Week Ending November 11, 2016

Reflection and Creativity

Short week for students and staff. PD on Tuesday began with a community meeting. Consensus--though it was corny (the lightning bolt did keep order) we need more of this. I couldn’t agree more. Contemplation ensued over a number of discussion points; perhaps the same occurred in departments among groups of teachers back in the classrooms. Out of these conversations, often creative ideas and solutions may emerge.

We should always remember, too, although we may disagree on a professional level, we cannot allow these disagreements to affect us personally. We are a team first, helping students be the best they can be.

And along that line of treating others the way we would like to be treated, there will be endless opportunities to show kindness as the country comes together after our election. People may need to talk about what is on their mind. On Wednesday, first period, in the PE Department, an example of this behavior transpired. Their guest speaker, Kira Manser, learned she could not engage the students in her lessons until she gave the students room to talk about the election this past Tuesday. No matter the age, one cannot move forward and create without reflection.

Good News

North Kingstown played Middletown on October 30, 2016 for the Division II Unified Volleyball Championship at Johnson & Wales University. North Kingstown defeated Middletown in the 3rd set.

25-14    14-25    25-21  

The great news from Jerry Dandeneau, “The crowds were fantastic getting into each point scored with loud cheers and applause.  It was nice to see and hear.”

Two other teams to be highlighted for their post-season play.

• Girls Volleyball sailed through the quarterfinals against Prout. North Kingstown 3 Prout 0. Looking towards next Thursday, 7:30 pm, for the semis at RIC.  
• North Kingstown Football: Skippers will move onto the next round of the playoffs with a 30 - 14 victory over W. Warwick. We wish them well in the semi-finals on the 18th against Shea HS in Pawtucket.

Health and Wellness

From Karen D’Abrosca:

Four Pillars of Health

November, in contrast to the quiet and darkness nature is demonstrating, ushers in the holiday season with its busy-ness and activity. While the festivities are enjoyable they can be overwhelming at times.  This month, try staying balanced with the “Four Pillars of Health”.  All That Matters Wellness Center co-founder Joan Dwyer explains that to stay healthy we must include all four in our lives regularly.

They are:  1. Move your body (exercise)  2. Eat good “real” food   3. Quiet your mind  and  4.  Be in community with like-minded friends.

If these are new concepts, start small .. with one or two ideas!!

Enjoy the long weekend.    

Students as Learners

Students in Mr. Wright’s class discovering Wednesday morning what happens when you add “sea coal” to water. Before this point in the lab, students had read brief excerpts from newspapers about coal mining in RI and on shipwrecks in our area. Additionally, points were made about the importance of becoming educated adults and educated voters.  Also, books on pollution in Narragansett Bay were available in "Wright's Free Library." The sea coal had been in the viles in the sun for 5 days.

Students continued this day in peers to note and record observations, sharing them out as a class and then together with their partner used what they learned to write a conclusion for this lab. A few “a ha” moments and one student, in particular, feeling very validated by her “olive oil” comment.

Steam, November 9, 2016

Second annual STEAM night at North Kingstown High School was a success. Thanks to Janice Strain and her team of volunteers the night was organized and Special appreciation to Toni Silveira and her Fine Arts Team who stepped up once news arrived that Janice had an emergency and could not attend. Students first heard from Keynote Speaker Congressman James Langevin followed by two workshops of their choice. Workshops included Pen Turning, Squid Communication, Biomedical Illustration, Coding with Electronics, Boat Building, Raspberry Pi Universe, Cannibalizing Technology, Robot Picasso, Lego Mindstorms, to name a few.!

November 9 and 10

All PE students had the opportunity to participate in RI Department of Health grant funded workshop for our continued efforts in creating a safe, secure environment for all our students to learn. The physical, mental and emotional health of our students is of the utmost importance.  

This experiential and interactive session helped students to build more nuanced knowledge and awareness of the wide diversity of gender and sexuality identities. Learners were challenged to think about their subconscious assumptions, and understand how their choices and actions impacts their world. Specifically, this session built upon previous conversations and introduced students to different forms of discrimination, including the idea of micro aggressions. Students were challenged to think critically about the ways discrimination can impact sexual health, safety, and overall health and wellness. The goal of this session was to build student investment to create a school-based culture that supports safety through inclusivity and acceptance. As interesting as this workshop was, there were no pictures taken or posted as the nature of this topic can be sensitive.

