School year 2013-2014 is off to a great start! This is going to be a challenging year due to a new teacher evaluation system, a new way of determining school proficiency, and new expectations for school administrators. It was important to get the school year off to a positive start!
A number of our teachers were busy this summer, attending conferences, trainings, and participating in professional development opportunities. Our Blended Learning team was fortunate to be able to attend the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference in San Antonio; others attended AVID training; one of our teachers attended the Exxon Phil Mickelson Teacher Academy for Math and Science and another attended a training at the Library of Congress on how to use primary resources in our teaching and learning. Additionally, teachers attended the Kamehameha Technology Conference and others participated in training for Achieve 3000 or Thinking Maps. I mention this, not just to share the professionalism of our teachers in trying to improve their instructional practices, but to show how we needed to connect all of these trainings to ensuring that teaching and learning at Hale Kula is meaningful and engaging.
With the implementation state-wide of the Educator Effectiveness System, teachers will be evaluated, based on five components. Our goal is for all of our teachers to be successful because we know that an effective teacher in the classroom has the most significant impact on student performance and student achievement. Therefore, we needed to make connections and to realize that by working together with our colleagues, we have a better opportunity to ensure that all of our students and teachers are successful.
Planning our first day agenda takes a lot of thought. I wanted to make sure we had time to make connections between the Educator Effectiveness System and other initiatives from the State, District, Complex, or our school while building relationships at the same time. With a relatively large faculty (about 75 teachers) and a lack of designated school-wide professional development days for the past few years, new hires often did not have opportunities to meet or work with other grade level teachers. For this reason, it was important to use our administrative time wisely.
Earlier this summer at the Kamehameha Tech Conference, we had the pleasure of hearing and meeting Nirvan Mullick who produced a video called "Caine's Arcade." I watched the video several times and shared it on my personal Facebook page. I knew that I wanted to share it with our teachers, too. "Caine's Arcade" was the perfect video to discuss problem-solving and the attributes of a problem-solver, and while we all agree that Caine is bright and creative, demonstrates perseverance and definitely is a critical thinker and problem-solver, as educators, we don't give our students these kinds of opportunities in the classroom. I considered having material available so teachers could work in teams to create something out of cardboard, but a cardboard challenge would take too long. What kind of activity would be shorter, a little less open-ended, but still engage our staff to work in teams while problem-solving?
Our librarian/media resource teacher shared The Marshmallow Challenge with me, and I knew it would be just right for our purpose! Teachers worked in teams of 4 (I put the groups together ahead-of-time), and part-way through, we removed at least one teacher from each group and had them switch with another teacher. We had puzzled looks, and teachers shared that they thought they had done something wrong when we asked them to switch groups. Some didn't want to change because they were comfortable with their group, and they were actually a little upset.
After reflecting on the experience, we had teachers complete a google form to collect comments. Our librarian-media resource teacher used a Smilebox slideshow to document feedback as well as a Wordle to capture feelings of the participants during The Marshmallow Challenge. (Note - the larger words were mentioned more often.) One of the reflective questions we asked was, "How did it feel when you were asked to move to a new group, and how did you fit in to your new group?" We wanted teachers to make the connection between how they felt as a "newcomer" in the group and how our students feel when they transition into our school. (Each year, we have several hundred who transition after school begins.) I loved this teacher's comment: "When I got switched to a different group, I thought about kids who come into our school as new students. It made me reflect on my experiences as a teacher welcoming new students."
After this uplifting, fun activity, our teachers were more engaged and participatory during our mandatory training. Continuing to build on the new relationships they were forming, teachers worked in groups, jigsawed the required assignments, and shared what they had read to ensure that everyone got the same information. They then posted comments, questions, or feedback on sticky notes on a linoit.com canvas.
This reminds me of something our AVID trainer said to us during our training this summer: Why do we leave the "fun" activities till the end of the day or the end of the week IF we have time. Perhaps if we mix it up and occasionally give students engaging assignments at the beginning of the day, we would have fewer tardy students since they wouldn't want to miss out on an enjoyable activity!
Today was our first day with the students, and it went well! Here's hoping the remaining days are just as good!
Monday, August 5, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Starting Soon - SY 2013-2014
It's the end of summer; teachers return to work next Tuesday, July 30, and students will return on Monday, August 5. Where did my summer go?
