your hard work, all of the years of studying, all the times you took a class that stretched your mind and abilities is the knowledge you gained. You are in control of your educational journey. You are. You get what you put into your education. This can also be applied to your life. When you work hard, have fun, take risks and encourage others, your life will be momentous. Never stop learning. Never stop looking for solutions. Never stop taking what you learn in your years here and apply it to where you are.

Your parents, teachers and I are all very proud of everything you have accomplished and cannot wait to see what you will do next. Your decisions will shape not only your future, but all of ours. While you continue to learn more, give more, help more and be more, we will continue to watch and learn from you.

Congratulations Class of 2018!

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New Strategic Plan to be Introduced

Over the next few weeks, CHCCS will begin to roll out its new Strategic Plan for 2018-21. We have worked hard to make sure we include all students, staff and our community in this plan. We have four main areas: Family and Community Engagement; Employee Experience; Student Success; and Organizational Effectiveness. Through it all, we hope to empower, engage and inspire, so stay tuned!

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Now Is the Time to Reflect on Our Year

As the school year comes to a close, it’s time to take a look back and see whether CHCCS educators took up my charge from our August Convocation: Did you make your classroom fun? Did you take risks?  Did you encourage others - and yourself?

From what I’ve seen as I walk through the schools every week, I see a lot of teachers integrating those principles into their classrooms and into their lives.  Seeing teachers take on this challenge head-on inspires me and the other educators around them.  Most importantly, by making classrooms fun, having educators that take risks and encourage others, it affects our students in a positive way.

We are in the business of learning.  My expectation is for staff to ensure students are learning each and every day, while also continuing their own learning.  That being said, our business of learning is also fun.  We get to sit on the floor and read to a child.  We get to sing with children.  We get to see students make connections in their learning.  We get to introduce students to the world around them, the world outside their community.  We are not sitting in a cubicle for eight hours.  Our days run the gamut of emotions.  We have happy and sad moments, a constant ride of ups and downs.  As educators, we love every minute of every emotion, although admittedly, we may not always love it in that very moment.

I ask that you take some time and reflect back on your 2017-18 . . . now I want you to look back, not as a teacher, but as a student.  Was your classroom fun?  Did you take risks in your learning?  Were you encouraged?

My final challenge to you this year is to encourage you to continue to bring fun into your classroom, as well as take risks.  Hopefully, these have become a natural part of your personal and professional life.

I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you how much I appreciate the CHCCS community.  Our teachers are some of the most passionate I’ve ever met.  Teaching isn’t just an employment opportunity in CHCCS - it’s a fierce opportunity.  Our support staff wear so many hats throughout their day, they keep the schools running smoothly and always find the necessary solutions.  Our bus drivers take on the responsibility of getting our students to and from school, which is a logistical feat every day, twice a day.  Our school and district administrators are incredibly dedicated.  They work long and hard, putting in way over 40 hours a week to ensure that CHCCS is the best district in North Carolina.  Our families and community are so supportive, doing whatever they can to fill in monetary gaps, volunteer, serve on committees and many other things.  Our students are so dedicated.  They take their learning journey seriously and understand they help make their learning experience what it is.

Thank you to all of you.  I have been so inspired by you this year.  You have encouraged me.  You have shown me what fun looks like in our district.  You have helped me learn to take bigger and bigger risks.  You have helped make my first year here more than I could have expected and I cannot wait for my second year . . . I know it only gets better in CHCCS.

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A Fun Classroom Can Happen at All Levels

Having fun in the classroom sounds like a simple thing to do, but don’t let that fool you.  It can be difficult finding ways to make a lesson fun that don’t take away from a student’s learning.  Know this: it can be done and at all levels of education - elementary, middle and high school.  A fun day of learning doesn’t necessarily have to include glitter and glue (although it can!).  It can be holding a class outside, having a student-led discussion, or even using a special piece of technology.  When educators make an effort to bring fun into their classrooms, everyone learns.