Tech Collective (from Providence Business News Website)

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS participated in the high school student-produced workshop, “Heating

Your House – Helping Our Home,” at Tech Collective’s sixth annual STEM in the Middle Girls’ Career Expo. Students brainstormed more energy efficient ways to power their homes and constructed a solar water heater; they also tested its efficiency by recording its temperature and time. This was led by North Kingstown High School students Sophie Girard, shown on left, and Carolyn George. Sophie was last year’s GRRL Tech scholarship winner.

Students attended three interactive STEM workshops throughout the morning that were designed and facilitated by female industry professionals, RIC faculty and students from William M. Davies Jr. Career and Tech Center in Lincoln and North Kingstown High School.

Viviana Barrientos from Davies Career and Tech Center and Sophie Girard from North Kingstown High School facilitated two of the engineering session workshops. Last year, they won a Tech Collective/URI Scholarship essay contest at GRRL Tech – the essay topic was designing a hands-on STEM-related workshop for middle school girls.

Upcoming Events/Important Dates

November

15 School Committee Meeting, 7 pm

15 PTSO

16 National Honor Society Induction

17 Jazz Concert, 7 pm

18 Blood Drive, Gym 2, 7:45 am - 1 pm

24 No School Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving Day Football Game, 10 am at NK

25 No School

December

3 NKHS 5th Annual Arts and Craft Show, cafeteria 9 am - 3 pm

9-11 Christmas Carol

Teaching and Learning

For anyone on Twitter. Sunday evening, at 8 pm, there are Twitter Chats lead by Cumberland High School’s Principal, Alan Tenreiro and Don Miller, Vice President of Education Innovation for GoEnnounce and former Principal of Shea High School. Together they cofounded #EdChatRI and this year they are leading the conversation on Creative Schools, a book written by Ken Robinson. Ken Robinson’s TEDTalk in 2006 is the most viewed on the topic in the organization's history. You can read more from Don Miller’s Blog or watch the TEDTalk. Definitely gets you thinking.

School Culture

This past Monday, November 7, our 9th and 10th graders were the audience for the I am Dirt special presentation sponsored by North Kingstown Prevention Coalition. I am Dirt is a one-man show that presents the many challenges, and choices that high school students make. Students were captivated by the show. You could hear a pin drop and/or laughs in the audience at all the right times.

The Whole Child is one of our four goals on our School Improvement Plan. (The School Improvement Team meets the second Wednesday of the month, after school, in the Media Center) The Prevention Coalition works with our school to provide multiple resources to support the social emotional needs of our 1400 students. We do not know everyone’s story and make no assumptions. For those students who self identify as needing extra help, services, or resources, we connect them with direct services. For others, we expose them to presentations, workshops and lessons that could give them the skills and tools to help themselves make good choices or get the help they need.

Looking forward, AM Finlay will be showing the abridged version of "Chasing the Dragon" a powerful documentary style film on how one can become addicted to opiates to 11th and 12th grade advisories who have signed up ahead of time this Tuesday, with a follow up in advisory on Wednesday, the 16th.  

In the coming months (January and February) NKHS will be working with RI Student Assistance Services (RISAS) and the NK Prevention Coalition to bring community forums to the district around these topics. Stay tuned.

Articles Worth Reading

Why Creativity in the Classroom Matters More Than Ever

Interestingly, colleges are also talking about creativity and their students.

“Learning to Think Outside the Box: Creativity Becomes an Academic Discipline”

Videos Worth Watching

Sir Ken Robinson

Do Schools Kill Creativity? | TED Talk | TED.com

While we were in PD on Tuesday, some NK students (Sarah Fiore, Rachel Petrone and Athena Murray) and students from across the state were attending their own conference. The First Annual Elect To Be Real 2016 youth conference hosted by the Ocean State Prevention Alliance. This conference focused on the mental health and wellbeing of young people today, built skills around resilience, mindfulness as well as the skills and resources to create informative PSA's.

Food for Thought

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”~Erich Fromm

Until next time, Think, Create, Innovate...Denise