September 11

Today, in school, we took some time to remember the events that took place in our country on September 11, 2001.  One of the things that struck me this morning was that our oldest students were only 2 years old and our youngest students weren't even born at the time of the horrific attacks.

Below you will see what I read in school this morning as we started our day.

As you undoubtedly know, today is September 11.  We want to take some time today to remember what happened on this date 11 years ago.  I know that some of you were not even born on September 11, 2001, so listen carefully.

On September 11, 2001, the United States was the victim of a series of suicide attacks carried out by militant al-Qaeda terrorists.  On that day, hijackers intentionally flew two planes into the World Trade Center in New York City.  Both the north and south towers collapsed within two hours of being hit.  Hijackers also crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, just outside of Washington, DC.  A fourth plane, intended for the United States Capitol was crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers on the plane attempted to take control of the plane.  Nearly 3000 people died in the attacks that day.

Today is the eleventh anniversary of September 11.  "It can be important to set aside time to remember this tragedy, even though remembering may make you feel sad or angry.  One reason we remember is that we want to preserve the memory of the victims who lost their lives and those who died in service to others."*

"In the face of this disaster, we saw courage: firefighters, police officers, and paramedics rushed to help.  We saw selflessness: strangers helped strangers.  We saw love: people from around the world sent cards, supplies and comfort."*

Out of an evil act, we were able to see so much good.  Today, we want to recognize and remember the good.  Twelve of 27 firefighters from the New York City Fire Department's Ladder Company 3 lost their lives that day trying to save others.  Robert Lynch, James Barbella and Edward Calderon, three men who worked in the World Trade Center lost their lives while caring for others.  Lynch cleared out a daycare center, Barbella led rescue workers upstairs because he knew where people were trapped and Calderon ignored the order to leave the building, instead rushing back in to help because he, "was a Marine, and Marines never leave anyone behind."  There were courageous women who were heroes that day as well.  Moira Smith of the New York City Police Department, Kathy Mazza, a Port Authority Policewoman, and Yamel Merino all lost their lives when the towers collapsed on them as they were saving others.  Ms.Smith was searching the building for people who were trapped and Ms. Mazza used her 9mm sidearm to shoot out glass walls as she led people down a stairwell towards safety.  Ms. Merino, a 20-year-old single mother was an ambulance driver.  When she and her male partner arrived at the scene that day, they were told that one of them would have to stay behind with the ambulance.  Without hesitation, it was Ms. Merino who rushed into the building to rescue others just before the tower collapsed on her.

Today is an opportunity to find something good in something that was so bad.  It is a chance to turn a negative into a positive by recognizing the work of others and doing good things ourselves.  Today, I encourage you to find ways to be courageous, selfless and loving.  I also encourage you to say thanks to those who keep us safe each day.

If you haven't done so already today, I would encourage you to take some time at home to talk about September 11.  While the gruesome details may be too much for some of our younger children, as you can see, it is always possible to find good amidst evil.  If you want to find a positive way to deal with the issue, talk about those who sacrificed and those who continue to sacrifice for us all every day.

On September 11, I want to remember those who were victims, but I want to celebrate those who are heroes.


* these marked portions come from our character education program, Project Wisdom.

Welcome Back

On behalf of the faculty and staff of Woodglen School, I would like to welcome all of our students and parents back for the 2012-2013 school year. 

Our returning students and parents will notice that we continue to have great stability at Woodglen, with few changes in staff or programs.  We do welcome two teachers back from maternity leaves, Casey Bean, who is teaching eighth grade language arts, and Jen McGuigan, who will be teaching special education.  We also welcome back Estherlee Luteran who will be serving as a paraprofessional.

One of our ongoing facilities projects is our bathroom renovation.  Started in the summer, we will be upgrading our original bathrooms to make them all handicap accessible.  The three student bathrooms will be completed in three phases throughout the school year, starting with the "eighth grade" bathrooms up near the gym and PAC, followed by the "sixth grade" bathrooms near the cafeteria, and ending with the "fifth grade" bathrooms in the back wing of the building.  When completed the new bathrooms will be very nice and accessible to all current and future students regardless of any special needs.

At the beginning of each school year, goals are set for our staff and students.  This year, we have to major areas of focus.  One is communication and the other is respect.  We will be focusing on positive communication throughout the school year.  I have challenged everyone to use their words to build each other up rather than to tear each other down.  We will be paying attention to body language and tone of voice in addition to what is actually said.  In this age of technology, we also spoke in detail about electronic communication.  Whether using Facebook, text messages, GIF-Boom, YouTube, KIK or any other forms of social media or electronic communication everyone needs to remember that once something is put out there, it stays out there forever.  I urged students to think about what they say, send or post before they say, send or post it.  My challenge was to ask yourself if you would still say, send or post it if your mother were standing next to you.  If the answer is no, it is obviously not positive communication.  Respect is always an ongoing goal at Woodglen School, but the focus this year will be on "Respect for the School."  Staff and students were urged to take better care of our equipment as well as the physical building in which we spend more of our waking hours than anywhere else.  We talked about the importance of treating our technology with respect.  As we continue to update what we have, adding two new laptop computer carts to the school this year as well as the possible addition of more iPads, it is imperative that our students handle equipment with care.  I have no idea why students get joy out of disabling computers by removing keys or parts of computer mice, but it continues to be an ongoing problem, one that puts technology out of commission for everyone for at least some period of time.  I also informed students that school lockers would be required to be kept clean and neat.  When a student's locker is in disarray, he or she often cannot find things that he or she needs to be prepared for class.  In addition, when students cannot find assignments, books or other items, it also leads to increased and unnecessary stress.  Students were told that if their locker was in an unacceptable condition that they would need to come in on their time - lunch, recess, study hall, before or after school - to clean it.  Finally, I challenged everyone in the building to keep things cleaner by picking up things they see on the floor.  I myself never walk by a piece of paper on a hallway floor when I see it, and I've asked everyone else to join me in meeting the goal of keeping our school as clean as possible.  I would ask that all parents get involved in helping us to achieve our goals by talking about them and reinforcing them at home.  You may even want to join us in this quest in your own households.  I'm sure every parent would love to see their kids picking up stuff off the floor, particularly in their own rooms!

As we go through the school year, our goals will be reinforced and reviewed at school.  My big-picture goal is to make our school a nicer place to be.  By taking care of the facilities, we will all share in an improved environment.  By communicating more positively, we will all feel better about ourselves and others.  Thanks for your ongoing support of Woodglen School.  I look forward to seeing you all throughout this year.