Archives for February 2019
Attention Parents – Learn About Nature Play
Tigers of the Week: February 25 – March 1, 2019
Cole and Jordan are our TIGERs of the Week for February 25 – March 1
Cole Meyer – Band
Cole was one of 16 trumpet students out of hundreds in the state that auditioned and made it into All-State Band this year. Because of this he performed a concert with the Symphonic Band on the stage of Orchestra Hall. All-State band is a blind auditioned based group regardless of class size. Cole put in countless hours in preparation for this event and all of his hard work paid off. Cole is the 6th student from Hutchinson to audition and make it into All-State Band.
Jordan Ludowese – Knowledge Bowl
Jordan has been an extremely valuable member of the Knowledge Bowl team this year. She pushes herself and team to collaborate, being better together for the achievement of the whole group. Jordan is constantly pushing and challenging expectations.
A Story to Tell
By JoEllen Kimball, Board of Education, ISD 423
While eating lunch with my 95- year old mother and some of her friends in Minneapolis I was asked if I thought Hutchinson had an immigration problem. I quickly responded , “Yes, I think we do. We do not have enough diversity in Hutchinson.”
I appreciate our city and after living, working, and raising our children here since 1985 we plan to stay for our retirement years. So why was my response to the immigration question so quick and possibly judgmental?
I believe we learn from people who are not like us and especially from people who have had very different experiences.
There is diversity in Hutchinson of many kinds. The schools of district 423, that I am most familiar with, have great teachers, staff, and students. There is strength in the diversity found in each of our schools. I found a quote from Ani DiFranco that says, “I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort, where we overlap.”
I have a story of diversity and welcoming from Park Elementary. I remember a second grade student I taught at Park nine years ago. Amos (pronounced with the accent on the second syllable) came from Kenya and entered Park after the school year had started. He spoke no English and I was nervous about how to teach him. On his first day he knocked on the large boy’s bathroom door before going in. He ate very little of the school lunch and was cold on the playground. Helping him to learn English and learn about life in Hutchinson became an exciting class project; one that we took very seriously. We sat with him, walked with him, played with him, and taught him words and ideas. As happened every year, we had lots of math and reading lessons. We had parties, field trips and many thousands of opportunities for conversations. Amos quickly learned to understand the English words we were using and then to speak English. It is said that listening to and speaking a language comes before reading and writing it. We started each day of second grade with opening routines. We had show and tell. Late in the school year Amos started to raise his hand, go to the sharing chair, and begin with, “I have a story to tell.” His stories were delightful. One, I remember was about hearing lions roaring at night in the wild. Another story was about a relative who killed a deadly snake in the family garden with a hoe. Amos taught us about Kenya and the beauty of another language spoken in another part of the world. I know we taught him many things too before his family moved at the end of the school year. I will never forget Amos and what an honor it was to learn from him as he learned from us. In our second grade class we didn’t vote to become welcoming, we simply were.
If I ever get asked the question about immigration again I will respond differently. I will say that we have diversity, but we should welcome more.
Activities: February 25 – March 2, 2019
Click Here for this Week’s Activity Schedule
Click Here for more information about Hutch Tiger Activities
Activities Director – Thayne Johnson, CAA
Phone: 320-234-2698
Email: [email protected]
Administrative Assistant – Amber Larson
Phone: 320-234-2647
Email: [email protected]
Thank You School Bus Drivers!
School Bus Driver Appreciation Day
February 27, 2019
Thank you to Hutchinson Bus Line and all of the school bus drivers who get students to and from school safely and also interact with students – giving them a positive start and end to their school day.
Did you know . . .
- School bus drivers perform a 42 point pre-trip inspection every day plus post-trip inspections to make sure no children are left on the bus.
- Once a driver is licensed, they must complete 8 hours of continuing education per year and pass a DOT driver physical every two years.
- Hutchinson school bus drivers travel 152 routes every day!
- Hutchinson Bus Line has 49 drivers with over 500 years of experience!
- Drivers work to build relationships with their students, giving them a good start and end to their school day.
- Statewide, 760,000 students are transported 750,000 miles safely every day.
- There is less than a .3% chance of a fatality in a school bus accident.
