You’ve heard the saying: “Live well; Laugh often; Love much.”  These three simple verbs truly describe part of the extraordinary experience of raising children in today’s society.  As parents and educators, we have to provide the basic necessities and support for the child to “live well.”  We also need to possess a keen sense of humor to appreciate those amazing moments of comic relief our children provide daily in order to “laugh often.”  Finally, we demonstrate unconditional love regardless of the situation, thus the “love much” part (but, it doesn’t mean we have to like or agree with bad choices–that’s another blog for another time).

Meet our newest Miller family addition, Quinn, born to proud parents, Lauren and Brandon Bergvall, just a couple of weeks ago (Mrs. Bergvall is a kinder teacher here at Miller).  While I may be biased (okay, I am biased), but I have little doubt in her short time with us that she is definitely living well, providing great laughter and JOY to her parents, and is unconditionally loved above all else!  Welcome, little Quinn; your Miller family is pleased to have you with us!

Not too long ago, a  young learner visited with me again concerning how hard it was to be a student:  “The work and this JOB of school FIVE DAYS A WEEK, Mrs. Van…(child sighs)…who thought up this idea anyway?  Mom works, dad works, and now I work too.  I wish I could be a baby again like my little sister who just rolls over, giggles, and lays around all day long.”  🙂   (I must confess there are days I feel this too!)

It is my sincere hope it is not always about the work; it is more about teaching and learning how to live well, laugh often, and love much.  We LOVE your children; they truly become part of our extended family.  Your child’s teacher takes with him or her all those stories, those ideas, and those priceless moments throughout the school day home at night to reflect, revisit, and treasure . . . and just like baby Quinn’s parents, we say a little prayer of thanksgiving for the blessings of living well, laughing often, and loving much!

MISD believes a safe, caring learning environment is critical to daily school success.  Likewise, at Miller we take this responsibility seriously everyday.  The key to ongoing school safety is planning, preparation, and practice.  We take a proactive approach by having our learners and their leaders regularly practice three important drills:

Shelter-in-Place:  A shelter-in-place procedure may be implemented when it is safer to keep everyone inside the building rather than expose them to possible harm outside the building.  This procedure controls and manages everyone while allowing outsiders to seek shelter with us inside as well.  Students are not released to anyone until an “all clear” is given.  Tornado warnings, severe storm warnings, wildfires, chemical spills, or other things may trigger a shelter-in-place on our campus.

Evacuation:  There are two types of evacuation (on-site and off-site).  On-site evacuation involves removing students and staff from the building in a timely manner to a safe location on campus property.  A fire drill or campus fire is an example of this evacuation procedure; students and staff remain on or nearby our campus, but not in the building.  If we cannot re-enter the building during an on-site evacuation or must leave the campus property, we move to an off-site evacuation where we transport students and staff by school bus to another location (the reunion site for MISD) for safety purposes.  The reunion site is the only place where campus personnel will release students to parents after an off-site evacuation has occurred.  There are strict procedures in place for releasing students including verification of your personal ID.

Lockdown:  A lockdown procedure may be implemented when a situation occurs that may be hazardous to personal health or is life-threatening.  It strictly prohibits access into our building or out of our building by controlling the situation in order to increase immediate safety and reduce possible victimization.  A lockdown may be called for a variety of reasons including weapons, intruders, police activity in or around our building, contamination, or terrorist threats.  The Campus Crisis Response Team do “sweeps” to clear all common areas of the building while securing students safely until an “all-clear” is given.  Again, students are not released to anyone during this time.

Can we plan for every scenario?  No, but we will do everything humanly and professionally possible to ensure our campus is the safe, nurturing educational setting you expect daily in our growing learning community.  Students are our first priority everyday.  If you find yourself on our campus during a drill (or the real thing), please know you are expected to participate with us.

Procedures are planned, implemented, and practiced–we practiced two today, in fact!  One young friend noted:  “Are you trying to scare us to death, Mrs. Van?”  No, we’re just planning, preparing, and practicing like we promised!

Note:  We followed MISD protocol and stayed in contact today with local authorities and our district staff regarding the chemical fire in Waxahachie.  Our students did not go outside to recess today after 11:40 a.m. 

PTO…our Parent Teacher Organization…lifeline of our campus everyday.  I don’t want to imagine having school without this group!  For our first Family Night Event this year, we kicked it off tonight with a Back-To-School Sock Hop…what a GREAT evening of fun and fellowship!  Every type of music from 50’s classics to present-day group dances was cleverly spun for fun in the gym with colored lights shining.  Students shared dance moves, taught the adults some new steps, and shared a few laughs (at my expense, of course).  One friend noted, “Mrs. Van, you’ve got the moves but they just need some adjusting at your age.”  🙂

We also enjoyed touring outside the cafe and talking with owners of several classic cars who participated this evening with us.  Of course, several of our dads laid claim to knowing a bit about these vehicles so we tested their knowledge (and that of each owner) with a few questions just to verify.  As one young friend noted, “What a bunch of sweet rides!”  🙂

Several PTO volunteers and parents spent countless hours organizing, planning, decorating, checking everyone in, serving soda floats, dancing, and laughing with friends.  Our active PTO Board Members this year are:  Angela Shaver, Gayle Turner, Nicole Blackmon, Wendy Harvey, Christie Clenney, Amanda Fisher, Amy Byers, Tracy Brown, Beth Woodall, Tami Tobey, Lori Walk, Stacy Moore-Helms, Keisha Buchanan, and Heather Cooper.  Please watch the PTO website @ http://www.millerpto.com and “like” it on Facebook (LaRue Miller PTO) for updates and information throughout the year. Ladies, you really rocked this whole experience!

Family events such as tonight bring our entire learning community together to relax, enjoy, and celebrate.  Our thanks to everyone to assisted, who attended, and who chose to spend a glorious autumn evening here at LaRue Miller Elementary!

Lunch…sustenance…a break in the instructional day…time to visit with friends…A Miller friend shared some time with me during lunch recently (just to clarify, this was a reward and not a punishment–princiPALs are not all about consequences, you know).  We talked about her views of our campus, her experiences so far, her expectations, and (of course) her dreams.  Noticing her lunch was a healthy one–she particularly likes veggies and fruit and drinks lots of water throughout the day–I asked her who helped to form these eating habits and her comment was, “our school.”  Truthfully, I was a little surprised to hear this answer so I had to dive deeper.

“You see, Mrs. Van, I listen and watch everyday.  My teacher talks about bringing healthy snacks, buying or bringing a healthy lunch, and drinking our water so our brains stay engaged.”  I asked, “Why do you think this is so important?”  She expanded her thoughts: “It’s hard being a student; you have to think ALL DAY LONG.  I see a difference in my thinking when I eat good food and when I eat junk instead.”  She also noted: “My family is working to improve our eating too–those GO foods take up more space on my plate now and I save those WHOA and SLOW foods for special times.”  At this point in our conversation, I was honestly thinking how I could clone this child…it never ceases to amaze me how a single comment or action can grow into a new way of life at times.

Back to lunch though…it’s that important time of day where our learners (and their leaders) can take a moment to relax, to unwind, and to nourish the body.  You are always invited to visit during lunch here at LaRue Miller…it’s quite the experience in our cafe.  We want our students to talk with friends and to eat (but to also be safe, thus there are rules).  Staff members on duty assist and direct the organized chaos.  You are also invited to put on an apron, open milk cartons and packets, and assist us anytime during lunch; we appreciate our volunteers!

A class makes their way down the hall with smiles and anticipation as I escort my friend back to class following our lunch conversation.  A child looks up at me to note: “It’s time for lunch, Mrs. Van!”

We serve breakfast in our cafe starting @ 7:20 a.m. and lunches run from 10:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. daily.  Join us anytime!

As Helen Keller observed:  “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”  Such is the message we hope to live daily with learners and their families.  It takes the entire team to assist a learner to personal excellence daily!  My friends pictured here are learning to carefully cut apples to make a batch of homemade applesauce today.  Yum!  The smell of cooking apples, cinnamon, and sugar reminds me of my favorite folk tale character, Johnny Appleseed (based on the real man, John Chapman).  As legends tell it, he was a man of simple values, loved and respected by all he met, always tried to do right by his friends and the environment, and devoted his life to helping others help themselves.  It is said he planted tens of thousands of apple trees throughout his lifetime.  He was a pioneer, probably our nation’s first conservationist, and undoubtedly a great role model.

Being a trailblazer (like Johnny Appleseed) takes a dream, a sense of persistence, and a definite direction in order to achieve personal goals.  From our youngest students to our seasoned veterans, we are all blazing educational trails on our journey this school year.  Here’s hoping we continue to do so much together that we’re never truly alone!