This will be a challenging year for us. Our $33.2 million construction and renovation project changes the landscape of our school grounds. One whole section will be closed down as workers begin constructing a new administration and a ten-classroom two-story classroom building. This means changes in the recess schedule, recess fields, and a location for our two physical education teachers to conduct classes. It may take longer to get from one place to another due to barricades while construction takes place, and we will have to get used to the dust, noise, and traffic while ensuring that teaching and learning continues.
Additionally, the recently-ratified teachers' contract places new expectations on teachers as well as administrators. This is a "practice" year where all of us will be trying out the components of the Educators Effectiveness System to improve teaching and learning in our Hawaii public schools. We are learning together, and my responsibility is to ensure that our teachers receive the support they need to be successful and to grow professionally. Right now, I'm working on an agenda for the first few days; I'm doing my best to be creative and engaging while modeling the use of various technology or Web 2.0 tools which teachers and students can use to collaborate, communicate, think critically, and create. We have our theme for the year - "Making Connections; Building Relationships." Hopefully, we can put all the pieces together in a coherent way that makes sense and positively impacts teaching and learning at Hale Kula.
We have a large staff with several new hires, so in our welcome letter, we gave them an assignment based on a project our teachers shared after returning from the ISTE conference. (Thank you @Bryan Doyle for the idea!) Right now, our Media/Technology Coordinator is working with our custodial staff to help them upload their summer assignment. It has been so much fun to see everyone's unique summer story in 6 words and 1 picture, and we'll be sharing this slideshow at our Welcome Back Breakfast next Wednesday. I'm sure it'll be a great way to start off a new school year!
This will be a challenging year for us. Our $33.2 million construction and renovation project changes the landscape of our school grounds. One whole section will be closed down as workers begin constructing a new administration and a ten-classroom two-story classroom building. This means changes in the recess schedule, recess fields, and a location for our two physical education teachers to conduct classes. It may take longer to get from one place to another due to barricades while construction takes place, and we will have to get used to the dust, noise, and traffic while ensuring that teaching and learning continues.
Additionally, the recently-ratified teachers' contract places new expectations on teachers as well as administrators. This is a "practice" year where all of us will be trying out the components of the Educators Effectiveness System to improve teaching and learning in our Hawaii public schools. We are learning together, and my responsibility is to ensure that our teachers receive the support they need to be successful and to grow professionally. Right now, I'm working on an agenda for the first few days; I'm doing my best to be creative and engaging while modeling the use of various technology or Web 2.0 tools which teachers and students can use to collaborate, communicate, think critically, and create. We have our theme for the year - "Making Connections; Building Relationships." Hopefully, we can put all the pieces together in a coherent way that makes sense and positively impacts teaching and learning at Hale Kula.
We have a large staff with several new hires, so in our welcome letter, we gave them an assignment based on a project our teachers shared after returning from the ISTE conference. (Thank you @Bryan Doyle for the idea!) Right now, our Media/Technology Coordinator is working with our custodial staff to help them upload their summer assignment. It has been so much fun to see everyone's unique summer story in 6 words and 1 picture, and we'll be sharing this slideshow at our Welcome Back Breakfast next Wednesday. I'm sure it'll be a great way to start off a new school year!
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Principal Evaluation E-Portfolio
This year, after many years of negotiating, principals are being evaluated using a comprehensive evaluation form. We have always been evaluated, but now, the State is using an evaluation system which measures performance on multiple measures including student achievement. We are still waiting for more information, but in the meantime, we're asked to share evidences of what we've done this past year to improve our school. We will also be developing a long-range plan and setting annual goals to reach those plans.
For the past couple of years, I've been meaning to start an ePortfolio to document my personal growth as an educational administrator. I never quite got started, though, even if our students were keeping their own electronic portfolios using weebly We even had first graders with their own weebly page, and it was amazing that some of them got the hang of things so quickly! I guess I was waiting for the right opportunity to get going!
I have a meeting with our Complex Area Superintendent in a couple of weeks, and I am finally starting an ePortfolio. I needed some tutoring -- I tried to learn things on my own, but there were little glitches that I didn't know how to rectify -- but now, I'm enjoying it!
As principals, we need to model what we want our staff and students to do. Last year, I encouraged our teachers to create a class webpage, and most of them did. They found that updating their assignments and notes to parents on-line kept them organized and led to better home-school communication.
