Share-Care-Wear

I love getting together with other heads of school.  Since the position of head of an independent school is unique in nature to other jobs, I relish time spent with those who share my vocation.  It is also a great time to steal innovative ideas and programs from them.  With that being said, this blog’s title and idea comes from a fellow head, the content is all mine however.

As Sumner Academy steps into its next forty years of service there are three ways you as a parent, friend, alumni parent, or alumni can assist our school to thrive and prosper.  Just think of the following three rhyming words…share-care-wear.

SHARE

The best means of marketing for our school is reading this blog right now!  Sharing your experiences at Sumner Academy with those who may not know about our school opens the door for us to serve others.  As we attempt to increase enrollment, we need you to help us reach as many Sumner-Wilson-Davidson County families as possible.  Share our mission, our website, and more importantly what Sumner Academy means to you.

CARE

There are several ways to care for our school.  One of those is sharing monetarily.  Most of you have received a letter from me requesting additional funds for our annual fund.  As a parent, you were “hit up” several times this year for donations, gifts, and even dog food.  The policy of different groups asking you for money over and over and over is changing.  Next year we will limit the times the school asks you for money in addition to tuition and our adventure education trips.  Here is what we will be focusing on: (1) The Annual Fund.  You will see a formal campaign next year on how your gift to the annual fund will support our mission and long range strategic planning.  (2) The Auction.  What a great time for fellowship and supporting our school while winning some fabulous items and services.  (3) A Top Secret Event planned for February you will not want to miss.  Intrigued?  I hope so!

WEAR

Seeing our Spirit Wear around the area helps with our brand marketing.  You will have a chance to purchase more Spirit Wear when school begins.  Our hoodies are appropriate for school and the new dress code!  Being a rather big guy, I am a walking billboard for the school.  Let’s show our school spirit whether it be our logo shirts or new athletic logo items.  Please join me in this “walking billboard project.”

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your child’s education.  We have remarkable children at this school and I know they come from remarkable families!

Bullying

Some memories from childhood can be joyous, others painful.  The most powerful of those painful memories usually involve teasing or verbal bullying.  Bullying is not a typical “kids will be kids” problem anymore.  Bullying is a societal problem which touches all of us whether we are in public or independent schools.  Recent studies show that one of ten students is regularly harassed by bullies.  Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the students who stand out who are bullied.  Children who wear glasses, are overweight, have red hair, speak differently or dress differently do not automatically invite bully attacks.  Any student can be a victim of a bully.

Here’s what you can do to help stop this from being a big issue at our school.  (1) Acknowledge your child’s feelings.  Don’t minimize the distress caused by teasing.  A child who has been teased or bullied may be ashamed to tell anyone, so be sensitive to your child’s concerns.  (2) Watch for symptoms your child may be a bullying victim.  Withdrawal, a drop in grades, torn clothes, unexplained bruises, not wanting to go to school, needing extra money, “losing” possessions at school are all symptoms.  (3) Share your past with your child.  Were you bullied or teased?  Sharing this information will help to ease your child’s humiliation.  (4) Praise your child’s kindness and acceptance to others.  Our children look to us as parents to set the tone when it comes to accepting the differences of others.  (5) Most importantly, notify your child’s teacher of possible bullying behaviors in a timely manner.  It helps us tremendously if we can investigate this as soon after it occurs as possible.  Waiting a week or two does not help in these situations.

If you have any further input on this topic, please contact me through email at sjackson@sumneracademy.org.

Be a Dreamer!

Well, for me, it was a dream come true.  In the summer of 2007, before a crowd of about fifty or so at AutoZone Park in Memphis, I had my chance to play big time baseball.  It was a Fantasy Day for Memphis Redbird sponsors, coached by former big leaguers Reggie Williams and Charlie Lea. I was issued practice clothes, a uniform, and a locker…complete with my name.  I got to participate in pre-game batting practice and fielding practice.  Then there I was, playing first base at AutoZone Park!  My performance was one you might expect from a then 46-year-old, overweight, slow, minimal-talent "wannabe."  My stats: two walks, one hit by pitch, two runs, and NO fielding errors.  My performance at the post-game buffet dinner was much better!  My team, Reggie's Raiders, did come up victorious 24-4.

I have dreamed of such an experience all my life!  Growing up a Detroit Tigers fan, I dreamed of playing first base for them and having Ernie Harwell announce my name.  To have a chance to hit in a real ballpark with adoring fans (Amy and two other couples) and have my name announced for all to hear (50), was truly a dream come true.