When I spend time with young learners in classrooms like I do most days, you learn so much about the power of their imagination.  Most young learners live in dual worlds–the real world and the dream world. We’ve been talking about our dreams lately on the morning announcements (especially during College Week) and several students have interesting things to share with me on dreams:

1. “Dreams are those things I have at night and talk about in the morning.”
2. “Dreams tell me things about my past, my present, and my future.”
3. “Mrs. Van, did you know dreams tell our future?”
4. “I can never remember my dreams; they fly by too quickly.”
5. “Mom says my dreams can launch a lifetime journey.”
6. “My soccer coach tells me to find a dream and chase the dream; I want to play pro-soccer, you know.”

Albert Einstein noted, “Imagination is more important in life than just knowledge.”  Perhaps his point is well-taken.  Children’s imaginations push them forward in the learning process and we do our best to cultivate it daily.  Dreams take time, patience, sustained effort, and a true willingness to fail if they are ever to be anything more than dreams. Every day is a new chance to be what you’ve dreamed and to do what you’ve imagined.

My Granny B. commented, “Your dream come true is just a tough little wish that wouldn’t take ‘NO’ for an answer!”  Surely we all find those dreams that made it beyond the original tough wish into our daily reality–I know I did (from my earliest days, I felt the call to educate).  Here’s hoping our learners today dream big, but don’t rush themselves too much; after all, what will they do tomorrow?

You’ve heard me comment before about our “buffet of services” available here at LaRue Miller Elementary.  Please take note of the amazing team of Miller leaders pictured here who make it happen everyday.  Pictured on the top row standing are:  Joy Cowan (CM/LL, Incl), Nancy Walts (CBI), Rebecca Johnson (HS), Chandra Filmore (CBI), Brittany Mach (Res/Incl), Kris Roberts (CM/LL), Bethany Griffin-Loftis (ESL/Dyslexia), Jennifer Blair (Res/Incl), Laura Flores (HS), Danielle Schrodt (HS), and Shanna Horton (LEAD/CBI).  Pictured seated in chairs are:  Jurae Greiten (HS), Adrienne Mitchell (HS), Terri Bush (diagnostician), Ann Beller (PPCD), Eva Martin (CBI), Kathleen Stuckert (ST).  On the floor, you’ll find:  Jennifer Mabra (AII), Angela Bailey-Coleman, (PPCD), Christy McAfee (CBI), and Delaina Wimpee (LEAD/SLP) . . . and then I say, “E-I-E-I-O!”  Did you follow all the initials?  Do you need a dictionary?  Why this is only a portion of the personnel who come from throughout the region to enrich our instructional programs daily! Yes, we are indeed blessed with an extraordinary team of dedicated, highly-qualified, fun educators right here on our campus!

We offer a continuum of services designed specifically to meet the individual needs of all learners.  Regardless of an identified need, we create a strong personalized program where a child with special needs works in the least restrictive educational and instructional setting with specially-trained staff everyday.  General and Special education service teams work collaboratively and inclusively on a plan of instruction to meet specified goals as outlined through the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee.

Here are a few terms to note:

1. CBI – Community-Based Instruction
2. PPCD – Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities
3. Res/Incl – Resource/Inclusion
4. HS – Head Start PreK Program
5. LEAD/SLP/ST – Speech programs
6. CM/LL – Content Mastery/Learning Lab
7. AII – Auditory Impairment Instruction
8. VII – Visual Impairment Instruction
9. ESL/Dyslexia – English as a Second Language/Dyslexia service provider

I could spend several blogs on the intricacies and merits of each program within our instructional rainbow; we’ll just keep this simple for now.  All learners are indeed blessed at Miller to share in the unique experiences of having all types of learners on our campus.  As this staff picture indicates, we are also blessed to have leaders who take their work seriously, but not necessarily themselves too seriously.  After all, they point us in the unique direction of a successful future for all learners!

Homecoming…the arrival at home.  In Midlothian ISD today it’s a festive annual event held by our district to celebrate our alumni coming back home and to cheer our hometown team to victory!  In our case at Miller, we have the honor of sharing our spirit with several of our Panther Readers today!  Like this picture shows, Mrs. Clark’s third graders are displaying their best wishes to Panther Myron Hanson (#51) this morning while he reads to them.

Homecoming is more than a parade, a football game, the crowning of a king and queen, the big pep rally, or seeing old friends; it’s really about creating team, sharing community spirit, and building future leaders.  It’s interesting how we rally around sports teams in towns across America (there are dissertations written on this very subject in fact).  It is my sincere hope we actively choose to demonstrate this same spirit ALL THE TIME in every area of our lives . . . just imagine what we could really accomplish in the world?!

