Lancer Connections
Issue No. 27, May 10, 2013
May fills our already busy schedules with even more events, meetings and reasons to celebrate our lives as Lancers. In the past month, we’ve had honors convocation, a well-attended Prom and National Honor Society Induction. In the coming weeks, we have Instructional Rounds, scholarship night and a visit from our new
superintendent. Some themes from these busy weeks are worth reflecting about as the year winds down.
On April 15-16, four guests were with us from AdvancEd, a national accreditation organization. After interviews with teachers, students, support staff, parents and community members and a number of classroom visits, the accreditors identified three areas for action required for our school as well as several areas where La Follette’s work is noteworthy. Our required actions include consistent grading practices, more systematic use of data and alignment to the Common Core State Standards. The accreditors were very impressed with La Follette’s collaborative efforts at purposeful instruction which provide a strong foundation upon which to implement their required actions.
On Tuesday, May 14 La Follette will again be bustling with visitors and Lancers working together as we host our fourth session of Instructional Rounds. 12 classrooms will be visited, and 32 visitors, including Lancer staff, district colleagues and university partners will collect noticings as data to formulate wonderings that will lead to school-wide themes. Learning with and from each other continues to be a powerful source of progress for our school.
I had the honor of attending a ceremony last night recognizing the first city-wide graduating class of AVID seniors. Two proud Lancer moms sat next to me and reflected on the amazing experiences their sons had at La Follette. One mother in particular credited the actions of our staff, over four years, making it possible for her son to attend Syracuse University next fall. Others have gone out of their way in the form of follow-up emails or firm handshakes to make sure I knew what an outstanding teaching staff we have in place at La Follette and what a difference our school has made in the lives of their children. It is simply impossible to have a great school without outstanding adults. That is certainly the case here at La Follette. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all of you!
Finally, on Monday, May 20, we will conclude this year’s PCT sessions with an all-staff meeting in C17. We’ll take a deeper look at our EPAS results, share the themes from Rounds and hit the pause button to reflect on what’s gone well this year as we head into the homestretch.
With purpose and pride,
Chad
Professional Learning Spotlights
Book Club: The Lancer Staff Book Club wrapped up its second book, Sharroky Hollie's Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning, on May 2. Focusing on strategies to support students' active learning across disciplines, book club members wrote on a google doc and had two lunches together to share their thinking about how they are putting content of the book into practice. Members include, Andrea Anderson, Jill Aruguete, Julie Baldwin, Lisa Endicott, Karl Hasman, Darcy Poquette, Joman Schachter, Beth Steffen, Liz Weller and Serena Yu. If you would like to join the book club for the final book of the year, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey's Better Learning through Structured Teaching, please contact Beth Steffen.
Collaborative Classroom Visits & Weekly Walkthroughs: Staff at LHS have prioritized learning with and from each other and our students about how the LHS theory of action is being brought to life in classrooms, specifically focused on multiple opportunities and supports for critical thinking, reading and writing and making thinking/learning visible. Thank you very much to teachers who have participated in CCVs as hosts or visitors in April and May for their thoughtful conversations about the instructional core: Shane Adams, Joel Batten, Nancy Brace, Bryan Grau, Dean Jones, Jane Leussler, Tony Martinelli, Pete Opps, Joman Schachter, Richard Wagner.
Thank you very much to teachers and staff members for their thoughtful conversations focused on the instructional core and welcome into their classrooms for Weekly Walkthroughs so far in April & May: Josh Barnes, Theresa Breunig, Marie Brown, Mike Ginter, Kim Griffin, Michele Guyette, Brad Harrison, Karl Hasman, Heidi Hyland, Andrew McCuaig, Eric Nelson, Michelle Olson, Darcy Poquette, Catherine Russo, Carol Samuel, Joman Schachter, Becca Schmitz, Kim Spanos, Brian Webb
Curriculum Companion: Working to align English curriculum to Common Core State Standards is a complex task. For five days between March 1 and April 24, Mike Harris, Andrew McCuaig, Phonekeo Siharath and Beth Steffen attended district-led meetings to learn more about district expectations for curriculum alignment, possibly using a tool called Curriculum Companion.