Last year, I learned how to blog, and after that, I created several different blogs to communicate with parents: Hale Kula Highlights, Hooray for Hale Kula Staff, and Hooray for Our Volunteers. I recently created a blog to document our $33.2 million construction project. This year, I am learning to create a web page on weebly, and while it hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be, I'm proud to be learning something new!
For the past couple of years, I've been meaning to start an ePortfolio to document my personal growth as an educational administrator. I never quite got started, though, even if our students were keeping their own electronic portfolios using weebly We even had first graders with their own weebly page, and it was amazing that some of them got the hang of things so quickly! I guess I was waiting for the right opportunity to get going!
I have a meeting with our Complex Area Superintendent in a couple of weeks, and I am finally starting an ePortfolio. I needed some tutoring -- I tried to learn things on my own, but there were little glitches that I didn't know how to rectify -- but now, I'm enjoying it!
As principals, we need to model what we want our staff and students to do. Last year, I encouraged our teachers to create a class webpage, and most of them did. They found that updating their assignments and notes to parents on-line kept them organized and led to better home-school communication.
Last year, I learned how to blog, and after that, I created several different blogs to communicate with parents: Hale Kula Highlights, Hooray for Hale Kula Staff, and Hooray for Our Volunteers. I recently created a blog to document our $33.2 million construction project. This year, I am learning to create a web page on weebly, and while it hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be, I'm proud to be learning something new!
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
It's Official! Our Groundbreaking Ceremony
Monday, July 1 couldn't come quickly enough! We knew that once the groundbreaking ceremony took place, construction on our new buildings would begin. But first things first.
We are so appreciative of the work by the Groundbreaking Committee to plan a wonderful event which combined the actual ceremony as well as fellowship and food! This was the first ceremony we have planned that included so many distinguished visitors. Most of the other school groundbreakings include the State and City elected officials as well as Department of Education officials. In addition, we invited military leaders as well as our Congressional delegation and officials from the Washington D.C. Office of Economic Adjustment. I am most appreciative to the military liaison and the US Army Garrison Protocol Officer for making sure we did not offend anyone by not following proper protocol.
Our custodial and office staffs were also instrumental in ensuring that the ceremony would go smoothly. The custodians stopped their room cleaning to work in the yard. Even if our school is 54 years old, we take pride in the outward appearance of the grounds. The custodians trimmed back overgrown plants, weed whacked the whole front area, and the school looked so spiffy! The office staff did all the "little" things that were necessary to make the whole event go smoothly -- RSVPs, registering the special guests and visitors, preparing the library for the reception, and a myriad of other details. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful staff who exemplify our vision, "Working, learning, and succeeding together!"
Even a delay due to a dirt spill which closed down a couple of lanes on the freeway couldn't dampen our spirits! The groundbreaking ceremony included Governor Abercrombie, US Senator Hirono, BG Johnson, Superintendent Matayoshi, and other military and local leaders as well as our private partners. Here is a photo just prior to the actual groundbreaking. (For more photos of the event, click on the hyperlink to the slideshow.)
Now that the planning/designing/contracting phase is over, the actual construction work begins. We will be documenting our project from start to finish via a blog titled, "Hale Kula Elementary School - Our $33.2 Million Project!" While we were researching the history of our school (which was built in 1959), we found very little information. With the availability of social media and other tech tools, we want to make sure this project is documented and shared with any and all who are interested. This is a way for anyone connected with our school -- now or in the past -- to follow our progress. It will be with a touch of nostalgia for those who attended Hale Kula when it was pretty new back in the 1960's or 1970's. At the completion of this project, the school will be transformed. In this 21st century, our students deserve a learning environment which builds on the 4C's -- collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creating. Add in the 5th C -- choice -- and our students will be successful whether they are here in Hawaii or elsewhere in the United States or the world!
We are so appreciative of the work by the Groundbreaking Committee to plan a wonderful event which combined the actual ceremony as well as fellowship and food! This was the first ceremony we have planned that included so many distinguished visitors. Most of the other school groundbreakings include the State and City elected officials as well as Department of Education officials. In addition, we invited military leaders as well as our Congressional delegation and officials from the Washington D.C. Office of Economic Adjustment. I am most appreciative to the military liaison and the US Army Garrison Protocol Officer for making sure we did not offend anyone by not following proper protocol.
Our custodial and office staffs were also instrumental in ensuring that the ceremony would go smoothly. The custodians stopped their room cleaning to work in the yard. Even if our school is 54 years old, we take pride in the outward appearance of the grounds. The custodians trimmed back overgrown plants, weed whacked the whole front area, and the school looked so spiffy! The office staff did all the "little" things that were necessary to make the whole event go smoothly -- RSVPs, registering the special guests and visitors, preparing the library for the reception, and a myriad of other details. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful staff who exemplify our vision, "Working, learning, and succeeding together!"
Even a delay due to a dirt spill which closed down a couple of lanes on the freeway couldn't dampen our spirits! The groundbreaking ceremony included Governor Abercrombie, US Senator Hirono, BG Johnson, Superintendent Matayoshi, and other military and local leaders as well as our private partners. Here is a photo just prior to the actual groundbreaking. (For more photos of the event, click on the hyperlink to the slideshow.)
From left: Col. Whitney (US Army Garrison-Hawaii), Gary Willis (Office of Economic Adjustment), State Senator Michelle Kidani, State Representative Lauren Cheape, Brigadier General Pete Johnson (25th ID Deputy Commanding Officer), US Senator Mazie Hirono, Governor Neil Abercrombie, State Senator Clayton Hee, Principal Jan Iwase, State Representative Mark Takai, Dexter Kubota (Bowers & Kubota, project managers), Vern Inoshita (Design Partners, Inc., project architects)
Now that the planning/designing/contracting phase is over, the actual construction work begins. We will be documenting our project from start to finish via a blog titled, "Hale Kula Elementary School - Our $33.2 Million Project!" While we were researching the history of our school (which was built in 1959), we found very little information. With the availability of social media and other tech tools, we want to make sure this project is documented and shared with any and all who are interested. This is a way for anyone connected with our school -- now or in the past -- to follow our progress. It will be with a touch of nostalgia for those who attended Hale Kula when it was pretty new back in the 1960's or 1970's. At the completion of this project, the school will be transformed. In this 21st century, our students deserve a learning environment which builds on the 4C's -- collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creating. Add in the 5th C -- choice -- and our students will be successful whether they are here in Hawaii or elsewhere in the United States or the world!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
One Year Ends -- Another Begins
I am learning so much from other educators around the country and here at home. Reading tweets and blogs or visiting and talking with other principals and teachers has provided me with ideas on ways to improve our school and my practices as principal. It has also given me much food for thought as we continuously reflect on our practices and search for ways to make education more relevant and engaging for our students and teachers.
I recently read a wonderful graduation speech by Chris Lehmann who is principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. I love to read about his school, and he inspires me to keep believing that we can make a difference, that our students can achieve greatness if we give them the guidance and the opportunity to create their own future. This week, four of our teachers will be attending the International Society for Technology in Education along with 20,000+ other educators, and Chris Lehmann is being honored as ISTE's 2013 Outstanding Leader of the Year Award. Also notable is the fact that one of our own teachers, Rachel Armstrong, is being honored as an Emerging Young Educator. Rachel is our fifth grade Blended Learning teacher, and the success of our program is due to our great team which also includes Rebecca Linford (fourth grade teacher), Megan Cummings (Instructional Media Resource Teacher), and Michelle Colte (Librarian and Media Specialist). Together, they have created a program which will continue to grow and provide us with ideas on ways to improve teaching and learning at our school.
Construction will begin shortly on our "new" school, and we can't wait! I find myself looking at buildings more carefully to see how space is being utilized and how furniture is configured. I'm also looking at how art enhances and adds a special touch to the buildings. Recently, I attended a training at the Hawaii Convention Center and spent time each day admiring the Children's Courtyard where colorful artwork is displayed. I took a photo and sent it to the architects to see if we might be able to exhibit our student work in this way. I also took lots of photos from my grandson's school where art is displayed prominently throughout the school. What a wonderful way to share the creative talents of our students!
Left - Students painted scenes of what is special about Hawaii.
