Week of September 2, 2019

Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year!  One of my favorite things about our profession is that every year offers a fresh start and a clean slate and the promise of hope and possibility that accompany new beginnings.  This year we are implementing some important changes at Venture High School.  We are shifting roles, redefining our work, and, collectively, rethinking what it means to "do school."  

Recently, a school in Spokane had a reader board message that said "Fall in Love With School Again."  What would it mean if we all, students and teachers alike, "fell in love with school?"  What if school ignited our passions and curiosities and learning was connected to real issues that mattered to us beyond the school day?  These are the questions I would like all of us to explore this year with our students.

No one needs to tell you how important your job is.  It is YOU, not curriculum, class size, or funding, that most influence student achievement.  I hope that you are in love with school and the incredibly important work you do.  Of course, every day isn't going to be amazing, but if you don't leave school with a smile on most days, proud of the work you did with kids, talk to someone about it.  Come see me or talk to a colleague.  If we aren't happy, our students won't be either and that is a miserable way to approach learning.

My hope for all of us at Venture is that we all come to see school as a community of learners who gather to do interesting work that matters.  Roland Barth in Learning by Heart, 2004 said "Ultimately there are two kinds of schools: learning-enriched schools and learning-impoverished schools. I have yet to see a school where the learning curves of the adults were steep upward and those of the students were not. "Teachers and students go hand in hand as learners, or they don't go at all"

What is the story we will tell of this year? I hope we will share tales of helping kids to learn, to laugh and to belong. I hope we ask hard and interesting questions and try new things. I hope we have the courage to be vulnerable with each other and with our students. Together, we form the human infrastructure that supports rich and meaningful learning experiences for our kids... and for ourselves.

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Doering and Baker
Monday 9/2: Labor Day

Tuesday 9/3: 
Wednesday 9/4:  
Thursday 9/5:

Friday 9/6:

Bus/Parking lot duty: Smith and Cooley

Monday 9/9: Lutherhaven Team-building

Tuesday 9/10: 
Wednesday 9/11:  
Thursday 9/12: 

Friday 9/13: