1939 was a dark and difficult year in Europe.  Hitler and the Nazi army had annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia as well as started the Blitzkrieg attack on Poland.  France and Great Britain declared war on Germany and World War II began.  The British government created a motivational poster at that same time:  Keep Calm and Carry On.  Long forgotten, a copy of the original poster surfaced in a used bookstore in England in 2000.  Since then, the poster has become a popular, even iconic, message of resilience in the face of challenging situations.  Its simple, reassuring, and inspiring reminder remains an encouraging sentiment in difficult times.  You didn’t know you were getting a brief history lesson today, huh?!

So, what does this have to do with us at LME anyway?  I was reminded this morning during walkabout how important this is for our learners and their classroom leaders this week!  With STAAR-gazing upon us now, we need these simple, profound reminders that doing our personal best is enough.  It’s natural to feel anxious and uncertain, but we’re not alone.  We just need to filter our thoughts into positive messages and pull from our anxiety management tool kits so we change how we feel and behave during stressful times (like state assessment).  Children are far more resilient than adults, thus, I continuously encourage our staff to measure the barometer by their students (and not to add to the barometric pressure either!).

One 1st grade class shared this clever poster with their 4th grade buddies during their time together.  One learner commented about “keeping your wits about you, especially during your test.”  🙂

I want to thank our classroom leaders, volunteers, tutors, and learners for preparing themselves to their personal best everyday.  Thanks to our learning community who consistently give support to our campus in so many ways!  It’s important to remember this week especially to Keep Calm and Test On!

Note:  In following with other MISD elementary campuses, we are a “closed campus” for visitors and volunteers this week; we appreciate your understanding.