What about your dreams?  What about those of your children?  I firmly believe that as we get older, our dreams are put on the back shelf.  As you have probably noticed, time goes by more quickly with each passing year.  So don’t wait. Make time to take that trip you've always wanted to take. Or, just enjoy some real quality time with your children.  It's so easy to say, “maybe at Christmas Break, or Spring Break, maybe this weekend . . . or next?”

So, what is that dream of yours?  Is it rafting down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, riding horses at a dude ranch, or visiting lighthouses on the coast of Maine?  Perhaps you’re yearning to try out for American Idol or a game show like Jeopardy (been there, done that)?  Maybe you simply desire to sit down with your family for dinner three nights in a row.  How about reading a book like Treasure Island as a family instead of watching episode #500 of “Law and Order” or some other show? The mother of one of my colleagues is taking tap dancing lessons at the age of 77.  The last time she tapped was in elementary school!

Some of the things I’ve mentioned here can be cost prohibitive--others are free.  Only you know what you are able to afford, but please continue to chase your dreams.  My time in the spotlight lasted only six hours, but the memories will last a lifetime!

As always, I hope this message finds you well and happy with our school.  Please know that my door is always open, should you have anything you would like to discuss with me.  

Back to the Basics

Each year in mid-February Florida and Arizona comes alive with one single phrase, “pitchers and catcher report.”  It’s one of those signs that spring is nearly here.  It’s also a time when baseball fans everywhere say, “this is going to be the year.”  Even Cubs fans!

Spring training for major league baseball players has a long and storied history.  In 1894 the Baltimore Orioles, skippered by Ned Hanlon, worked eight hours a day for two months in Macon, Georgia on the basics of the game.  This base of solid fundamentals led the team to three straight National League pennants.  You can imagine what soon followed, every other team in baseball now had a spring training regimen.  These basics and fundamentals early on can determine October championships.  Just ask my Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series.  Our pitchers committed five errors in five games opening the door for the St. Louis Cardinals to be world champions.  I was fortunate (?) to see two of those errors in games one and two in Detroit.  You just know that every team after that 2006 series put into place additional fielding work for their pitchers.

Solid fundamentals and understanding the basics lead to success. 

It’s true on the baseball diamond as well as a school setting.  Often times you hear about the extraordinary at Sumner Academy: a Shakespearian play, a Geographic or Spelling Bee champion, a math team placing high in competitions, outstanding science and social studies fair projects, etc.  What you do not hear about is all the hard work it took to get to that point.  You do not hear about all the countless hours of instruction, drill and practice, and homework it took to get to that point. 

Many of our students will never win a Geographic Bee or place high in a mathematics competition, but they will be prepared for their high school experience regardless of the demands placed upon them.  Thanks to an incredible gift of education their parents have given them, an outstanding faculty and staff, a philosophy that places each child’s unique learning styles first and foremost, and a very low pupil/teacher ratio.  This low ratio allows our faculty to delve deeper into the basics and fundamentals that may be lacking with our students.

Sumner Academy prides itself on the hard work of our students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and then through high school and college, but most of all, helping to create productive and involved members of our society.  It all starts with the basics.

Kids Do Say the Darndest Things!

Art Linkletter was well known for his interviews of children on his radio and television shows, House Party and Kids Say the Darndest Things.  Amy and I were honored to hear him speak in 2001 in Los Angeles.  He told his favorite “kid quotes” from those shows and they were hilarious.  As educators, we hear lots of stories from children as well.  Here are a few of my favorites…

My second year of teaching at Clark Elementary School in Charlottesville, Virginia was challenging due to sheer numbers.  I had twenty-nine students that year.  A part time teacher was hired to assist me in teaching reading and language arts.  That year I had Bobby, one of my all-time favorite students.  Bobby was legally blind.  His parents were both blind since birth.  Down the road from Clark was a company who hired visually impaired employees and both of his parents worked there.  It was a short walk from their house.  One Monday, Bobby came into class with a big bandage on his head.  I asked what had happened, and he told me this…”My Mom and Dad took me for a drive Sunday and got into an accident.”  So, I was thinking to myself, “uh, both are blind…hmmm, should I ask?”  Of course, I did.  It seems they inherited a car from a seeing family member.  Bobby explained, Dad would load everyone in the car on Sundays and pull forward until he bumped the house, then back up until he bumped the garage.  Apparently, on the last ride he bumped the house a little too hard.

Then there was the kindergarten boy who told me just how tired his father was every afternoon.  “He comes home, puts down his briefcase, gets a drink, and then falls asleep until dinner.”

I enjoy giving riddles for students to solve.  Here is one and the surprise answer;  “What do you cut at the table, but do not eat?”  The answer I was looking for was a deck of cards.  The answer I got was, “Dad’s credit cards.”

