Friday, June 21, 2013
Last day of school
7:35 – 7:47 A4 Yellow
7: 47 – 7:58 B4
8:00 – 8:12 B5 Blue
8:12 – 8:24 C5
8:26 – 8:38 D5 Pink
8:38 – 8:50 E5
8:52 – 9:02 F5 Green
9:02 – 9:16 G5
9:16 – 9:28 H5Orange
9:30 – 9:37 I5
9:37 – 9:52 K5 Dark Blue
9:52 – 10:04 L5
10:06 – 10:18 N5 Purple
10: 18 -10:30 O5
Filed under Marauder Spirit
Good Morning and welcome to the last full-week of school. There were many times during the year where I am sure you thought this week would never come, well it has. Good luck on giving your exams and wrapping up last minute cleaning.
Below is a story I shared with the faculty and staff a few years ago. It is called the Blueberry Story. It is a nice way of reminding ourselves of why we are in the field of education and the impact we have on individual students and society. In many cases you will never know how your dedication and hard work has impacted our students. Do know that you have made a difference and the work you do each day is one of, if not, the most important work there is – investing is kids.
Thank you for what you do!
Dan
The Blueberry Story:
The teacher gives the businessman a lesson
“If I ran my business the way you people operate your schools, I wouldn’t be in business very long!”
I stood before an auditorium filled with outraged teachers who were becoming angrier by the minute. My speech had entirely consumed their precious 90 minutes of in-service. Their initial icy glares had turned to restless agitation. You could cut the hostility with a knife.
I represented a group of business people dedicated to improving public schools. I was an executive at an ice cream company that had become famous in the middle1980s when People magazine chose our blueberry as the “Best Ice Cream in America.”
I was convinced of two things. First, public schools needed to change; they were archaic selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the industrial age and out of step with the needs of our emerging “knowledge society.” Second, educators were a major part of the problem: they resisted change, hunkered down in their feathered nests, protected by tenure, and shielded by a bureaucratic monopoly. They needed to look to business. We knew how to produce quality. Zero defects! TQM! Continuous improvement!
In retrospect, the speech was perfectly balanced — equal parts ignorance and arrogance.
As soon as I finished, a woman’s hand shot up. She appeared polite, pleasant. She was, in fact, a razor-edged, veteran, high school English teacher who had been waiting to unload.
She began quietly, “We are told, sir, that you manage a company that makes good ice cream.”
I smugly replied, “Best ice cream in America, Ma’am.”
“How nice,” she said. “Is it rich and smooth?”
“Sixteen percent butterfat,” I crowed.
“Premium ingredients?” she inquired.
“Super-premium! Nothing but triple A.” I was on a roll. I never saw the next line coming.
“Mr. Vollmer,” she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky, “when you are standing on your receiving dock and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrive, what do you do?”
In the silence of that room, I could hear the trap snap…. I was dead meat, but I wasn’t going to lie.
“I send them back.”
She jumped to her feet. “That’s right!” she barked, “and we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them with ADHD, junior rheumatoid arthritis, and English as their second language. We take them all! Every one! And that, Mr. Vollmer, is why it’s not a business. It’s school!”
In an explosion, all 290 teachers, principals, bus drivers, aides, custodians, and secretaries jumped to their feet and yelled, “Yeah! Blueberries! Blueberries!”
And so began my long transformation.
Since then, I have visited hundreds of schools. I have learned that a school is not a business. Schools are unable to control the quality of their raw material, they are dependent upon the vagaries of politics for a reliable revenue stream, and they are constantly mauled by a howling horde of disparate, competing customer groups that would send the best CEO screaming into the night.
None of this negates the need for change. We must change what, when, and how we teach to give all children maximum opportunity to thrive in a post-industrial society. But educators cannot do this alone; these changes can occur only with the understanding, trust, permission, and active support of the surrounding community. For the most important thing I have learned is that schools reflect the attitudes, beliefs and health of the communities they serve, and therefore, to improve public education means more than changing our schools, it means changing America.
Copyright 2011 Jamie Robert Vollmer
Filed under Principal's Page
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SCHOOL DAY/NIGHT EVENTS
Monday, June 10, 2013 -Day1
Grade 9 iPad Program Update for Parents, BHS Library Mezzanine, 6 pm
Tuesday, June 11, 2013 – Day 2
Grade 9 iPad Program Update for Parents, BHS Little Theatre, 8 am
Grade 9 iPad Program update for Parents, BHS Library Mezzanine, 6 pm
Wednesday, June 12, 2013 – Day 3
PATRONS Meeting, Wednesday, June 12, Room # 242, 7:30 pm
Thursday, June 13 2013 – Day 4
Friday, June 14, 2013 – Day 5
Last Day of Classes
UPCOMING EVENTS
Final Exams for Undergraduates, June 17, 18, 19 and 20
School Committee Meeting, Tuesday, June 18, Chenery Middle School, 7:30 pm
Summer Begins —-Last Day of School, Friday, June 21
Filed under Weekly Bulletin
As you may remember, the Belmontian Club provided energy and leadership in many October activities to support the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. Members of the club and the cheerleaders walked in Making Strides, the members designed and sold “Dare to Cure” t-shirts, held a “pink out” at school and at a soaker of a football game, approached Belmont merchants , some of whom donated door prizes for the pink out, while others scheduled a day in which they donated a portion of their earnings to our Making Strides team, partnered with Belmont Car Wash in a charity car wash , collected funds from Shaw’s, and went trick-or-treating for Breast Cancer on Halloween. In short, the club brought together many segments of our community with spectacular success.