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Picture a Classroom Full of Smiles

What is better than seeing a genuine smile on a child’s face?  Seeing all those teeth, eyes bright, leaning forward, the child’s happiness is contagious.  Now picture that smile on the faces of every child in a classroom.  See how the teacher has brightened the classroom by making the day’s learning fun.  No matter what the grade level of the class, the experience level of the teacher or whether or not the school is old or new, by making the lesson fun, all of the students will be engaged and accumulate what they’ve learned and apply it for years to come.

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Make Learning Fun and Avoid Struggles Later

Everyone remembers the fun times like birthdays, vacations and milestone events.  Difficult times are also remembered, but usually as something frustrating or disappointing.  Learning is the same way.  Think back to something that was difficult to learn in elementary school and now think about it if you had fun while learning.  When something is fun to learn, it stays with you, becoming part of your daily life, not part of a struggle to manage as an adult.

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Encouragement Can Be Contagious

My challenge to CHCCS this year was to have fun in the classroom, to take risks and to encourage those around them.  I truly believe anyone who offers encouragement to those around them will then receive encouragement back.

Encouraging others will reverberate through your life.  In building people up, offering kind words, clapping for their successes and listening when they fall short, you not only better the life of others, but you better your own life.

When was the last time you gave someone encouragement directly?  As the school year draws to a close, try to encourage at least one person each day.  Find those around you who may quietly be going through a hardship, struggling to continue their learning, or taking a professional risk.  Let them know you see their hard work, perseverance and dedication.  Offer them words of encouragement.  Watch how encouraging words change their attitude - and yours.  Watch as others then begin to encourage those around them.

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Offer Encouragement and Receive It In Kind

When we know someone is working hard and taking risks, we have to also realize they need encouragement to keep going. As you look at people you see every day - children, coworkers, neighbors - make sure you are a positive force in their lives, offering them encouragement as they work toward their goals. Then don’t be surprised when they offer you encouragement the next time you need it.

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Encouraging Others Also Encourages Yourself

Seeing someone struggling is always difficult, but offering them encouragement is not. Everyone goes about their day, hurrying to get from one place to another, barely seeing those around them. Remember to slow down and take a few moments to help someone, encourage them. You will find you are also helping make your day better.

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Who Are We Encouraging Every Day?

Encouragement is something we learn at an early age. We encourage family members, friends and sports teams. We encourage strangers whose stories we see in the news or on social media. But are we always encouraging the person working across the hall or the student who is having trouble grasping some new piece of knowledge? Look around you and remember one simple word of encouragement could make the difference in someone’s life.

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Students Learn Risk Taking by Watching You

At our Convocation in August, I challenged our educators to have fun in the classroom, to take risks and to encourage those around them.  I took a risk with this directive, but I believe by doing these three things, the way students learn and the way teachers teach would make a long-term impact on everyone.

When students see their teachers and other adults in their schools taking a risk, it encourages them to go for the stars, too.  For example, CHCCS offers a program to help teacher assistants go back to school to get their teacher certification.  When a student sees their TA taking this leap, they realize they can also leap and be whatever they want to be.

For some teachers, just thinking about taking a risk can seem scary.  Luckily, CHCCS has many teachers who are willing to jump into it.  Lifelong learners know from failure comes learning, which is what it’s all about.  So for anyone who is still standing on the edge and has yet to take the leap this year, whether you’re a teacher, a principal, a cafeteria worker or a school secretary, a parent, aunt, or grandparent, be courageous and jump.  I promise you and all those students in your life will learn something from it.

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Keep Moving, Keep Taking Risks

Trying and failing are important for every learner.  There’s more to just accepting a failure . . . you have to learn from it.  Life without risk is stagnant and a classroom without risk becomes rote.  Students need to be stimulated and challenged each day in their learning and teachers are leading the way, showing how taking a risk pays off in the long run.

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What Risk Taking Can Lead to in a Classroom

Everywhere you hear the importance of learning from failure, taking risks and see what comes of them.  Just a few years ago, taking a risk in a classroom could be as simple as Skyping with a class in another country.  Today, that is now commonplace in many classrooms.  So the risks educators take today, could be practice in a few years.  If it turns out not to be, then it was a necessary step in learning what can be done in classrooms.

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