Focus on the Fabulous
As always, there were a lot of great things going on in Center Schools this past week.
First and foremost, we want to recognize our Teacher of the Year, Kim Gonzales. Kim is a kindergarten teacher at Haskin Elementary and she has been in the district for a number of years. She credits her mom, Carla Vigil, for everything she’s learned about being a great teacher. Carla is a 1st grade teacher in our district and we are lucky to have both of them in our district. Kim does an amazing job of connecting with the kids and making learning fun. Her positive energy, intentional planning, and energetic lessons showcase her commitment to excellence. Solid instruction at the earliest levels are imperative for strong student development and having Kim working with our Kindergartners ensures that they are getting the best start possible. We are happy to have Kim represent our district as the Teacher of the Year.
Selecting just one teacher to represent our district is never an easy task, especially when we have such a talented group to choose from. Angel Ramos was nominated as the middle school candidate and Hanna Hays was nominated at the high school level by the committee. Our kids are lucky to have such amazing teachers working hard to provide them with the best educational experience possible.
Thanks to our librarian, Lupita Ortega, and our partnership with Adams State, our students had the opportunity to take part in a unique after school learning experience. Kids had the chance to explore the culture, music, food and history of Haiti through the intriguing story Eight Days, A Story of Haiti. Students listened and discussed the story, played musical instruments native to the country, and even got to taste sugar cane.
Friday our staff participated in our final professional development day for the year. Stephanie Hensley, our Director of Instruction, worked hard to provide a day full of learning opportunities. The morning was spent reviewing with the staff the testing protocols for the upcoming state assessments. Staff also had the chance to finish up work on their curriculum maps. Nancy Meredith was on site to continue supporting our district efforts to empower our staff with effective strategies to create engaging learning environments so all student can acquire the knowledge they need to be successful. Hanna Hays led a peer learning lab for the staff that exemplified the workshop model. The afternoon consisted of a variety of breakout sessions led by our expert staff in areas identified as district priorities. It was impressive to see the diverse options that were available, as well as the level of expertise that we have on staff here in Center. We are ALL committed to excellence in all we do, every day!
Focus on Fun!
The day ended with a fun banana split party hosted by the Sunshine Committee.
Focus on Full Steam Ahead!
There are some exciting things planned for this week. Wednesday at 5:00 pm, in the auxiliary gym, we will have our first annual Steam Night! Ms. Dolan has worked with her coding, physics and chemistry classes on fun projects that will bring science to life! There will be hands on learning opportunities through experiments and demonstrations, in all areas of science, technology, engineering and math. Please join us for an exciting night of exploration through the lens of STEAM!
Monday, we will be offering dental screenings to our students. Thanks to Wendy Murillo for getting this organized for our students. Tuesday night will be our monthly BOE meeting.
Here’s to a great week!