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!

Be Like Bennett!

Saturday morning I was driving to Barnes & Noble to do some Christmas shopping. As I was waiting at the intersection of Kennedy and Dale Mabry, I saw a man holding a sign (it was not the guy with the viking hat, encouraging me with his spinning air guitar to turn in for the lowest prices on mattresses!)  Instead, this man was holding a sign that simply read, "Just Hungry." Usually this would present a dilemma for me since I never really know what the right thing is to do --I hesitate to just hand out money (which usually isn't a problem since I rarely carry cash); I never have food in the car; and I feel there is always more I can do than just pray. This Saturday, I did not have any of those issues, though. I reached under my seat and gave the man a Bosco Bag.

Bosco Bags were the idea of CKS 8th grader Bennett Andersen and his mother, Dana. Each bag contains a water bottle, several snacks, and a card with resources on one side and the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-16) on the other. Bennett is on the Executive Committee of our middle school service organization, the Sean Devereux Club. He brought the idea to the committee and they spent hours before and after school putting together these bags for adults to have in their cars and distribute as needed.

As we close the first semester and head into Christmas break, I can think of no better example of what a CKS student can accomplish. My hope for all of our students is that they see a need in the world, look for possible solutions, and when found, organize others to take action. I am proud of all our CKS students and their accomplishments this semester. I look forward to next semester and continuing to Be Like Bosco with our school community.

Merry Christmas!

Rescue Me

Leading education research on student success is currently focused on mindsets, grit, and toughness. To oversimplify, the theory is that a child's attitude about his/her ability to succeed and the capacity to persevere through a challenge are among the most important indicators of future success. 

To help foster resiliency and toughness, some schools have gone as far as instituting a "No Rescue Policy" which asks parents NOT to bring forgotten items from home to school in order to teach students about consequences, responsibility, and resilience.  These policies have less to do with cognitive skills (academics) and more to do with non-cognitive skills (responsibility). They also have everything to do with us, as parents, and how we "support" our children when they struggle (i.e. struggle to remember something for school). 

I have seen the numerous return trips to the office in the morning, and I have unlocked the front doors after school for many of you making the return trip in the evening. I understand that a policy like this can be hard to digest, but I have a confession. During the month of October we did some tallying of all the forgotten items brought to school by our parents for students. Here's what we found:

62 forgotten lunches/snacks
17 forgotten bags of PE clothes
45 forgotten Chromebooks, notebooks, and book bags
1 forgotten pair of socks
125 return trips to school for parents

We did not even count the return trips after school for forgotten books, folders, or lunch boxes. We only have 550 students in the school, so 125 trips means approximately 23% of our students forgot items in October. While I know that some of the items represent the same students, they also represent 125 different disruptions to class for teachers and assistants to distribute these items.

As parents, I know we want to support our children and that means making sure they have the items they need to be successful. However, we also need to think about the long term effects of our immediate decisions. So what should you do when your child has left for school and you discover the lunch box is still sitting on the kitchen counter?

1. Take a deep breath--seeing the forgotten item just reminds you how many times you reminded your child to grab it before leaving. Irritation sets-in and few of us make good decisions when we are irritated. Taking a deep breath keeps us calm. 
2. Trust us--the school is not going to let your child starve (we give out emergency lunches every day); we are not going to resort to cruel and unusual punishments if they left a notebook at home; and they can still participate in PE without gym clothes. 
3. Think about consequences--while many of the forgotten items will pose an inconvenience to children, none of them, aside from necessary medications, will keep them from going on with their school day. 

As educators, we want all of our children to succeed, and sometimes success comes later from consequences experienced today. While I don't see us instituting a "No Rescue Policy" yet, I do think as parents it is worth thinking about leaving the next forgotten item where it lies. Supporting children to accept the consequence may be a greater factor in their future success than supporting them by bringing them the item. 

Hands On!

Charlotte Danielson, a leading educational researcher, has identified four domains of effective teaching. Her philosophy is to observe a teacher's effectiveness based on what the students are doing in the classroom as a result of the teacher's actions. She points out that the best activities for learning are both "hands-on" AND "minds-on." While there is definitely a place for repetitive practice (think math fact sheets) to reinforce learning and there is a place for projects for the sake of projects (think hand turkey), the most effective activities force students to think while also producing tangible evidence of what they learned.

As we begin our journey towards Christmas with Advent, it is a great time to find ways to make our service to others more "hands-on" AND "minds-on." While there are places --and a very real need-- for service that only requires a donation (food drives, toy drives, etc.), I believe we are called to deepen our service commitment to our community.

Here are three opportunities supported through ministries at Christ the King where you can make your service hands-on and minds-on:

1) St. Vincent DePaul Society--In addition to collecting food (we contributed over 6,000 pounds in our school/parish drive), this ministry needs volunteers to work in the SVDP Food Pantry and Thrift Store, collect goods, enter data, and provide seasonal outreach. Email svdphdc@gmail.com if you are interested.

2) Home Makers of Hope-- Besides donating your old furniture, this group needs volunteers to drive its box truck and make home visits to determine furnishing needs for families in our parish community. For more information and to schedule furniture pick-ups, contact Connie Hayden-McPeak at dcmcpeak01@yahoo.com.