And a little bathroom humor…

I picked up my phone one day in June several summers ago to hear the following…”Mr. J, I pooped in the potty, I pooped in the potty!”  This was from a rising pre-kindergarten student whose mother had told her, “Mr. Jackson says you cannot go to big girl’s school until you poop in the potty.”  Mission accomplished!

So kids aren’t the only ones who come up with some funny stuff.  My third year teaching, Sherry came into my class about 30 minutes late and handed me the following explanation from her mother, “Sherry is late due to tardiness.”

I’ll keep adding to my list of funnies…who knows, you or your child could be in the next blog!

When Being Uncommon is Good!

I want to preface this blog by saying I am not politically motivated to write what you will find here.  Just look back at my other blogs about my family, TV shows, or snow days and you will see I have never written anything political.  The intent here is to educate the reader on the Common Core and where Sumner Academy stands in the growing controversy.  More and more we are giving tours to prospective parents who are dismayed with the Common Core in their public schools.  I am not endorsing any political party or specific politicians.  These are just my thoughts.

There have been many opinions expressed on the Common Core issue in our nation’s public schools.  In a nutshell, the Common Core is an attempt to nationalize the K-12 curriculum in the United States.  Proponents say multiplication facts, for example, in one state should be taught at the same level in every other state.  Since the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Act, curriculum issues were the responsibility of the states.  The intent was to limit federal intervention in these matters.  The state’s testing and accountability period that began in the 90’s spawned some national efforts such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top.  These national efforts came with big funding attached to set goals.  During my last two years in public education, we were (in my opinion) spending an inordinate amount of time preparing our students to take tests rather than teaching the actual content.  We needed another two hours in our school day to accomplish both.

Independent schools such as Sumner Academy regularly review national standards in each of the subject area when setting and reviewing curriculum.  These standards are set by national organizations of teachers in those areas.  Here are a few websites which contain these standards:

http://www.csun.edu/science/ref/curriculum/reforms/nses/

http://www.socialstudies.org/standards

http://www.ncte.org/standards

http://www.nctm.org/standards/

The Common Core has adapted some these into a their guidelines.

What makes us uncommon is our independence.  Everything about Sumner Academy is centered on our mission, not state or national testing or Common Core curriculum guidelines.  Our mission is to help discover and cultivate each child’s unique abilities.  The Common Core is incongruent with the creative curriculum building and management we employ at Sumner Academy.  We know our students well and prescribe the best curriculum and teaching practices to cultivate their learning.  Our teachers are free from teaching test taking and able to incorporate more depth and breadth to our curriculum.  It is important for us to prepare our eighth graders for success in ninth grades at schools they historically attend.  Our students are highly successful on the standardized testing we conduct in the spring.  Area high schools clamor for our students who have shown to be at the top of their classes year in and year out.

Sumner Academy embraces being uncommon and has been successfully serving its students and families for forty years.  Tell a friend, neighbor, family member or co-worker about us being uncommon.  We would love to show them the campus and introduce them to some outstanding and uncommon faculty members!

Gem Hunt

So, three snow days…wow, that’s a lot of calling off school for this Michigander!  While sitting at home during one of these days, I ran across a show on the Travel Channel entitled, “Gem Hunt.” 

Here is the description from the Travel Channel website:

Gem Hunt follows a team of modern treasure hunters on their high-stakes quest for the world's most precious stones. Their global journey takes them to some of the planet's busiest and riskiest trading regions. Fascinating, exciting, unpredictable and embedded in some of the most remote locations, Gem Hunt follows gem dealer Ron LeBlanc, jewelry expert Diane Robinson and geologist Bernie Gaboury as they maneuver through mines, markets and tense negotiations in search of the world’s biggest, brightest and most profitable jewels.

The three “stars” of this show look for uncut gems they can take back to their shops and create works of art.  They examine, create cutting plans for each stone, cut, shape, and polish.  As I began to binge watch the show, I realized the show and our school had similar missions.  At Sumner Academy, it is our mission to help discover and cultivate each child’s unique abilities.  Our faculty and staff examine, create plans for each student “gem,” (hopefully not cut), then we shape and polish.  Just as master jewelers, our teachers look for those unique qualities that make your child special and “shine.”  This individual attention is what sets Sumner Academy apart from other schools in our area.

As I celebrate my first six months here at Sumner Academy I have realized that Sumner Academy is a hidden jewel.  Help us spread the good news about Sumner Academy’s teachers and programs.  Please share your experiences with your friends, neighbors, co-workers, and families.  YOU are our best marketing outlet!