Students love to show their spirit (thus, the reason we do several special days throughout the school year) and they heartily participate in the teamwork and fun they experience during special events.  Like my friends Georgia and Kayleigh noted:  “There’s no place like home at Homecoming!”  See you at the parade and game; go Panthers!

Today was our fundraiser FUN RUN, sponsored by All*Star Fun*Run.  Under the direction of team athlete leaders, all learners and their classroom leaders participated in making this event a huge Miller success!  We kicked off the festivities last week with a campus-wide pep rally.  Throughout the past week, students and their classroom coaches (teachers) have been in training with team leaders in daily “team huddles” to promote the character traits of leaders through the ASCEND theme.  Leaders always Appreciate, Serve, are Considerate, Encouraging, Never-Give-Up, and are always Dependable.  Students and families have secured pledges for the laps they ran today.  I can joyfully report our students ran an average of 34 laps!  WOW–what a great morning!

Regardless of financial giving, every student participated, received an All*Star ASCEND jersey, were a part of the daily team character huddles, and participated in the fun during the event today.   Most impressive to the All*Star Team Athletes were the many Miller parents and volunteers who came to support our runners today by marking shirts as each lap was completed, cheering for everyone, passing out water, and joining in the fun this morning!  You can see just a few of the many fine folks huddled here; we thank you for your partnership and encouragement during this school-wide event!

   Here’s Toller, an All*Star Team athlete and our campus leader, taking a pie in the face (for me) because certain goals were made this week.  Thanks, Toller; I owe you one of my famous chocolate pies…

Several of my Miller learner friends shared reflections with me about their experiences:

1. The team huddles were my favorite part!
2. There’s so much energy; WOW!
3. Leadership ROCKS; I want to do my best always!
4. The music made me move faster; my laps were done quickly and we laughed the whole time!
5. I loved it that my dad came by to cheer me on!
6. I hope we do this every year!  🙂

Why do we need a campus fundraiser each year?  There are ongoing projects we support throughout each school year (field trips, student awards and incentives, special speakers and events, etc.) not covered by traditional district funds allotted through our campus budget.  These activities must be funded through our campus activity fund, thus, we must supplement this fund each year.  We only do one campus fundraiser each year and we’re done for this year (more on our results from today in a future blog).

As always, we are indebted to our Miller families and our entire learning community for embracing our many projects.  Your time, talents, gifts, and service add extraordinary value to our educational setting.

As my friend, Nolan (pictured here), summed it up today:  “Mrs. Van, I’m tired; I’m happy; we’re all  All*Star leaders at Miller!”

Perhaps you’ve heard this definition of TEAM:  Together Everyone Achieves More.  One of the many ways we work to truly maximize foundations for future leaders is through extra-curricular opportunities here at school.  As noted before in a previous post, our fifth graders have multiple ways to experience leadership on our campus during their final year in elementary school.  One such important team of student leaders are 5th grade learners who are willing to serve on our LaRue Miller Student Honor Council. Pictured left to right are our 2011-2012 representatives:  Kara, Emily, Baylee, Autumn, Jamison, Jonathan, Cade, Michael, Bryce, and Jace.  These talented students endured the extensive application process which included seeking staff and personal recommendations, submitting grades, signing a contract of agreement with a parent, and sharing an essay on how they plan to fulfill all the duties required of this honor.  Applications are read by staff and outside community supporters who then choose the top ten candidates for approval.  Their proud sponsor is our school counselor, Mrs. Stanley.

So what exactly does the Student Honor Council (SHC) do during the year?  The better question might be, “what do they NOT do?”  The expectations are high and the demand on their time is even greater.  Each team member must exhibit great leadership, citizenship, school spirit, teamwork, responsibility, and strong academics in their roles as campus student leaders.  Activities for SHC include campus-wide service learning projects throughout the year, Red Ribbon Week activities, College Week activities, training at the prestigious “Leaders R Us” seminar, student motivational day celebrations, and leadership roles in various capacities (such as campus ambassadors).  They work as a true TEAM by making the best use of the talents of others.  As one student leader shared with me:  “Mrs. Van, my work is not finished until I’ve made every student at LaRue Miller feel like they belong here!”  🙂

There is nothing more powerful or empowering than to tap into the natural leadership of young learners working as a TEAM.  As Margaret Meade commented:  “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people can make a difference, in fact, it is the only thing that ever has . . .”