It is with great delight and pride that I share with you the news I received this week from the American Cancer Society: Our final fundraising total is $13,301–beyond our wildest dreams, AND
the Belmont High School Team has earned second place in the 2012 High School Challenge.
With thanks to everyone who worked, fundraised, contributed, and supported our efforts.
See you in October!
Alice Melnikoff
Belmontian Club Advisor
Community Service Coordinator
Filed under Announcements
Before heading out to their projects for their workday, our 115 senior volunteers began at 8AM with breakfast made possible by contributions from our sponsors. From o.j. to coffee, and everything between, we could not have provided such an ample and delicious breakfast without them.
Bruegger’s
Starbuck’s (Belmont Center)
Starbuck’s (Watertown)
Ohlin’s Bakery
Russo’s Market
Shaw’s
Costco
Stop & Shop (Pleasant Street)
Stop and Shop (Watertown Street)
Wilson Farms
Linda’s Donuts
Iggy’s
Quebrada Baking Company.
Filed under Announcements
THE FOUNDATION FOR BELMONT EDUCATION LAUNCHES THE
FBE PARTNERS WITH BELMONT PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN SUPPORT OF EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
The Foundation for Belmont Education, in partnership with the Belmont Public Schools, is excited to announce the launch of the Innovative Teaching Initiative. This initiative will enable Belmont’s educators to utilize new teaching techniques and leverage technology to engage, motivate, and inspire our students and better prepare them for higher education and the 21st century workplace.
The Innovative Teaching Initiative, a 4-year, $450,000 campaign, will enhance student learning in two important ways.
The Innovative Teaching Initiative grew out of a successful pilot program at the high school that tested out dynamic models of teaching and integrated SMART Board technology with individual iPad usage. The Innovative Teaching Initiative furthers our goal of providing teachers with the training and tools necessary to produce innovative classroom instruction. Deb McDevitt, Social Studies Curriculum Director for Belmont Public Schools and pilot co-creator explains, “Utilizing new methods of teaching and iPad technology has dramatically improved student engagement and helped develop skills such as creative problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, data gathering and analysis, oral and written communication and technological competency.”
The Innovative Teaching Initiative expands on the FBE’s successful Technology Tools for Teaching campaign (2008-2011), which was the first step in creating 21st century classrooms through SMART Board installations. “We will now be able to provide teachers, at all grade levels, with leading-edge professional development to enhance instruction for all of our students,” remarked Janice Darias, Assistant Superintendent of Belmont Schools.
“We are thrilled to be a driver on innovation in the Belmont Public Schools and to support our teachers in their quest to bring the best to Belmont ’s students,” commented Jamie Shea, president of the Foundation for Belmont Education.
Additional program information can be found here.
Support the Innnovative Teaching Initiative
Filed under Announcements
Senior Service Day at the Community Farms, Habitat, Town Clerk’s office, Belmont Food Pantry, BHS graduation preperations.
Photos by Najette Abouelhadi
Filed under Marauder Spirit
Weekly Bulletin for Week of June 3, 2013
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SCHOOL DAY/NIGHT EVENTS
Monday, June 3, 2013 -Day1
Tuesday, June 4, 2013 – Day 2
School Committee Meeting, Chenery Middle School, 7:30 pm
Science MCAS, Grade 9,
Wednesday, June 5, 2013 – Day 3
PTO Meeting, BHS Library, 7:30 – 8:30 pm
Science MCAS, Grade 9,
Thursday, June 6 2013 – Day 4
Fall Sports Sign-up, Grades 9,10,11, after school in various locations
POMS Meeting, Conference Room, 7 pm
Friday, June 7, 2013 – Day 5
Undergraduate Awards Ceremony, Auditorium, 8 am
Saturday, June 8, 2013 – Day 6
ACT Testing, students arrive by 7:45 am
UPCOMING EVENTS
PATRONS Meeting, Wednesday, June 12, Room # 242, 7:30 pm
Final Exams for Undergraduates, June 17, 18, 19 and 20
School Committee Meeting, Tuesday, June 18, Chenery Middle School, 7:30 pm
Summer Begins —-Last Day of School, Friday, June 21
Filed under Weekly Bulletin
Graduation Exercises
Belmont High School
June 2, 2013
Wenner Field House – 3:00 P.M.
* Tickets are not needed for entry
*Parking is limited. Arrive early
Filed under Announcements
The Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild announced their nominations for the upcoming MET Awards co-sponsored with Broadway in Boston. This award honors the work of high school and middle school musicals across the state of Massachusetts. An awards ceremony will be held on June 11th at the Paramount Theatre in Boston for all nominees. Out of 50 high schools entering, Belmont High School’s production of Grease took home more nominations than any other production (16).
Filed under Announcements
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