3) Trinity Cafe--Serving a hot meal for hundreds of people daily, Trinity Cafe's mission is to help their guests dine with dignity. If you volunteer you serve as a table host bringing your guests drinks, food, and conversation. Our faculty volunteered here this summer and found it to be a very rewarding experience.  Check out their website for volunteer information:  http://www.trinitycafe.org.

These are just a few ways to enhance your Advent in preparation for Christmas. They also provide our children an opportunity to "Observe God in All Things," specifically a hands-on and minds-on example of serving those in need in our community.

Observing God in All Things

“I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily, but when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”   --Luke 18:8 from last Saturday's daily Mass. 

After the chilling events that took place in Paris this past weekend, I think Jesus would definitely find the faith of many shaken. It's a challenge to teach our children to "Be Like Bosco" and “Observe God in All Things,” and try to observe Him in events like these. 

The simple answer is God does not cause these actions—people do. People who have allowed the devil and sin to break their relationship with the true God and kill in the name of a false one.

Now contrast those events with a local story from last week's Tampa Tribune which can be found here. The story describes how a Plant City cross country runner saw another runner (from Plant High School, coincidentally) collapse near the final stretch of the state championship meet. The runner from Plant City did not think twice: he stopped and picked up his fallen competitor, helping him cross the finish line.

This young man ignored the impulse to compete and win a race he had been training for since last June. He ignored the impulse that caused dozens of other runners to keep moving past the fallen runner. Instead he listened to his heart, observed God in his competitor and picked him up to help him finish the race.

While we may seem helpless to prevent attacks like the ones that happened in Paris, and we are scared of others like it happening again, there are two things we can do: we can pray to God, and we can act with the same courage displayed by the Plant City student. If we do these two things on a local level, we can have an impact on global level. 

Sold! Auction Recap

Our CKS community spent Saturday night in Hollywood, and the stars were everywhere! The biggest question, like most major Hollywood functions, was "What are you wearing?" While most people opted for black-tie formal attire, some of our CKS stars really stood out and created a buzz. In case you couldn't make it to Auction, here are the top fashion recaps:

• It's not an A-list event without pop stars. Thanks to James and Gianni O'Connor we saw Katy Perry and her Super Bowl shark. 

• You never know if Tom Cruise will make it to an event, but he came out to support our Catholic school, along with Kelly McGillis, when Antonio and Christine Castellvi came rocking the flight suit and bomber jacket as Maverick and Charlie from Top Gun. 

• I knew John Travolta lived in Florida, but I never thought I would see him at Christ the King, especially with Uma Thurman. Even Quentin Tarntino would have been impressed with how Jay and Donna Anthony transformed into Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction. 

• We were all shocked to find out that Fr. Len was not only our pastor but also "The One." Dressed like Keanu Reeves from The Matrix, Father Lenderson battled Agent Santhouse to start the Live Auction. 

• No celebrity party is complete without the paparazzi. The Williams and O'Brien families came with inflatable cameras and TMZ shirts (pictures of Brian Housel on the dance floor should be hitting the internet any moment). 

Thank you to Maggie Robinson and Aadonia de le Torre, our Auction co-chairs, and their committee for putting together an entertaining evening; thank you to my co-auctioneer, T-Michael Boyle, for helping double the amount of money raised in the Live Auction from last year; and finally, thank you CKS families for your generosity!  While final numbers are still being tallied, we are sure it was another record-breaking auction to benefit CKS!

What are You Reading?

A better question might be: When was the last time you read a book for fun? With our Book Fair taking place this week, it seemed like a good question. I think we all would like our children to do more independent reading. That starts with our example. If we want our children to "pick up a good book" then we should, too! Here are some other great ways to foster independent reading in your children from our Critical Thinking Teacher/Reading Specialist Julie Pederson:

Parents, you DO have an impact on how much your adolescent reads!  Check this out:  

Scholastic recently did a survey of reading habits and attitudes among children.  The research highlights the important role parents play in encouraging adolescents to read.  According to the survey, adolescents who read frequently are more likely to have parents who:

• are readers themselves
• help them find books, and
• use deliberate strategies at home to encourage reading.  

 

Strategies mentioned for parents of adolescents include:

• putting limits on screen time,
• building reading into the daily routine, and
• reading the same book in order to talk about it together.

The Scholastic research also shows what schools can do to foster independent reading among adolescents.  Key factors include access to ebooks, informing students of their current reading levels, and making time for independent reading during the school day.  We recently added access to ebooks through the CKS library.

 

Resources for Supporting Independent Reading:

Want to know whether or not a book is AR (or the AR level or points)?  AR Book Finder

 

Want to know what other students are reading?  AR Book Finder Collections

 

Need fresh ideas for new books?  

AR Book Finder Advanced Search allows you to search by genre/topic, ZPD (reading level range), and rating.  Doing a filtered search can generate an interesting list of suggestions to check out.  Your student can look up his/her ZPD (reading level range) in Accelerated Reader while at school.

 

            Look up a book you like on Amazon and browse the “Customers who bought this item also 

           bought…” list

 

           What Should I Read Next?  Enter a book you like and the website will generate a list of book

           recommendations from its database.

In addition to our Book Fair, we have asked our students to support our Book Drive. To help families in underserved communities in our Diocese, CKS 1st grade students made signs like the ones below to increase the access to books for these families.  Thank you for your support!