Weekly News and Notes

Happy Thanksgiving season, everyone!

First off, what a remarkably busy couple of weeks it has been. Between post-season games of our athletic teams, the production of Midsummer Night's Dream, faculty meetings, the Halloween parade, Superstorm Sandy, and the end of the first term, it has been a sprint to this fast-approaching long weekend.

Medway Boys Soccer plays Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Worcester State College against Groton-Dunstable for the state championship, and the cheerleaders compete for the state championship on Sunday at Shrewsbury High School, beginning at 3. We had more than 300 supporters at Braintree for soccer on Wednesday and expect a huge crowd on Saturday as well! Whatever happens, it has been a remarkable ride for a great group of young men.

Next week, the Powderpuff game is on Monday night; Mr. Christie is looking for folks to serve as referees for the game. The Homecoming Dance is Tuesday night from 7-10; again, we hope many of you will be there to chaperone.

On Wednesday, expect to be called to the gym late morning, about an hour before school lets out, for the rally. We hope to have a full schedule from student council next week.

Holiday Giving Project


Thanks to those who have already volunteered - but we need more teacher support! Here is the message that went out on the conference earlier this week:

Our Peer Counselors and SADD will be co-sponsoring a Holiday Giving Project that will take place for much of the month of December, in which students will be donating items that will support those in need - including toys, gifts, wrapping paper, tape, ribbon, etc.

How can faculty be involved?

We asking staff to VOLUNTEER to participate by offering incentives for donation. Coupons would be given to students when they donate, and the coupon can be exchanged for anything a teacher sees fit - bonus points on a quiz, the opportunity to hand an assignment in a day late, a "get out of homework free," etc. Teachers would VOLUNTEER to participate; they would be given a coupon from a student signed by the Peer Counselors or SADD representative upon receipt of the item, which will be collected in the foyer before school. The teacher could then post what the coupon could be redeemed for, as well as a deadline. Those teachers who are participating would have their names posted on a flyer so students would know who is involved, and the student would be allowed to use the coupon once only - that's once, with one teacher, not once PER teacher.

We are are sensitive to those that may not be able to afford to purchase a toy or gift, but there are other ways to volunteer  - i.e. helping with delivering or collecting, donating less expensive, consumable items such as gift wrap or tape, helping with wrapping gifts, etc. That way, everyone has an opportunity to participate and give back.

The PA announcement that will go out, and which will be included on the flyer, would read something like:

"From now until Christmas, Medway High School will be coordinating a charity called the Holiday Giving Project.  Students are asked to donate anything an underprivileged family may need during the holiday season.  This may include small gifts for children ages 1-18, wrapping paper, clothing, food items, ribbon, or decorative lights.  Students who donate to the Holiday Giving Project will receive Bonus Points on a quiz or test, and/or a homework pass from any participating teacher, as well as GOOD Karma!  See the list posted around the building for teachers who will be participating in the event.  Peer Counselors and SADD members will be posted in the main foyer beginning on December 3 at 7:30 a.m.  So start donating, Medway!"

The spirit of this is to build community and offer opportunities to give to a number of organizations. There is nothing quite like the students standing in front of several car loads of toys and gifts going to different organizations! Peer Counselors and SADD have already been in touch with a couple of groups, including homeless shelters, battered women shelters, and local hospitals, and we will hopefully have enough to support all these groups.

If you wish to donate items yourselves, feel free! (No, there will be no "get out of a faculty meeting free" coupon" from the administration!)

If you wish to participate, please reply to me by Monday so I can get the names to the Peer Counselors and SADD student coordinators, so they can build their flyers for December. If you do not, please disregard this email and do not reply.

ItsLearning Home Page

We have started looking at the High School Itslearning page as a better spot for parents to land; when you click on it, you should begin seeing some of the information filtering into it as a landing page. Most of the information will be relative for parents and students, including links, resources, calendars, Doug's blog, etc. Let me know if you have any ideas for material to include on it as the district continues to move toward more blended learning environments!

Discipline Totals:

An analysis of discipline actions for the first quarter, compared over the past two years, is included below:

This follows suit with the total number of incidents of conflict or aggressive behavior (the more "passive" forms of incidents, such as cutting teacher detention or cutting class, are all down):


The conclusion:

As Vince Lombardi once said, “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” Each person in the school community has quickly been normed to the social and civic expectations of our student body. The students have set the tone themselves, arriving at class, by and large, when expected, and being, if nothing else, compliant. They have responded to positive reinforcement, the consistent message being delivered about rewards for what is done correctly rather than consequences for “gotcha” situations.

We have looked for ways to catch people doing “right,” not wrong, and mentioned that with detail. The ability to spend more time outside the office and in classrooms has also afforded additional visibility and helped create a cycle of positive behavior, as not as much time has been needed to be spent in the office responding to constant infraction. The fewer incidents also allows additional time to be spent counseling and intervening where needed.

Consistency will be challenged, and infractions beyond the scope of those addressed in the first quarter will no doubt arise, but the message will continue to be clear, and the response appropriate, when needed.

To Vince Lombardi’s quote: everyone owns a piece of this success so far, and the cooperation to proactive work with students and families, as opposed to conflict-driven reaction to behaviors, perhaps impacts these statistics the most.

Editor's Note: This will not publish formally next week. Enjoy the week!

Video of the Week: Something lighter this time around!