Echoes from Cañon
Our Board Adopted Core Beliefs
1. We meet the social-emotional needs of all students, putting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs before Bloom’s Taxonomy.
2. We believe learning growth matters most, requires risk-taking, and the work we do in our schools has the greatest impact on this.
3. We’re future-focused, believing the development of certain traits and skills will best prepare our students for ever-changing careers.
4. We emphasize what is good for kids over the needs and comfort of adults.
1. We meet the social-emotional needs of all students, putting Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs before Bloom’s Taxonomy.
2. We believe learning growth matters most, requires risk-taking, and the work we do in our schools has the greatest impact on this.
3. We’re future-focused, believing the development of certain traits and skills will best prepare our students for ever-changing careers.
4. We emphasize what is good for kids over the needs and comfort of adults.
Our Core Beliefs in Action
The Board of Education listens to a Gifted and Talented Education update by Shyla Christiansen.
Shyla Christiansen with her TIPP Team.
Congratulations are due Cañon City Gifted and Talented Education Coordinator Shyla Christiansen. Shyla is an integral part of a group called Talent Identification for Pikes Peaks (TIPP). Thanks to her leadership, Cañon City Schools and TIPP has been recognized as a leader in gifted and talented student identification protocols. TIPP even received an award at the National Association for Gifted Children Convention. Congratulations Shyla, and thanks for representing us so well!
Recently Speech Language Pathologist Karen Miller’s presentation proposal was approved by the Metro Speech Language Network. Congratulations Karen!
Harrison ISS instructor Joseph Botjer recently offered praise to the entire Harrison 7th grade instructional team. Joseph said, “good morning Harrison family. I wanted to give a quick shout out this morning to the 7th-grade team of teachers. Like many of you, they come in to school day in and day out with the biggest hearts and smiles to teach our 7th graders. Their collaborative teamwork and innovative ideas are a reflection of the respect they offer students. I must say, I have seen a dramatic change from last year. Mr. Staples, I love your story time in the mornings, it is an awesome way to start each day, and I know the kids enjoy it. Mr. Pugin, your weekly weather reports are more accurate than most Colorado meteorologists. Mrs. Woiteshek, every time I pass your class I see kids on task, doing their work and listening. Mrs. Harrell, your leadership, dedication, and creativity along with your morning jokes make us all happier. Finally, Mrs. Mckibbin, your smile and calm demeanor make everyone's day brighter. It is a blessing and pleasure to work alongside you guys.”
Recently Speech Language Pathologist Karen Miller’s presentation proposal was approved by the Metro Speech Language Network. Congratulations Karen!
Harrison ISS instructor Joseph Botjer recently offered praise to the entire Harrison 7th grade instructional team. Joseph said, “good morning Harrison family. I wanted to give a quick shout out this morning to the 7th-grade team of teachers. Like many of you, they come in to school day in and day out with the biggest hearts and smiles to teach our 7th graders. Their collaborative teamwork and innovative ideas are a reflection of the respect they offer students. I must say, I have seen a dramatic change from last year. Mr. Staples, I love your story time in the mornings, it is an awesome way to start each day, and I know the kids enjoy it. Mr. Pugin, your weekly weather reports are more accurate than most Colorado meteorologists. Mrs. Woiteshek, every time I pass your class I see kids on task, doing their work and listening. Mrs. Harrell, your leadership, dedication, and creativity along with your morning jokes make us all happier. Finally, Mrs. Mckibbin, your smile and calm demeanor make everyone's day brighter. It is a blessing and pleasure to work alongside you guys.”
Lincoln Principal Tammy DeWolfe was quite impressed with literacy instruction at Washington Elementary.
Also, Lincoln School of Science and Technology Principal Tammy DeWolfe recently offered praise to the Washington Elementary staff. She said, “WOW! What a blessing each of you are! Lacey LeDoux and I had the pleasure of witnessing some of your literacy work with students today. We understand how uncomfortable that may make some feel when visitors are in/out, in/out, of your instructional classrooms. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to get better at our craft by seeing your quality instruction. Both of us have a list of exciting “takeaways” in order to do our jobs better tomorrow. Out of respect to your Stephen Covey 7 Habits culture, I’d like to highlight one specific take away. There was clearly a sense of synergy by ALL instructors and ALL students today. It was impressive! Instructors were focused on specific skill development and time in text. Students were participating at a high level. This type of sophisticated work cannot be done in one year, by one person. It takes multiple years, with multiple instructors, to teach children how to read at the highest level! We witnessed that today. Thank you again for sharing, and most importantly, for caring!
Our Future Focus
A bevy of Technical Writing students presented their visual concepts about our core beliefs.