Innovation Team: The La Follette Innovation Team joined teams from East, Memorial and West for the last district-organized meeting of this school year on April 30. During the morning, participants joined with colleagues from other schools and used a microlabs protocol to identify trends and make sense of district-wide EPAS data, connecting it to the work being done in each of our schools. During the afternoon, the LHS team read an article on feedback, examined students’ work samples from one recent opportunity for critical thinking and wrote feedback to students. The main idea that emerged is that in order to be useful, feedback requires learning targets and students need immediate opportunities to put feedback into action. The day concluded with dialogue around input to PCT for next year which will increase to 26 sessions, up from the 16 LHS has had the past two years. The team’s work informed how department chairs engaged in the same activities at their subsequent meeting (see below). Participating members of the innovation team included: Andrea Anderson, Marie Brown, Mike Brown, Mike Corbett, Lisa Endicott, Patrice Hutchins, Pete Opps, Michelle Roe, Beth Steffen, Tom Theisen, Amy Wederath and Janet Zintel.
Instructional Leadership Team (ILT): On May 7, the 19-member ILT was joined by 11th grade Principal, Martha Olsen, and REaL grant evaluators from UW-Madison, Madia Barber and Bruce King, for a meeting similar to that of the innovation team that included considering students’ work samples and using feedback to support all learners in their ongoing development as critical thinkers, readers and writers (see above). Team members also examined and made sense of initial school-wide EPAS data and a specific reading section from the PLAN test by connecting results to the adult actions we are taking in our work with students. The team’s learning informed how all staff will engage with similar data during PCT on May 20. Participating members of the ILT included: Jena Acker, Andrea Anderson, Peggy Ellerkamp, Terry Fargen, Todd Faulhaber, Kelly Ferguson, Scott Fernholz, Carl Horstmeyer, Arlene Krueger, Laura McCormick, Brady Nichols, Levi Olson, Darcy Poquette, Rick Raatz, Ted Ryan, Phonekeo Siharath, Lindsay Simonson, Beth Steffen and Chad Wiese.
Response to Intervention (RTI) and RTI-focused School Based Leadership Team (SBLT): On April 22, La Follette's RTI-focused SBLT met for the first time and worked to consolidate team members' understanding of their roles to help support all Lancer students' learning and achievement. According to the Team's definition, members are "tasked with understanding students’ achievement, attendance and behavior data in order to support all students’ progress toward graduation and toward career and college readiness, whether in tier one, two or three." SBLT members include: Jena Acker, Andrea Anderson, Colette Bina, Patrice Hutchins, Wendy Johnson, Laura McCormick, Darcy Poquette, Ted Ryan, Phonekeo Siharath, Beth Steffen, Kurt Vansomeren, Amy Wederath, Chad Wiese
On May 1, members of La Follette's content-based RTI teams met with the SBLT to begin recommending students for Extended Math and Extended Literacy, two new courses which will be offered next year for up to 80 9th graders who are below proficient in math and/or in reading. Those working on student selection also included Marie Brown, Carol Samuel, Berit Stevens, Hector Valdivia and Liz Weller.
All Sorts of Interesting Information and Updates
Accreditation, Martha Olsen: CONGRATULATIONS!! La Follette High School was recommended for AdvancED school accreditation by a team of four external reviewers. The reviewers learned about our work during their April 15 & 16 visit by interviewing and observing staff, students, parents and community members. They made special note of our collaborative culture, focus on students’ achievement and sense of community. They also identified required actions we must take in order to maintain our accreditation. Our areas for growth are curricular alignment to Common Core State Standards and more consistent grading practices. Thank you to everyone for your participation. We are now officially a nationally accredited school.
ACT Workshop: After school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, room A2 is bustling with students' critical thinking, reading and writing. The Community Learning Center is sponsoring an ACT Workshop, led by Ted Ryan and Beth Steffen from April 30-June 6 to help students prepare for the ACT which will be offered on June 8. Former Lancer and current district colleague, Denise Kalscheur, is a frequent helping guest.
CLC Update, Kit Laibly: The 2nd annual "End the R-Word Campaign" was a huge success! Over 150 staff and students wore shirts to spread the message of respect and many students helped to collect signatures on the pledge banner during lunch. Hundreds of Lancers pledged that they would no longer use the r-word and that they would help to create an inclusive environment for our students with disabilities here at LHS. Our Project Unify grant from Special Olympics made this possible. Our next activity will be a unified kickball team which will practice and compete against other Project Unify teams in the city. Special thanks to the following staff for helping with the event: Brian Holmquist, Natalie Kaminsky, Peter Opps, Celeste Richards-Gannon and Kelli Semrau (MSCR-CLC staff.)