Right - A mural made of tiles at my grandson's school
Finally, when I attended a training at Mililani High School, their principal, Fred Murphy, took me on a tour of their new building. One idea we can implement right away is the school's "Did You Know?" which shared the many accomplishments of their students and staff -- honors they've received, championships they've won, competitions they've excelled in -- from academics to athletics to the arts to service and citizenship. We can do that at our school, too, and we will! We have much to be proud of at Hale Kula, and we need to share our accomplishments with our school community.
No time to rest . . . got to get back to work!
I recently read a wonderful graduation speech by Chris Lehmann who is principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. I love to read about his school, and he inspires me to keep believing that we can make a difference, that our students can achieve greatness if we give them the guidance and the opportunity to create their own future. This week, four of our teachers will be attending the International Society for Technology in Education along with 20,000+ other educators, and Chris Lehmann is being honored as ISTE's 2013 Outstanding Leader of the Year Award. Also notable is the fact that one of our own teachers, Rachel Armstrong, is being honored as an Emerging Young Educator. Rachel is our fifth grade Blended Learning teacher, and the success of our program is due to our great team which also includes Rebecca Linford (fourth grade teacher), Megan Cummings (Instructional Media Resource Teacher), and Michelle Colte (Librarian and Media Specialist). Together, they have created a program which will continue to grow and provide us with ideas on ways to improve teaching and learning at our school.
Construction will begin shortly on our "new" school, and we can't wait! I find myself looking at buildings more carefully to see how space is being utilized and how furniture is configured. I'm also looking at how art enhances and adds a special touch to the buildings. Recently, I attended a training at the Hawaii Convention Center and spent time each day admiring the Children's Courtyard where colorful artwork is displayed. I took a photo and sent it to the architects to see if we might be able to exhibit our student work in this way. I also took lots of photos from my grandson's school where art is displayed prominently throughout the school. What a wonderful way to share the creative talents of our students!
Left - Students painted scenes of what is special about Hawaii.
Right - A mural made of tiles at my grandson's school
Finally, when I attended a training at Mililani High School, their principal, Fred Murphy, took me on a tour of their new building. One idea we can implement right away is the school's "Did You Know?" which shared the many accomplishments of their students and staff -- honors they've received, championships they've won, competitions they've excelled in -- from academics to athletics to the arts to service and citizenship. We can do that at our school, too, and we will! We have much to be proud of at Hale Kula, and we need to share our accomplishments with our school community.
No time to rest . . . got to get back to work!
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Reflecting and Re-energizing
One of the great things about summer is that it provides me with the time to reflect and re-energize. This past year was a blur; it went by so quickly, and for the most part, I believe we were successful. We made progress on our academic goals, and we were able to communicate with our school community more effectively through the use of social media. Our Blended Learning pilot program showed us that students can excel and be self-directed learners if they are given instruction, guidance, and choices, and we are slowly transitioning to becoming a Google school with more on-line collaboration and sharing of files by our staff and students. Additionally, our design plans and cost estimates were approved, we received the funding we requested, and very shortly, groundbreaking on our new buildings will take place. We can't wait!
This past week, I had the opportunity to attend two conferences. I am so grateful to Kamehameha Schools and AVID for hosting these conferences during the summer so educators can attend without having to leave their classrooms. The Kamehameha conference focused on educational technology, and a number of our teachers were able to attend. Titled, "Imagine," the conference focused on the possibilities for ourselves and our students if we open our minds to new ideas. I was blown away by Nirvan Mullick's presentation and his video, Caine's Arcade. As I listened to Nirvan and heard him share the story of a little boy and his creativity, a statement resonated with me. "Every child is gifted." Our job as educators is to find that gift and to nurture it. I also believe, as Nirvan does, that every child deserves a "gifted" program where students are given opportunities to learn in an enriching, hands-on, collaborative, project-based learning environment. I have always believed that such an environment has limitless potential to engage students and give them the confidence to explore their passions, and I would like to see our students have more of these opportunities in the coming school year.
AVID was originally developed to close the achievement gap and to make the college dream available to all students regardless of their station in life. Students are told to "Dream Big" and to believe in the college dream. From its humble beginnings in 1980, the program has expanded from a high school program for a few students to today's program which spans elementary, middle, high school, and post-secondary education and includes thousands of students. The training reinforced our commitment to eventually implement AVID complex-wide. The challenge of our site team (thanks, Tami, Lynele, and Keith!) will be to share how AVID fits in nicely with all of the initiatives at the State and school level. We have some great ideas for introducing AVID to our teachers!