Prior to Thanksgiving, Cañon City High School Technical Writing Teacher Madison Tortessi’s students presented to our Board of Education their visual interpretations of our four core beliefs. Ben Maruschack, Rachael Murphy, Daniella Senecal, Lena Thompson, Tyler Schimpf, Chase Strozewski, Login McIntosh, Michael O’Neil, and Abigail Luken each explained their efforts. We’ll soon be sharing their work on our Facebook page in an effort to solicit feedback we might use to guide our work to expand on their wonderful ideas.
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Bond Progress
This week we'll once again have all-day design sessions at Cañon City Middle School and Washington Elementary. The CCMS session will take place on Tuesday. Washington staff will do this work on Wednesday. We are fast approaching a level of design that will allow us to solidify our floor plans, allowing the folks at GE Johnson Construction Company to begin planning to break ground.
Last Week
Last week I spent much time at Cañon City High School to support the staff and student body following a student suicide. I also attended a teacher association representative/administrator touching base meeting at Harrison, a weekly Superintendent Advisory Council meeting and an Instructional Leader PLC. On Wednesday I was in Denver attending a Colorado Education Initiative Local Innovation in School Accountability gathering. I was back in Cañon on Thursday for a Pueblo Community College-Fremont Campus advisory board meeting and another Interest Based Solutions session on attracting and retaining high-quality staff. On Friday I once again spent nearly my entire day on the Cañon City High School campus.
This Week
CCHS students raised nearly $1,000 for suicide prevention last Friday by charging students to wear hats.
On Monday, I hope to finish writing and publishing this week’s Echoes from Cañon. I also plan to work on our board’s slideshow for a presentation they’ll be making at the Colorado Association of School Boards annual convention later this week in Colorado Springs. On Tuesday we have an all day building design session at Cañon City Middle School. I’ll also appear on KRLN Radio’s Morning Line program, conduct a Superintendent’s Advisory Council meeting, meet with the Board in a work session to plan their CASB presentation, and attend another Interest Based Solutions session on attracting and retaining high-quality staff. On Wednesday we have an all-day Washington Elementary building design session. I’ll also hold a central office staff meeting, an administration check-in meeting at Harrison, attend an iLearn course exemption discussion, a CCEOE quarterly meeting, and then conduct a district technology visioning committee meeting. I’ll be in Springs from Thursday through Sunday attending this year’s Colorado Association of School Boards annual convention.
Other Voices
It it's December the CCHS Madrigals must be making the rounds.
This week I'm sharing information about Early Access to School for Highly Gifted Preschool Children:
Highly Gifted Preschool Children may gain Early Access to kindergarten or first grade according to Colorado state law. The Early Access process is for highly gifted four-year-olds who show readiness for kindergarten and five-year-olds who show readiness for first grade by August 2019. Highly Gifted means children scoring in the top one-tenth percentile; approximately one child in a thousand. Such pre-school age children need to meet the following criteria for Early Access August 2018:
• A body of academic evidence indicating 97th percentile work
• A cognitive abilities test (I.Q.) of 140 or higher
• Achievement testing at the 97th percentile or higher
• Social, emotional, and fine motor school readiness
The Early Access Process serves the few highly gifted children who require comprehensive academic acceleration. Early Access is not recommended for the majority of age four and five gifted children.
Families are interested in exploring this process should begin by asking their early childhood or preschool provider if their child is an appropriate candidate for Early Access. If preschool or early childhood providers suggest Early Access, families should submit a letter of intent and a thirty $30 processing fee to Shyla Christiansen, Cañon City Schools Gifted and Talented Coordinator, at 490 N. Diamond Ave., Cañon City, CO or call 719-276-6168 by February 1, 2019.
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
Highly Gifted Preschool Children may gain Early Access to kindergarten or first grade according to Colorado state law. The Early Access process is for highly gifted four-year-olds who show readiness for kindergarten and five-year-olds who show readiness for first grade by August 2019. Highly Gifted means children scoring in the top one-tenth percentile; approximately one child in a thousand. Such pre-school age children need to meet the following criteria for Early Access August 2018:
• A body of academic evidence indicating 97th percentile work
• A cognitive abilities test (I.Q.) of 140 or higher
• Achievement testing at the 97th percentile or higher
• Social, emotional, and fine motor school readiness
The Early Access Process serves the few highly gifted children who require comprehensive academic acceleration. Early Access is not recommended for the majority of age four and five gifted children.
Families are interested in exploring this process should begin by asking their early childhood or preschool provider if their child is an appropriate candidate for Early Access. If preschool or early childhood providers suggest Early Access, families should submit a letter of intent and a thirty $30 processing fee to Shyla Christiansen, Cañon City Schools Gifted and Talented Coordinator, at 490 N. Diamond Ave., Cañon City, CO or call 719-276-6168 by February 1, 2019.
Thanks for listening once again!
George S. Welsh