Latino Parent Meeting: April's Latino Parent Meeting, organized by ESL counselor Emily Offerdahl and assisted by our two Spanish BRS Hector Valdivia and Berta Hansen, offered an engaging mix of activity and information. Parents, students, and staff created giant flowers on posterboard highlighting their similarities, as well as their unique traits. Cecilia Gilhouse from UNIDOS Against Domestic Violence spoke to parents about safety and etiquette online. Dinner was provided for families by MSCR and by Lancer Student Support Foundation. May 21 is our last meeting of the year, and we will celebrate our outbound seniors and all students' academic accomplishments. All staff are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Little Lancers, Jennifer Jindrich: I hope you enjoyed the Little Lancers rendition of Itsy Bitsy Spider at the Prom pep rally! These 14 2-4 year-olds are usually visible holding the hand of a Big Lancer in the halls or grassy areas in and around La Follette. While they are here to have fun, they’re also helping our team of 35 Big Lancers earn their Assistant Child Care Teacher (ACCT) Certification through DPI. A few of those Big Lancers have returned for a second year to mentor first-year students and earn their Infant-Toddler Certification. Many of them are further honing leadership skills they began to develop through other opportunities offered at La Follette! The program concludes May 31.
National Honor Society Induction: On April 22 the La Follette chapter of National Honor Society inducted thirty-seven new junior members and twelve new senior members. These students joined the twenty-eight continuing members from the induction last year. The classes of 2013 and 2014 are by far the largest inducted during Ted Ryan’s tenure as the NHS adviser. The evening included a greeting from Principal Wiese, speeches and candle lighting from the NHS officers, a musical selection on the piano, cake, and punch courtesy of Ellen Zander and an enjoyable evening for all. Additional Lancer staff in attendance included: Ann Brown, Mike Brown, Matt Nelson and Martha Olsen.
Prom: All of the planning, decorating, and primping paid off as over 400 students attended prom at the Monona Terrace on May 4 from 8pm-Midnight. A Red Carpet Event: Lancer Style allowed students a walk down the lighted red carpet. Ziyad Sultan and Khaleah Monger were named King and Queen along with Suriel Purez and Megan Meiller named Prince and Princess. Almost 300 students then attended Pooley’s post-Prom until 2:30am. A fun time was had by all. The week was busy with a crash scene re-enactment and assembly. THANK YOU to everyone for making it a smooth and special week for our students. And thank you to the many staff who made Prom come to life on May 4: Becky Bisbee, Ann Brown, Bennie Brown, Monique Karlen, Gretchen Kelley, Terry Meissen, Diana Morales, Matt Nelson, Tom Nickerson, Martha Olsen, Kevin Porter, Deb Ready, Rick Rogness, Nate Verhage, Amy Wederath, Chad Wiese, Serena Yu.
Staff Appreciation Luncheon: Student Council members held the second annual Staff Appreciation luncheon on April 24 in the LLC. Students are genuinely touched by all the wonderful LHS staff we have and wanted all staff members to know they are appreciated. Each student council member could pick only one staff member to honor and all had a difficult time choosing just one. Students introduced the staff member they were recognizing and said a little bit about why they were chosen. Staff who participated: Shane Adams, Andrea Anderson. Marie Brown, Mike Brown, Lauren Calbalka, Michael Corbett, Kelly Ferguson, Lief Gilbertson, Darrin Graham, Kim Griffin, Michael Harris, Carl Horstmeyer, Heidi Hyland, Wendy Johnson, Patrice Hutchins, Dave Keller, Kristan Kliminski, Arlene Krueger, Levi Olson, Ben Loritz, Andrew McCuaig, Terry Meissen, Pat Meloy, Michelle Olson, Tom Mohr, Emily Offerdahl, Jim Reichling, Catherine Russo, Ted Ryan, Becca Schmitz, Lindsay Simonson, Berit Stevens, Brian Webb, Chad Wiese
Student Leadership Conference: MMSD held its first Student Leadership Conference on Tuesday, April 23, at UW-Madison’s, Union South Varsity Hall. The conference was sponsored by MMSD Student Leader Initiative, MMSD Talented and Gifted Dept, and MMSD Aristos Grant. The day started with keynote speakers from Dane County, Michael Johnson, Executive Director of the Boys and Girls' Club and Dora Zuniga, Executive Director, Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Student leaders from all MMSD high schools presented to their peers. LHS students led two amazing workshops about Restorative Practices and Key Club that were very well received by other participants. Andrea Anderson, June Anderson, Donna Kennedy, Terry Meissen, Michelle Olson, and Chad Wiese participated by preparing the students and/or attending the conference.