Personal Reflections

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Homecoming Week 2014!

12homecomingMidlothian ISD has celebrated school-community spirit since 1906, so it is time to continue promoting our hometown Panther Pride during the annual Homecoming 2014 festivities. To rally and support the Panthers, a community pep rally is scheduled for Wednesday, September 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Stadium; all are invited to attend and participate in the festivities.

On Friday, September 19, the annual MISD Homecoming Parade will be at 3:00 p.m.  At 7:30 p.m., the MHS Panthers will tackle the Haltom Buffalos. View parade info & route.

Students will release from classes early on Friday.  LME will dismiss at 12:30 p.m. this Friday; all times have been adjusted at all schools. **PreK & PPCD students will receive a letter with their amended schedule for Friday.

We appreciate your support and understanding for this annual tradition.  Let’s go, Panthers, let’s go!   🙂

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Sock Hops and the POWER of Miller Pink!

As the teacher asked the question, I knew this answer was coming:  “What is one important thing we have now we didn’t have 10 years ago?”  The child responded, “ME!”  🙂  “We also didn’t have a LaRue Miller Elementary School, but I’m certainly glad we do now!”  🙂  Where would we be without both?

SockHopIn the past few days, we’ve studied our past to open the doors of possibilities for our future; in other words, we’ve celebrated some extraordinary milestones.  Family events like our annual PTO Sock Hop brought out an enormous crowd on a gloomy Friday evening sockhop1where energy, dance moves, and the laughter were high.  The Photo Booth alone provided two solid hours of entertainment and the results are simply amazing!  Thanks to our many PTO moms and dads, our LME staff members, and our learning community for creating a festive evening of family fun!

HanzFranz1Hanz and Franz made their appearance on last week to remind us of the POWER of Miller this year.  With an updated carpenter wardrobe and tool belts stocked with tools, they arrived on scene to “pump us up!”  We look forward to the big event on Thursday, September 25th throughout the day; we hope you join us.

Today, we celebrated the return of our beloved pink1Mrs. Bly in fifth grade by “pinking out” our campus.  Students, parents, and staff members showed their support by “Standing UP to Cancer,” wearing pink, and cheering her return to class.!  As one wise young friend reminded me, “Because we never know what it’s really like to walk in someone’s shoes, we need to be kind anyway; it’s hard being a person…”  Yep, little one; from sock hops to the POWER of pink, we’re all in this together

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Meet the Staff! (Part I)

It goes without saying we are blessed with educators at LaRue Miller Elementary who choose to love, serve, and care for their learners and each other every single dakinderteam1415y.  We are thankful for these talented, extraordinary team members:

Kinder Team:  Hank Pendley, Karyn Story, Jennifer Rinehart, and Roanna Nanney.  1st grade 14-15

First Grade Team: Lauren Bergvall, Stephanie Daniell, Katie Bergvall, and Emily Stanley.

2ndgradeSecond Grade Team:  Lana Beckwith, Joy Cowan, Nikki Hoover, Judy King, and Heather Cooper.  3rdgrade

Third Grade Team:  Kourtney Milne, Amy Clark, Andrew Morgan, and Jean Waddill.

4thgradeFourth Grade Team:  Brittany Cole, Susie Dickard, Jane Crisp, Jennifer Kids, and Shannon Williams.  5th Grade

Fifth Grade Team:  Sherrie Gunter, Susan Bly, Jennifer Lassetter, Laurie Garippa.

These amazing leaders of learners are one of the many reasons our students are committed to doing and being their personal best as they grow into greatness every single day!

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Living Legacy

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards:  they want more things, more education, more money, more order in an attempt to do more of what makes them happy in life.  The way it actually works is the reverse.  This is the lesson Mrs. LaRue Miller teaches our learners daily.

LaRue Miller017 01Our school namesake reflects:  “You must first be who your really are and then do what you need to do in order to have what you need and want in life.”  It is interesting to note how Mrs. Miller’s philosophy rings true in the generations of lives she has touched through her teaching and volunteer legacy in Midlothian ISD.  While she would never admit it, she remains a critical part of something profoundly extraordinary because she was the catalyst.

Mrs. Miller will also tell you she is humbled and honored to have her legacy carried forth in the classrooms of the school bearing her name.  We strive each day the bell rings to make decisions and choices with her in mind!  When you visit and volunteer on our growing campus, you will find telltale signs of her blessing:  a picture or book here, a quote there…all little reminders of her majestic influence and continuing inspiration.  She deeply loves our learning community, prays for us, and devotes great time and energy into cheerleading our work!  Personally, I am grateful for her wisdom, enthusiasm, and hugs; she is so generous with those hugs!  🙂  She knows her story, she communicates her story, and she continues to lead with her story everyday!

Thanks, Mrs. Miller, for honoring us with your legacy; thanks for being our personal living legend in MISD.  After all, “the goal is simple…to help you achieve yours!” 

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Thoughtful words…

It all started this morning with walkabout and a conversation with a child:

  • Child:  So, what do you think of our classroom sign today, Mrs. Van?
  • Me:  Well, let me take a moment to ponder.thoughtfulwords
  • Child:  That’s your One Word this year, isn’t it?  Ponder!  Perhaps if more of us took time to really ponder, words would never hurt us, huh?!  🙂
  • (My thought bubble:  “If only my child, if only…”)

I’m so proud of these learners for taking time to THINK, for truly listening to the message, and for challenging themselves and those around them to THINK!  As my Granny B often reminded me, “It is easier to go down the hill and take the shorter route than climb up the long way, but the view is so much better from the top.”   Staying on “top” of our words is a special lesson in life, so here’s hoping we all take the message of these learners to THINK (and perhaps ponder) as we go through each day.