The one challenge for us will be to take what we are learning about technology in education with the essential components of AVID. As more and more classes and students create ePortfolios, and as we expand what we've learned about Blended Learning to implement components in the "traditional" classroom, binders and planners may soon be outdated. However, WICOR (Writing to Learn, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading to Learn) are applicable for ALL students if we want them to be successful in life, and we need to ensure that students receive rigorous instruction, learn to ask and answer higher level questions, work with others, and learn organizational skills. This is particularly important for our highly transient military population. If our students "Imagine," "Dream Big," internalize and implement AVID strategies, and learn to use technology as a tool for learning and creating, they can be successful wherever they go in the future. That is our goal at Hale Kula - to prepare our students for success in LIFE!
This past week, I had the opportunity to attend two conferences. I am so grateful to Kamehameha Schools and AVID for hosting these conferences during the summer so educators can attend without having to leave their classrooms. The Kamehameha conference focused on educational technology, and a number of our teachers were able to attend. Titled, "Imagine," the conference focused on the possibilities for ourselves and our students if we open our minds to new ideas. I was blown away by Nirvan Mullick's presentation and his video, Caine's Arcade. As I listened to Nirvan and heard him share the story of a little boy and his creativity, a statement resonated with me. "Every child is gifted." Our job as educators is to find that gift and to nurture it. I also believe, as Nirvan does, that every child deserves a "gifted" program where students are given opportunities to learn in an enriching, hands-on, collaborative, project-based learning environment. I have always believed that such an environment has limitless potential to engage students and give them the confidence to explore their passions, and I would like to see our students have more of these opportunities in the coming school year.
AVID was originally developed to close the achievement gap and to make the college dream available to all students regardless of their station in life. Students are told to "Dream Big" and to believe in the college dream. From its humble beginnings in 1980, the program has expanded from a high school program for a few students to today's program which spans elementary, middle, high school, and post-secondary education and includes thousands of students. The training reinforced our commitment to eventually implement AVID complex-wide. The challenge of our site team (thanks, Tami, Lynele, and Keith!) will be to share how AVID fits in nicely with all of the initiatives at the State and school level. We have some great ideas for introducing AVID to our teachers!
The one challenge for us will be to take what we are learning about technology in education with the essential components of AVID. As more and more classes and students create ePortfolios, and as we expand what we've learned about Blended Learning to implement components in the "traditional" classroom, binders and planners may soon be outdated. However, WICOR (Writing to Learn, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading to Learn) are applicable for ALL students if we want them to be successful in life, and we need to ensure that students receive rigorous instruction, learn to ask and answer higher level questions, work with others, and learn organizational skills. This is particularly important for our highly transient military population. If our students "Imagine," "Dream Big," internalize and implement AVID strategies, and learn to use technology as a tool for learning and creating, they can be successful wherever they go in the future. That is our goal at Hale Kula - to prepare our students for success in LIFE!
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Personal Reflections
At this time last week, my husband Randy and I were in San Antonio, Texas for my youngest son's graduation from Air Force Basic Military Training. It was such a proud moment for us, particularly because this is a path he chose to follow after several years of drifting at the university and at community colleges. When he made the decision not to go back to school, it really bothered me. As an educator, I wondered if we had done something wrong. Our son graduated with honors from high school, but he did the minimum required and wasn't particularly motivated to study. It was evident from the start that he didn't enjoy his college classes.
As a mother, it was hard to see my son unmotivated, and although he had a part-time job, that certainly wasn't a career path. When my son decided to join the military, I was torn. As the principal of a school with 99% military dependents, I saw the challenges these students and families face. Is this what I wanted for my son?
Long story short, my son was accepted into the Air Force, and as the time drew near for him to leave for Basic Military Training, we were all supportive. We realized that our son had been counseled by his recruiter and he had been reading about what to expect at BMT. He got advice from others -- his family and friends, his brothers' friends, and from strangers -- and he listened.
The 8 1/2 weeks of Basic Training went by slowly. Not being able to communicate with him except through snail mail was a challenge in this electronic age. We looked forward to receiving letters on Thursdays -- several at a time since they were all mailed on Sunday. We wrote diligently and shared little anecdotes about what was happening at home. Frankly, it had been years since I'd written an actual letter; most of our communication with faraway families and friends is through email, text, or Facebook.