Thank you School Bus Drivers!
Tigers of the Week: Jake Caspers & Libby Carlo
Congratulations to Jake and Libby, our TIGERs of the Week:
Jake Caspers – Boys Hockey
Jake has been an outstanding contributor on the blue line for us this season. He has been on the ice a great deal and plays a position that seldom receives enough credit but is vital to the success of the team. He currently has 3 goals and 2 assists for the season. Jake has proven to be a great leader through his hard-work and effort he always puts the team first. He is a great competitor and wants to make everyone around him better.
Libby Carlo – Speech
Libby has proven to be a fantastic leader this season and her efforts to better her talents have started to pay off as she has started the season by finaling in her first three tournaments as a part of a duo team. Additionally, she is further developing her skills by double entering in poetry as well and has a great start on that. Libby is constantly striving to get better and her work as one of the team leaders has been quite valuable for newer competitors.
Activities: February 18 – 23, 2019
Click Here for this Week’s Activity Schedule
Click Here for more information about Hutch Tiger Activities
Activities Director – Thayne Johnson, CAA
Phone: 320-234-2698
Email: [email protected]
Administrative Assistant – Amber Larson
Phone: 320-234-2647
Email: [email protected]
Above the Line Thinking
By: Robert Danneker, Principal, Hutchinson High School
Often, when we interact with others, encounter new problems, or try new things, we are guided by past experiences and patterns of behavior that have become largely ingrained and are generally unconscious practices.
What would happen if we strived to make these unconscious processes conscious? How might that change how we approach new people, problems, and ideas? Might we find ourselves open to new experiences and opportunities?
These questions are the basis of the Top 20 Training (www.Top20Training.com) professional development group’s model of Above the Line / Below the Line thinking.
In this model, Above the Line thinking is defined as “thinking that is in my best interest,” characterized by energetic moods and emotions, positive attitudes, true beliefs, hopefulness, optimism, and feeling like one has the power to control their own life.
Conversely, Below the Line thinking is typified by “thinking that is not in my best interest” along with negative moods and emotions, including feelings of sadness and anger, gloomy attitudes, false beliefs, hopelessness, pessimism, and seeing one’s self as a “powerless victim of life.”
Given the option of choosing between Above the Line thinking or Below the Line approaches, most people would naturally opt for Above the Line.
So why don’t we see Above the Line thinking more often?
Typically, we don’t see Above the Line thinking as often as we would like because the people we interact with are not consciously choosing to live Above the Line, functioning instead on ingrained habits that may not always be positive or productive.
It can be so easy to overlook that we all have to ability to choose our mindset, to choose our outlook, and to choose how we interpret the world around us.
At Hutchinson High School, we have introduced the Above the Line / Below the Line dichotomy into our common language expressly for the purpose of making our beliefs and habits conscious acts. In doing so, we hope students and staff will choose an Above the Line mindset and, in the words of Top 20 Training, “keep their day.”
To reinforce the idea of consciously choosing to live Above the Line, staff and students at HHS also employ what Top 20 Training would call our “four responsibilities.”
The first responsibility is to “help everyone succeed.” Within this idea is the obligation that we all have towards one another to help and to support those around us whenever possible and however is most appropriate given the context.
Our second responsibility is to communicate “you matter” by consistently showing our genuine appreciation for others through simple thank yous or in more elaborate expressions of gratitude.
Third, we “honor the absent” by always ensuring that when discussing someone not physically present, we always take care to present that individual and their character in ways they would appreciate.
Finally, we “see the problem, own the problem” through each member of the HHS community possessing both the freedom and obligation to identify areas of concern and to assist in their resolution.
In addition, at HHS, we have added a fifth responsibility: to “assume positive intent.” We don’t spend time speculating on innuendo or what another person might be thinking. We are open to input, and we seek to clarify confusion.
Recently, the concept of mindfulness has been having a cultural moment. At HHS, by staying Above the Live and staying true to our five responsibilities, we are creating an environment of mindfulness for all.
Pre-K – Grade 5 Snow Make Up Day – 2/15/19
PreK – grade 5 students and staff will have school on Friday, February 15, 2019.
This is to make up one of the prior snow days.