REALLY? I'm still flabbergasted that President Obama selected a committee to study the status of the arts in education and the committee chose our school as one of the schools to visit. I don't pretend to think that this means we have arrived, but I have allowed myself, as you should too, to reflect on the journey we have had.
5 short years ago we set out on a journey to make our school rich with the arts. From the minute people stepped into our building I wanted them to know that there are exciting, enriching and engaging activities happening at our school. I believed that these three E's would lead us to our fourth E - Excellence! We are so close to that designation. I can feel it at the end of my finger tips and with just a little more stretching we will be able to hold it in the palm of our hands.
Yesterday's visit by Mrs. Goslins and her committee reaffirmed the great job our teachers, students, parents and leadership teams at all levels have been working very hard for. We have said that the arts will provide our students with an attitude about school that will change their outlook about themselves as a student throughout their young lives. We were right, listening to our students respond to the questions asked by White House Representatives we all have so very much to be proud of. Their answers could not be measured on bubble sheets or as a number printed on the front page of our newspaper. No... our success is in the attitude and belief that each of these children have a sense of pride, and ownership of their education, they love our school, they love their teachers, and they love each other. The arts culture has replaced the inept feelings our students used to have in the old fashion way school was being done.
Although not all of us had the opportunity to visit with Mrs. Goslins and her committee, I want you all to know that she was thoroughly impressed by our school, our students, our teachers, our community partners, and our central office team. She remarked to the students that she would loved to have gone to a school like ours when she was a child. Delayed flight scheduled prevented us from getting to all the rooms, and the script we had written was totally abandoned. Despite these circumstances the visit was a huge success and another jewel was added to the crown we all share!
Great Job BHESA and thank you for all you do!