My husband is retired, and he would spend his days reading blogs or checking out information on what our son was going through and what he could expect in future weeks, then he'd tell me all about it. Would our son survive? Early on, our son mentioned a website and a FB group called AFWingmoms. That was one of the best resources for us. There was a group for my son's TRS and FLT where we could share information as well as celebrations. That was such a wonderful support group!
We breathed a sigh of relief when our son said he had done well in all aspects of BMT. Our plane tickets, hotel and car reservations had been set weeks before, and we would be there for his graduation. We arrived in San Antonio on Wednesday, and we arrived at Lackland AF Base for the start of graduation ceremonies on Thursday at 6:00 a.m. Yes, we were early! The Air Force graduates approximately 600 Airmen each week, and everything ran like clockwork! The Airman's Run was impressive. In 8 short weeks, these individuals had bonded and were running together, in formation, chanting as they passed. Randy and I held a banner for him, something we hoped would stand out amongst all the other banners. It worked; Jordan saw it and so did others in his flight.
As a mother, it was hard to see my son unmotivated, and although he had a part-time job, that certainly wasn't a career path. When my son decided to join the military, I was torn. As the principal of a school with 99% military dependents, I saw the challenges these students and families face. Is this what I wanted for my son?
Long story short, my son was accepted into the Air Force, and as the time drew near for him to leave for Basic Military Training, we were all supportive. We realized that our son had been counseled by his recruiter and he had been reading about what to expect at BMT. He got advice from others -- his family and friends, his brothers' friends, and from strangers -- and he listened.
The 8 1/2 weeks of Basic Training went by slowly. Not being able to communicate with him except through snail mail was a challenge in this electronic age. We looked forward to receiving letters on Thursdays -- several at a time since they were all mailed on Sunday. We wrote diligently and shared little anecdotes about what was happening at home. Frankly, it had been years since I'd written an actual letter; most of our communication with faraway families and friends is through email, text, or Facebook.
My husband is retired, and he would spend his days reading blogs or checking out information on what our son was going through and what he could expect in future weeks, then he'd tell me all about it. Would our son survive? Early on, our son mentioned a website and a FB group called AFWingmoms. That was one of the best resources for us. There was a group for my son's TRS and FLT where we could share information as well as celebrations. That was such a wonderful support group!
We breathed a sigh of relief when our son said he had done well in all aspects of BMT. Our plane tickets, hotel and car reservations had been set weeks before, and we would be there for his graduation. We arrived in San Antonio on Wednesday, and we arrived at Lackland AF Base for the start of graduation ceremonies on Thursday at 6:00 a.m. Yes, we were early! The Air Force graduates approximately 600 Airmen each week, and everything ran like clockwork! The Airman's Run was impressive. In 8 short weeks, these individuals had bonded and were running together, in formation, chanting as they passed. Randy and I held a banner for him, something we hoped would stand out amongst all the other banners. It worked; Jordan saw it and so did others in his flight.
We finally got to tap out our Airman after the equally-impressive Coin Ceremony and at his graduation the following day. We knew he would look different with his buzz cut, but that wasn't the only difference. Jordan now stood taller and prouder. He walked with a purpose. It is evident that his experiences at BMT had helped to build his confidence in himself. He now had a whole new set of buddies; they had his back, and he had theirs. He talked about going back to school, courtesy of Uncle Sam. He looks forward to completing his training (he is now at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where they were under tornado watch the other day) and to receiving his duty station assignment.
I write this because the traditional schooling did not work for Jordan and for others like him. Yes, he was always in college prep classes and he earned good grades in school, but those classes and that kind of learning wasn't meaningful to him. He needed to work with his hands, to do projects and to research things that were relevant to him. I think back to his sophomore year in high school when he and his friends built their own computers from parts they purchased on-line or in stores to get the best price. I saw him figure out what was wrong when there was a problem with his computer and fix it himself. I should have realized that perhaps college wouldn't be his path, and it disappointed me when he dropped out. Well, it appears that he is taking a different path, and the structure and expectations of military life are what he needed to get back on-track. I have no doubt that this time, he will succeed in getting a college degree. We are so proud of our Airman and look forward to seeing where the Air Force takes him!
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