What Is Your Dream?

Over the past two weeks teachers and students have engaged in a variety of activities to celebrate Dr. King’s accomplishments.   We have read books, had in depth discussions, wrote poems, and much more. 

As a school we celebrated Dr. King by having a special Reed TV broadcast that aired part of his “I Have a Dream Speech” and highlighted his major accomplishments.  All students participated in creating a graffiti wall.  Students formulated and posted their individual dreams for themselves, Reed, and the community.  The graffiti wall is located in our main hallway next to the gym.  We also supported Old Bonhomme’s sock drive that they do every year to give back to the community.    

It’s Official….Reed Named MO Exemplary PLC School!!!

You may remember reading a post in my October Principal Dispatch explaining that we were named a 2014 MO Exemplary Professional Learning Communities School.  This Monday and Tuesday, several teachers and I went to Tan Tar A to accept the award and to share our journey with other schools around the state.  Go to my October post and visit http://www.moplc.org/exemplary-schools.html to learn more about what it means to be an Exemplary PLC School. 

We began this journey with students in mind.  Although receiving an award was not our goal, it was very much an uplifting experience to be accepting an award in front of 1300 other educators across the state, including numerous representatives from MO Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.          

All of us at Reed know that accomplishments like the Exemplary Award would not be possible without the support of our parents.  Hence the title PLC, it takes all of us to be a community.  There are many great things about Reed, however, one of the best is how staff and parents partner to ensure the success of our students.  Thank you for all your support.

During the February 18^th, RSA General Meeting, Debbie Donnelly (Reading Specialist) and I will be sharing an overview of what it means to be an Exemplary School. 

Everyone at Reed Can be a STARR!!!

Below is an article from CHARACTERplus showcasing our STARR Teams (Students Taking Action and Responsibility at Reed).  CHARACTERplus is a resource to schools and districts to help implement character education.  It serves 645 schools across Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois.  Find out more about CHARACTERplus at https://www.characterplus.org/. 

As the article states, we created STARR teams last year to give more students an opportunity to be involved at Reed.  In the past, we had limited opportunities, one being Student Council.  Student Council allowed approximately 20 students to participate.  Now we have well over 118 students, as the article states, involved.  We also wanted to provide an experience that would better prepare them for the future.  Students seek out job postings, apply, and for lack of a better word, get hired.

We actually still have a student building leadership team called Panther Council, not Student Council or Principal Council, as the article states.  Instead of an election, students are selected using the same process as all other STARR Teams.  In addition, it is important to note that we regard all STARR Teams as being equal.  They all play in an important part at making our Reed students successful.