Note:  We continue to appreciate all our parents coming out for grade level Parent Nights as we share important information!

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It’s a First-Week Wrap (rap)…

Miller Rally was packed this morning with smiles, high energy, positive attitudes, touching stories, and much more.  Mrs. Bass completed introductions for all our staff members and then helped us celebrate the end of our first week of school.  We even had some super HEROES rapping and flying around with super hero teachersspecial learning powers in our midst!

The Panther Football Readers stopped by for their weekly visit to share special books and words of wisdom with our youngest learners as they gear up for their big season with the first game tonight.  Go Panthers!  🙂

Our PTO moms treated staff members to breakfast by rolling through the hallways serving breakfast tacos and other scrumptious treats…such a sweet way to start our day and end this great first week of school!

Some FFA members even stopped by to remind everyone about the upcoming meeting next week.   flyer

Here’s hoping everyone gets some much-needed rest as we enJOY a three-day weekend…see you bright and shiny on Tuesday morning!  Be safe!  🙂

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Stand in my shoes…

SIMSThe annual Book Tour is complete for this first week of school!  With the book Stand In My Shoes (by Bob Sornson) as my conversation starter, I visited each classroom reading, listening, and sharing with our learners on the subject of empathy.  As part of the Love and Logic series, this classic gem illustrates in simple terms the need for everyone to see the world through the eyes of others.  The ability to stand in another person’s shoes to understand what they are feeling is critical; this process should begin at an early age.  While we didn’t literally swap shoes (“that’s gross, Mrs. Van…”), we did talk about how it feels to figuratively walk in another person’s shoes and experiences.

Empathy is a life skill playing a significant role throughout our lives.  It serves as a basic foundation for nurturing positive, caring, loving, compassionate relationships with others while building a healthy overall well-being.  Empathy does not offer excuses for bad choices (because consequences with love, rather than anger are needed at that point).  Rather, by helping our young students learn empathy, we raise the odds they will have strong social relationships, truly care for others, and be able to set appropriate limits in their own lives without angry words or behaviors.

A favorite part of my work at LME is participating IMG_5512with our learners in classroom activities such as book tour.  This year, I am challenged to work on “selfies” during daily walk-about (and yes, I need work on these), but half the fun is in the process!

Thanks for sharing your most precious and valuable treasure with us everyday at LME; we are blessed as a learning community and look forward to the LoveServeCare journey of this school year!  🙂

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First Day Fabulousness!

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First day…cheers with little tears…smiles and with a few trials…overall, an extraordinary first day success!  As we started unloading big yellows in the early morning sunrise, a young friend bounded down the steps onto the sidewalk and threw herself at me with a big laugh:  “I just LOVE all this first day fabulousness!”  🙂  “What do you think of my fabulous first day outfit and new haircut?”  Eager to the get the year going, she volunteered to assist at the door to greet friends, share smiles, and help our Kinder friends find their way.  Later at lunch, she hugged me again, “By the way, Mrs. Van…everyone looks so fabulous in their new Miller staff shirts; teachers should wear uniform school shirts everyday.”  🙂  (We actually have several who would agree too.)  She even ended the day loading the bus again while telling me about her favorite part–“fabulous math games!”  🙂  I think it’s safe to say her day was “fabulous.”

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Our PTO Board was on hand early to share yummy treats and eats with our new parents during the annual BooHoo/YaHoo Back-to-School Breakfast following the morning announcements.  Several LME volunteers, including our own school namesake, Mrs. LaRue Miller, were on hand to welcome and greet learners and their families, share a hug, listen to summer stories, or give a high-five.  The Chadwell Family provided a scrumptious lunch for our staff-on-the-go and then Mr. Van brought by icy treats to cool down the staff after the 104+ car line (we did finish by 3:20 today—truly a first-day record for LME!).  Yes, it was first day of overall fabulousness with fun to spare.  Welcome back to LME and to the 2014-2015 school year!  🙂

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As the school bell rings…

LSCTeamIt’s time; summer break 2014 is just a memory as we ring in the new school year. Classrooms are set, materials are ready, and we are anxious to get started! Our LME carpenters of learning are loving, serving, and caring for our learners and their families in exciting ways this year; they are designing days of educational purpose in a big way! As Jimmy Page, author of One Word notes, “Teach them to count the days so each day counts with incredible purpose.”JPage

heartshammersWe are proud to love, serve, and care our learning community at LaRue Miller Elementary; join us on our journey this year!

Note: Lots of hugs and smiles filled our hallways and classrooms during our annual Meet The Team Event last Thursday evening; thanks for coming out and sharing your enthusiasm with us!

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…and we’re back!

tools1What a blessing to spend the day with our #LoveServeCare Team at LME this year!  Our staff members arrived with lots of enthusiasm, smiles, and energy to get this school year started!  They came with innovative ideas and a quality crafting attitude as we channeled our inner-carpenter skills to create wooden team “toolboxes” for the year.  After doing their summer IMG_5361homework (reading Jon Gordon’s newest book, The Carpenter), we put our Love, Serve, and Care ideas into action.  Using hearts (and hammers), our LME Staff was not only handy but full of fun teamwork.

Be watching for those extra-special carpentry and craftsmanship touches throughout the coming year as we design dreams and build leaders everyday.  Welcome Back, LME!

Note:  We look forward to opening our school doors for our annual Meet The Teacher event this week on Thursday evening.   Our 3rd/4th/5th grade friends will join us from 5:30 to 6:15 and our HS/Kinder/1st/2nd grade friends can stop by from 6:15 to 7:00.