5SOS

While doing classroom walk-throughs last week I noticed that one student had written "5SOS" in large highlighted letters on the bottom of her paper. If you have middle school age daughters you are probably familiar with the "code." I was not. I went over to the student and quietly asked if that was a way to let her teacher know she needed help with that homework problem. After an eye roll, the likes of which only a middle school girl can pull off, she politely said, "No, Mr. Tanis, it has nothing to do with homework; that stands for my favorite group, 5 Seconds of Summer." Trying to salvage what little middle school street credit I had left, I said, "Oh, I knew that, I just didn't see the '5.'" I quickly made my way to the next class.

I am sure parents, teachers, and students alike will think of this band's name, though, as word of the start date for the 2016-2017 school year spreads. As you will see in this week's newsletter, our start date for students next year is August 10th. For many, the summer will feel only 5 seconds long. At Christ the King, we are in slightly better shape than others. While many surrounding schools end June 10th this year, we anticipated an earlier 2016-2017 school calendar and were able to adjust this year's calendar to make June 3rd our last day of school. Therefore, rather than a 5 second summer, we will only miss 5 days of summer (71 days last summer vs 66 days this upcoming summer).

Regardless of our thoughts about summer, here are a few thoughts on how an earlier start date can benefit our students:

1) Aligned calendars - While some schools have yet to set calendars for the 16-17 school year, the surrounding county public school systems, Tampa Catholic, and the Academy of the Holy Names have published calendars with August 10th as the start. Calendar alignment helps our families with students in multiple schools plan for child care and important family time over the summer and throughout the school year.

2) Wednesday start date - this provides a natural calendar break to review classroom procedures, communicate expectations, and build a classroom culture these first few days. There is an overwhelming amount of brain research that cites these practices as critical for learning to take place in a classroom. Students must feel safe in order to take risks academically and for learning to occur.

3) Balanced quarters - beginning school on August 10th allows each quarter to be the same length of time, so that quarter grades more consistently reflect student learning throughout the school year. It also provides an equal amount of time each semester for our students to prepare for semester exams and even more instructional time before high school placement tests in November or Iowa Assessments in March.

While there will probably be an adjustment period, the teachers and I feel the calendar shift will benefit our students and families. Although we won't be able to start the school year with a Labor Day Weekend party, we will be able to end it with Memorial Day Weekend.  Here are dates for your planning purposes:

CKS 2016-2017 Preliminary Dates

 

August 10 - First day for Grades 1-8

August 11 - First day for Kindergarten

August 12 - First day for EC4

 

Thanksgiving Break

November 21-25
 

Christmas Break

Dec. 16 (early dismissal) - January 2

 

Classes resume

January 3, 2017

 

Last day of school

May 26

 

**additional dates including Spring Break, etc. to follow soon

 

 

Strike Hunger

St. John Bosco started his priesthood working in prisons, not schools. However, as he went from prison to prison, he was astounded by the number of young boys in the cells. He wondered if ministering to them in prison was the best solution. After prayer, he realized the solution was to minister to them before they even entered the system. As he looked around Italy, he saw boys that were without food, without work, and without God. He slowly began his movement to start oratories (schools) where the boys could be fed physically, mentally, and spiritually.

St. John Bosco saw a problem and came up with a solution to address the cause (hunger) and not one of  the symptoms (boys in prison). I think about all the problems in our world today and the solutions offered to solve them. Perhaps we are looking at symptoms and not the root cause. Statistics show that one out of five children in America go hungry everyday; that means 16 million children.  I don't know about you, but when I am hungry, I become angry. I am sure the term "hangry" has been used once or twice to describe my mood!

This month as part of Catholic Schools Week, our students are going to help fight hunger, by partnering with the organization Feeding Children Everywhere. In February, our students will prepare and package meals that will go to hungry children all over the world. Our goal is to package 30,000 meals. Each meal costs $.25, so we are asking students to deposit any spare change into receptacles placed throughout the school. I think making meals and using change for change is a great way to show our students how to Be Like Bosco and "Serve with a Smile." 

Here is a video we showed our students to kick off the event at school:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwIuOVJAn-0

Serve with a Smile

With the conclusion of the Christmas break, we are slowly starting to slide back into our school routines. I hope everyone had a restful break and is ready to get back to work and being like Bosco. This quarter our guiding action is to Serve with a Smile. If you are still hunting for a New Year's Resolution, this might be the one for you: to serve others and do so with a smile on your face. Actually completing acts of service can be difficult to schedule into your life--almost as hard as keeping resolutions that last past January (just notice how much the Y clears out in February!).

Think of these three tips so that your service -- and your resolutions -- just might stick:

1) Keep It Small--keeping the end goal in mind is important, but you have to start the journey to reach the destination. Plan those first steps and milestones along the way. 

2) Keep It Swift--I am not suggesting that you recklessly make decisions or speed through a project to get finished. Rather, I am suggesting you make a plan and swiftly take action. 

3) Keep Your Smile--Numerous studies have shone that the simple act of smiling releases chemicals in our brains that relieve stress and anxiety. There is also a Swedish study in the attached article which found that people rated pictures of those who smiled as more attractive than pictures of people who didn't.  Now you know why I try to smile so much in the car line; I need every advantage I can get.  Finally, another study showed that seeing someone else smile triggers a response in our brains to return the smile. Therefore, if you smile at someone you are helping your health and that of another person. 

 

That seems like a simple, small, and swift New Year's Resolution. Forget the no-carb diet, the cardiac crossfit class, and the marathon you signed up for to motivate you off the couch. See how much you can improve your health and that of others this year by just giving a few smiles a day.

Happy New Year!