Simply Special Warriors

During the last week; in the midst of the daily grind at Eminence Independent Middle/High School, I have been constantly reminded that our Warriors are very special.  For those that believe youngsters these days just don’t have what it takes, they should spend a day with the Warriors I have the privilege of serving alongside each and everyday.

Last week some of our students attended the Historically Black University and College Fair in Louisville.  A teacher reported, “I had three of the students who went on the field trip with Mrs. Griebe today who came back at 2:00 ecstatic. One of them was a completely different kid. Typically defiant and uncooperative in most every way, he was all manners last period. He told me he wished he had taken a notebook so he could have taken notes and that he knew what college he wanted to go to.  It was so cool to see them so excited and to see that it did carry over into school.”   

Also, Dena Riley our school librarian arranged to have Katie McGarry (Kentucky author) come and speak to the high school and to the 8th grade.  The 8th grade is in the middle of a PBL (Project Based Learning Unit) where they are writing their own play and later they will perform it for the middle school. Katie was not only an inspiration for their writing, but an inspiration for them to pursue what they love. She answered all of their questions and she shared with them that she didn't become a writer until 5 years ago. Her first book, which has won numerous awards, was rejected 44 times. She told the kids that whatever they love to do to hold onto it and to pursue it no matter how many rejections they face. She was a great speaker!  Link to newspaper article: http://www.hclocal.com/content/eminence-middle-school-students-get-writing-lesson-ky-author

On Monday I had the privilege of taking a group of seven students to a special lunch for their presentation the week before to a group of superintendents.  These students articulated their experience as an Eminence student attending Bellarmine University two full days of the week and earning credit.  It honestly sounds simple and it is, but it is outrageous that some of these students will leave Eminence High School with 29+ hours of college credit for FREE!  Bottom line...they shared their experiences to encourage superintendents in other districts to provide the same opportunities for their own students.  These students are amazing.

Tuesday was an amazing day that included our 1st Round of SPARC (Student, Parents, Advisor, Readiness, Committee) Student-Led Conferences which included 62 parents attending in one evening! It was a success.  This evening at the Board of Education meeting we recognized 187 students in grades 6-12 for their Proficient and Distinguished performance on K-PREP...that is just incredible for our school size!

Wednesday rolled around and with Thanksgiving coming quickly, it was an opportunity to reflect upon our own lives and make a difference in others lives.  The “Change the Day Challenge” continues to emerge at Eminence and we took advantage of another opportunity to “Change the Day” for someone special.  A student at a neighboring school is battling cancer and our student body accepted a challenge to make a difference by tweeting positive messages of support for this young man and his family.  Our Warrior family joined together in the gym and listened to a message delivered by an 8th grade student who wanted to make a difference for this young man as well.  In a very still silence, you could hear the sound of the keys on keyboards creating the messages that would bombard this young man’s twitter account with messages of encouragement.  This was heart-warming and heart-wrenching all at the same time.  

This doesn’t even include the amazing work happening in our classrooms every day, but it does give you a glimpse of how much we accomplish in a week at Eminence Middle/High School beyond instruction.  I am proud of our staff and  students and  how much they accomplish daily in pursuit of our mission  at EMS/EHS to develop world class students in all aspects of life through the cooperation of students, staff, parents and community members.