5-20-2016

The Choir and Band Concert Wednesday night was a huge success.  The kids sounded great, Melissa and John did a tremendous job and Mark C made a surprise visit with his wife and family.  He conducted one last song, spoke before the crowd and was given a standing ovation.  Mark deserves a lot of credit for building the band program to the level it is today and for his love of students.  He will be missed.

Thanks to everyone for having a sense of humor at Wednesday's staff meeting as I gave out the first Annual Benjamin Awards of Appreciation.  My words and humor underline my admiration for the great job you have done this year.

How to avoid burnout at the end of the year:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/roll-with-it-burnout-prevention-nicholas-provenzano?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow


Congratulations to the Benjamin Track team.  Coach Courtney, Bill and Abby worked hard all season and our students came away with many individual and even some conference records at the conference track meet on Tuesday.

Good luck to Coach Tylk and Thill and the girls soccer team at the conference Soccer Tournament this Saturday.

Teacher Travel Grants and Fellowship Opportunities:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-travel-grants-resources-matt-davis?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow


I will be attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the Fair Oaks/West Branch bike trail.  It will be nice to see the progress start to happen on this project.

Congratulations to Lynette for scoring another grant.  Thanks for spending the extra time to get those funds for our school.

I haven't watched all of them yet, but 8 videos to encourage girls in Stem.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-encouraging-girls-in-stem?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow



Thanks to Melissa L, Danielle and Adrienne for conducting the first round of the band interviews on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We have some great candidates coming in to play with our band students on Tuesday and Thursday of next week.

I know everyone is looking forward to celebrating Pat's retirement today after school. (Don't worry she is going to still come to work for the next two weeks) A special thank you to Ellen for opening up her home for the celebration. Also thanks to the social committee of Chris, Lauren and Ellen for organizing the event.

Steve Job's Stanford Commencement Speech:  How to Live before you Die