The Hidden Curriculum

The picture below, from Catholic Boys High School in Arkansas, was making the news rounds in early August:

In addition to the published curriculum (i.e. math, language arts, science, social studies, religion, etc) all schools have a "hidden" curriculum (i.e. problem solving, social interaction, following directions, responsibility, etc). Although teaching the "hidden" curriculum is less direct, it is almost as important as the published curriculum. 

While policies like the one pictured above may seem extreme, there is great value in policies that do not permit lost items to be delivered to students. I wrote about the impact of these policies, called "No Rescue" last year (see that featured blog post on the left navigation bar).  Granted, it is a Monday, but as of 10:13 am today, this was the mountain of forgotten items delivered to school and burying Mrs. Nesmith:

When I asked if this was a normal occurrence, she replied, "No, this is a light day." While I am certain Mrs. Nesmith doesn't mind--and is too nice to ever admit it if she did--these forgotten items represent the constant, numerous disruptions to the classroom. 

To minimize those disruptions, we will only deliver forgotten items that a student NEEDS.  These include lunches, eyeglasses or medications. Please consider that students' grades are NOT significantly impacted if they forget their PE clothes; there are enough water fountains on campus to soothe the thirst of a forgotten water bottle; there are enough classroom computers for a student to use if a Chromebook/Surface is forgotten at home; and we even have emergency lunch for those that forget them at home. 

This is a great lesson in responsibility for our children.  If an item is forgotten, our staff will help your child through the day, so there is no need to drop everything you are doing and rush the item to school. I promise, based on experience, students only need to face the consequences of a forgotten item once or twice to remember it the next time!

Thank you for being our partners in teaching our children some of life's most important lessons.

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24 years ago...

This past weekend, I celebrated my Plant High School 20 year reunion. More importantly, though, that also meant celebrating my CKS 24 year reunion! Rather than regaling our students with captivating stories from my childhood, I gave them the top three things people really want to know after not seeing someone for a long time:

What do they look like now?

Looks, of course, are not the most important thing, but we are human and that is the first thing we notice about others. To help our 8th graders figure out what they would look like in 24 years, I told the boys they just need to look at their 8th grade yearbook photo, subtract hair from the top, add hair to the face and mix in some gray--I think the example below justifies my advice: 

For the ladies, I told them to take their picture--and leave it alone--because they will not age and will still look the same! 

What are they up to now? 

For just about everyone, the common answer to this question was "not what I was doing 24 years ago." Pictured below, I thought I was well on my way to a career as a professional athlete: 

At NO point in my CKS career--or high school one--did I imagine I would ever be at CTK for anything except Sunday mass, let alone be the principal of the school! My friends were very surprised. My career, however, was not the biggest surprise of the night. That honor went to my 4th grade best friend, J. Ben Hooks--or as he is referred to now, Father Hooks. He is a Jesuit priest, teaching Spanish in Dallas. 

Although neither of us saw the path our careers would take us, we were well prepared because we gave our best effort in everything we did. My advice to the students was that no matter what you think you will be when you get older, put in the preparation now so you can be whatever you want to be. 

How will people remember me? 

The final thought on everyone's mind was how will people remember me. As I told the students, people did not remember the clothes I wore, the type of car I drove, the type of backpack I owned or some embarrassing thing that happened at lunch. I encouraged our students that while these things may seem like the world to them now, they are less important than what people really remember: how you make them feel. The only regrets shared were for not keeping in touch or wishing that they were nicer to some people. 

I know how I must have sounded to the students and hope that at the very least they remember the two most important things I told them about CKS: learning how to better love God and better love each other. If we do that, then we can look back with pride on our days at CKS. 

CKS Roars!

Typically when we think about the roar of a lion, we think of the sound produced by its voice. One other way we would like our students to think about their roar and voice is in their writing.

CKS has a long tradition of producing students who are strong writers, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that one of our school-wide projects this year is the implementation of a new writing program we call CKS Lions Roar.  This standards-based curriculum provides a strong, age-appropriate foundation on which to build each year and gives us an opportunity to prepare all of our students for continued success with the rigor and challenge of timed-writing tasks.

Why an emphasis on writing?  Here are three main reasons:

1. Preparation for High School--8th grade students wishing to go to area private schools or public magnet or IB schools must submit a writing sample as part of the admissions process.
2. Preparation for the SAT and ACT--You can see a sample SAT prompt here and a sample ACT prompt here. These sample prompts indicate the type of writing expected of college students, hence their inclusion on these college readiness exams--a type of writing that focuses on students compiling and evaluating information on a topic, forming their own ideas, and being able to articulate those ideas to others.
3. Preparation for College--Most universities require an essay to be submitted as part of the application process. Other universities strongly encourage it--which we all know really means "if you want to be accepted you better submit it." An example of the writing prompts for UF can be found here.

I know high school and college may seem like a long way off, especially for students like the writer pictured here:

Writing, though, like any skill, should start with an early foundation and be built upon with continued practice. Plus, if you ask Mrs. Fogarty in KB, everything worth learning is learned in kindergarten anyway!

   

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Joy in Others

As I am sure most of you know, this past Sunday Pope Francis canonized a new saint: Mother Teresa. This morning at assembly, Father Bill shared a few of her more famous quotes with our students:

"If you spend time to judge people, you have no time to love them."

"I am a little pencil in the hand of God who is sending a love letter to the world."

"If you can't feed 100 people then just feed one." 

When I think about the different components of our Lion Joy this school year, I can think of no better patron saint for "Joy in Others" than Saint Theresa of Calcutta. In fact, I am sure she must have whispered in the ear of one of our 1st grade students last week. 

The student, pictured below, teamed up with his brother to sell lemonade. Unlike most children, who look to turn a profit for a new toy or video game, the boys donated half of their money, $22, to our mission collection, which we take up during school mass on Wednesdays. 

This money will go to our sister parish in Sainte-Suzanne, Haiti for the purchase of Christmas presents for children of the parish. These students, and I am sure there are many more in our community like them, are living Joy for others and making sure God's "love letter to the world" is being sent.