Remember Your Purpose

The P in PRIDE stands for Be Purposeful. According to disctionary.com, purposeful is an adjective that means having a purpose; determined; resolute. Of all the descriptors that make up our P.R.I.D.E. acronym, I am convinced our success is most closely tied to our purpose. And in these busy days ahead, bracketed by Fall Break and Christmas Break, we must remain ever-focused and diligent to our purpose: our students. When we meet as collaborative teams and have challenging conversations that make us better educators, we acknowledge our purpose. When we spend those extra moments caring for and establishing a relationship with a student who has long since zapped our energy, we embrace our purpose. And when we celebrate those occasions of growth and build upon those teachable moments, we are confident in our purpose. The next level, our best at PVES, is yet to come. Together, each person clinging to the purpose for which you were intended, we are destined to make a difference.

Our school participated in a One School, One Book using the book Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. All classes read the book which is about acceptance of others. In the book, the community placed their wishes on a tree and called it the Wishtree. Our students made wishes for the school year and placed the wishes on the trees in the front of the building. If you have not taken the time to read some of these wishes, may I suggest you walk outside and do so. And be reminded of your purpose. 

We celebrated our student writers with our Writing "Wall of Fame" breakfast. These are always fun events and enable us to celebrate growth in the area of writing. The young man in the picture above, sitting alongside his mentor, reminds me that our purpose as educators is much more than grades or test scores. We are a community of learners; bound to make a difference in the lives of 660 very special young people. 

Our first nine weeks Pride Practice ceremonies were a huge success. Again, we celebrated students who embody the character traits that will make them successful adults who contribute to our society. As each teacher reads her heartfelt message, it becomes crystal clear what her purpose is as an educator. Special times indeed. 

The newly formed Robotics Team at Powdersville Elementary is excited about using VEX IQ Robotics to build and program robots.  They will travel to Columbia in the spring to compete against other schools.  To prepare for middle and high school robotics classes, Powdersville Elementary plans to have all fifth grade STEM students participate in VEX robotics beginning next year. We should always be reminded that our students need direction as to their purpose and that it certainly stretches farther and wider than "just" standards. 

Veteran's Day/OLWEUS:
Just a reminder that we celebrate Veteran's Day on Monday, November 11th. With Lindsay Reyes and many visitors in our building, we are scaling down our celebration, but we still want to ensure our students are exposed to this special day. Remember that we will mention Veteran's Day briefly on our morning announcements. After announcements, please open your classroom doors. We have a member of the PVHS band who will be performing TAPS for each hallway. Then, we would like each home room to spend the first 10-15 minutes in recognition of Veteran's Day. I will be sharing a read aloud later today that you are free to use. After your Veteran's Day recognition/discussions, you are free to engage in OLWEUS class meetings (3rd and 4th only). Mrs. McGaha has been kind enough to set up the "missing man" table in our cafeteria. Thanks to everyone for allowing us to spend a few moments in solemn recognition and gratefulness for those who have and are currently serving our country. 

Lindsay Reyes PD:
As mentioned above, we will host Lindsay Reyes and 5th grade teachers from across the district on Monday. We will have groups meeting in the media center and Strings room throughout the day as well as visiting several 5th grade classrooms. Please make every effort to be at school as there will be no subs available. Obviously, 5th grade home room will have a sub so be on the lookout for how you can step in and serve those subs or assist in any way possible. We appreciate your flexibility and willingness to allow us to pull of such an event. The schedule for the day is linked here. 

Art Show and Book Fair This Week:
We have a busy week as our Fall Book Fair continues until Monday, November 18th. We are excited about hosting our Art Show on Thursday evening from 5-7 PM. If you are interested in wearing blue jeans on Friday this week, simply show up and support Mrs. Nix on Thursday evening. Obviously, we want all teachers to get the word out via SeeSaw about these events and support Mrs. Fowler and Mrs. Nix. Mrs. Fowler uses money from the Book Fair to update titles in the media center. Mrs. Nix uses money from the Art Show to help fund our wonderful I Heart the Arts day in the Spring. 

Faculty Meeting Wednesday:
We will have a faculty meeting on Wednesday after school in the media center. We will have some general announcements before working together to prepare for our upcoming Literacy Night on Thursday, December 5th. Please bring any questions or concerns you have for the group. 

Hospitality:
Last, but certainly not least, we want to officially notify everyone that we are ready for faculty and staff to join hospitality. The cost is $30.00 and while not "required", it is certainly reasonable to expect that our faculty joins. Our hospitality team works to support teachers in a variety of ways including, but not limited to: recognition of staff (i.e. Custodian Appreciation Day), hosting showers for soon-to-be mothers or for those getting married, and providing cards/gift cards for those experiencing death in the family. This year, we have a portion of our hospitality team that is planning several social events for our faculty and staff. These ROAR (Reach Others, Achieving Relationships) events are designed to foster a sense of friendship and belonging among our faculty and staff. You can pay via cash or check (made payable to PVES). Thanks! 


Moore's Musings:
The theme of our blog is obviously remembering our purpose and embracing that purpose in a profession that is both hectic and demanding. My advice for anyone experiencing the stress that impacts us all this time of year is to simply slow down. Carefully think through your next steps. Consider your words and actions. Don't be passive or afraid to be wrong. Rather, collaborate with others and be confident knowing you are working hard and doing your best. Communicate well and often. Make that positive phone call home that you have been putting off or attempt that new strategy or idea that you think will make a difference. Willingly accept feedback, praise your colleagues and build upon our culture in such a way that there is no doubt what purpose you serve. 


Mark Your Calendar:

• Veteran's Day - November 11
• Lindsay Reyes PD for 5th Grade - November 11th 
• Book Fair Open - All Week
• Papa John's Dollars for Dough" - November 12th and 13th
• Fall Make-Up Pictures - AM on November 12th
• Conferring Book Study - 3:15 P.M. on November 12th 
• Progress Report Folders - November 13th
• Faculty Meeting - 3:10 P.M. on November 13th 
• Art Show - 5-7 P.M. on November 14th 
• United Way Contributions Due - November 15th (please consider giving - this goes toward or summer reading camp)

Video of the Week: Know Your Why 

(We have shown this before and it is an excellent illustration!)