Sunday, March 18, 2018

March 9, 2018 - No more snow edition!

Photo by Tim Tiedemann on Unsplash
Hello,

This week we have carefully faced more of Mother Nature’s winter weather. I would like to focus on ‘leadership’. Specifically the type of leadership that comes from sources other than our administration. I absolutely believe one of my main responsibilities is to foster an environment that encourages everyone to take a role in the leadership of our district. To accomplish this, I need to take my hands off the wheel  at times and that can feel scary. It is critical that I trust our employees to step up and take ownership for our success. Once the destination is set, the administrative leadership must encourage others to help determine the best way to get there. I must encourage other administrators to do the same – to encourage others under their supervision to take risks, to innovate, and do so with the administrations’  full support.

It is when we fail that we have the greatest opportunity to learn. Hopefully this then becomes how the staff empowers the students. Creating young risk takers, innovators, and problem solvers. Simply put, top-down initiatives usually fail to create lasting change. They often fail regardless of the merit or quality of the project. They fail because they lack investors…instead they are viewed as something being done to me not something done by me. The antithesis is staff led initiatives. These are created by, designed for, and taught by your colleagues. Staff led projects or initiatives are more likely to spread and be widely accepted for countless reasons. Least among them, they are usually really – really good! They come from people who are closest to the classroom and designed for the main purpose of helping you do your job better. Will there still be resistance? Sure, but it will be limited. In every group there is at least one person who will say up to your down. Left when you are certain it was right. The majority, however, will see the value in the work.

Wednesday, the District kicked off the start of implementing PLC’s, Professional Learning Communities. As you will see below in the shout-out section, our staff stepped up and knocked it out of the park. The initiative to create authentic PLC’s across our District came from, was designed by, and training was given to the rest of the staff by teachers. This is a perfect example of teacher-led or staff-led leadership. The core group met and spent time planning how best to implement PLC’s. They scheduled time to meet with administration in order to gain support for their idea. I could not be happier with their progress! Great job to all involved. I am very excited to watch the PLC’s grow and hopeful that more teachers & staff will continue to look for opportunities to provide leadership as we pursue the District’s vision. We will be creating the strategic plan in the coming months, this is an ideal place for leaders to lead.

In the spirit of staff lead leadership, here is a special edition of staff shout-outs to colleagues:

"I’d like to give a HUGE Shout Out to the custodial crew at the Senior High School for the job they did clearing snow from the sidewalks after the Nor’Easter on Wednesday. That was some of the heaviest snow I can ever remember and there wasn’t a flake of snow to be found on the sidewalks and walkways to the Trailers when I came in this morning. We were all expecting to have a shortened day due to the storm but the entire crew came together to get the school ready for opening on Thursday.  Matt Bonham, Sarah Brown, Ricky Cordero, Willie Hinton, Carmen Mena, Steve Morris, Amelia Soto, Mike Taylor, Dionicia Vasquez, THANK YOU for all you do!!!!!! I would also like to thank our District Maintenance worker, Jeremy Table, for spending his morning removing remnants of ice and snow from the parking lot also!"
~Dominic Carapelli, Head Custodian

 "Also, I wanted to give a "shout out" to Matt Slater, who ran a "mouse trap" team building activity yesterday as part of our PD. Four of us braved the challenge, and we made a mouse trap tower with 14 stories!! Perhaps a world record! Ha!"
~Cindy Commander, teacher

"A big shout-out to Sandy Grennon for consistent great service and dedication to the students and staff of Millville Public Schools. Throughout the years Sandy has always been a force for positive technology improvements in a variety of buildings. Most recently, Sandy has been the sole source of technology service and support to Lakeside Middle School where she is supporting over 2,000 technology devices, over 1,000 students and over 200 staff members.  Sandy serves as a role model and mentor for other technicians. Sandy was named, by a vote of her peers, the Technician of the Year for 2017-2018."
~Dan Wright, Communications Manager

"Patty Wynn has done an amazing job as the Principal Secretary for LMS. She is instrumental in finding coverages for teachers, working with parents, keeping the school organized and ensuring that I am on task through SAM process."
~Spike Cook, Principal

"Tina Dallas and Theresa Sutton both volunteered to be our PLC building trainers and have done an amazing job.  They both provided a great training to our staff and all of their hard work and preparation was evident by all of the positive feedback from their colleagues."
~Steve Saul, Principal

"Thank you to Margaret Keefer for her organization and hard work in always being available for the High School.  She will always be a part of this family."

"I would like to send a special shout out for the bravery of 3 chaperones from the Senior Trip: Dana Siniavsky, Kelly Hughey, and Amanda Gaunt. They handled a stressing situation with calmness and precision addressing a students needs.  I am so proud of them and honored to have them be a part of our Millville HS Family.  You are amazing guardian angels!"
~Stephanie DeRose, Principal

"Thank you to these phenomenal teachers and leaders: Valerie Archetto, Dana Siniavsky, KT Fouhy, and Tara Cotton! The in-service sessions that you led at the High School were well-presented and informative. Thank you for sharing your talents beyond the classroom!"
~Bridget Borlak, Dept. Chair

"A Bacon shout-out to Paul Lokey, security guard extraordinaire.  Paul welcomes our guests and visitors with a courteous smile and gets them to where they need to be with respect and professionalism.  He works hard to maintain a safe, secure environment, and he doesn’t hesitate to go the extra mile – in any direction – to help anyone in need, even if it is beyond the scope of his regular duties.  Thank you, Paul, for your dedication to our students, staff, and school."
~Mike Coyle, Principal

"Christine Burns and Linda Wittmann did a great job presenting on PLCs on the in-service day."
~Debbie Homan, Supervisor

"Thank you to Christine Burns, Linda Wittmann, Danette Boone and Harry Drew for making Rieck Avenue's workshops on PLCs effective and enjoyable."
~Brian Robinson, Principal

"A BIG shout out to Cindy Ciocco and Jen Shute for taking the lead in our PLC presentation.  They included ice breakers, group work and individual thinking all in one workshop.  Their buy in and encouragement to the staff of the value of PLC's was very helpful towards our work with this district initiative."
~JoAnn Burns, Principal

Have an amazing weekend!

Regards,
Dr. G.
Dr. David N. Gentile
Superintendent of Schools
“Lead Learner”
@drgentile_mps (Twitter)
856-327-6001

#MPSWC (MPS World Class)
#greatdaytobeabolt

Published by Spike Cook, Millville, NJ

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