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Making every day a great day Guest Columnist
Annie Livengood
Last year our interim principal, Mrs. Noble, had just left us. We were once again without a principal. What is a school without their principal? But in April of 2012 we found him. The principal of our dreams: Mr. Shearer. Mr. Shearer has been our amazing principal for about a year now. And guess what? He’s leaving. Great. Each year it seems we get a great new principal. They do so many great things, then they have to move or something. About a month and a half ago news broke to the school that our wonderful Mr. Shearer was moving to Washington, D.C. He is relocating because of a job offer he could not resist that would carry him on in his journey of life. Everyone at Crestwood is hoping he will be as happy there as he is with us. But you won’t be able to say we won’t remember him! I never knew a principal could be so wonderful. Not only has Mr. Shearer brought many new ideas to the school, but he is so fun and involved! One way to prove that is, when the book fair was still around during confrences he told us kids that if we could beat a goal of books sold he would do something fun for a whole day at school. Here was the bet: if we could sell 1,240 books, Mr. Shearer would dress up in all pink for the whole day. That really got us going. We sold more than 1,300 books in just one week! I don’t know if Mr. Shearer regretted that bet. No one at Crestwood will forget the pink: sweats, shirt, slippers, sunglasses, necklace, wig, and makeup. Get that mental picture! Another example is last year, I was on the Beartha (composting) team. Mr. Shearer somehow got us custom made T-shirts for Beartha! It was fun to show those off. He also helps almost every morning with the safety patrol team. They guide the kids walking by while he flags the cars.
Finding focus of Future Ready When talking about educational choices it’s easy for me to get defensive of my own. It’s part of my bias, and I realize that. My worldview tells me that knowledge is power, education is life changing, and it is about more than mere dollars and cents. I couldn’t count the number of times my educational choices have been belittled over the past three years. In the time since I graduated from college I have often been the recipient of the pity sigh. You know, the, “Oh, you have a journalism degree.” It usually is accompanied by the virtual yet implied, “You’re cute honey, what a waste of money,” head pat. I have been told that my degree is worthless. This, coming from those who have never worked in or studied the industry, sets my teeth on edge.
Staff Writer Katherine Smith
REPORTER
O Q U O T E O F T H E W E E K : ”Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
OUR CORNER
COVINGTON MAPLE VALLEY
OPINION
[4] May 24, 2013
Lastly, at our school we have three lunches. Now, having so many kids in one room can be a little frightening. Mr. Shearer is alway there to, you could say, calm us down. All those activities are just a part of all the things Mr. Shearer does for us basically everyday — except the Mr. Pink part. Top all that! You can see that Mr. Shearer is way involved which all the kids love, but there was one major idea that was the absolute best way at school to reward kids for their hard work: Student of the month. Each month any number of kids, usually around three or four, from each class to be student of the month. Like at the end of May, all the kids who are chosen for June will be recognized at the assembly. Each kids name will be called, and they will go to the front of the multi-purpose room and receive a certificate. The twist is the kids are not allowed to know who chose them to be student of the month in the first place. It could have been your own teacher, Mr. Shearer himself, Mr. Nettles the P.E. teacher, Ms. Lyons the music teacher, or it could even be Mrs.
Ever since I was first introduced to the Tahoma School District’s Future Ready initiative last year I have struggled with it. At times I have found myself thinking it sounds great and at others I’ve been completely frustrated as I have sifted through it and tried to find what precisely the message is. Let me back up for just a moment. Last week I participated in the district’s Future Ready Café. The café was a chance for community members to come together and talk about the district’s outcomes and indicators as they related to the Future Ready initiative. The group included teachers, administrators, parents, businessmen and women, city council members, leaders within the Maple ValleyBlack Diamond Chamber of Commerce, and current Tahoma High students to name a few. The district’s outcomes and indicators are a combination of skills and traits that, when combined together and mastered, the district believes they give students the tools needed to be successful. Things like being a complex thinker, an effective communicator, a community contributor, etc., etc. At the café, participants were assigned three table numbers. Those numbers represented groups with which you would discuss differ-
Eshbach, the librarian! The point is you should work hard no matter who is watching you. You can even win twice or even three times! You might think that the certificate is the only treat. Uh, no. On a set date sometime after the assembly, maybe a week, there will be an all out pizza feed in the library. A buffet of pepperoni and cheese pizza, also with a choice of Sunny D or lemonade. Boy that is so fun. When you come back trust me, you’re stuffed. I think everyone thinks it’s really fun and we’re all glad Mr. Shearer started it. So, you can see that our beloved Mr. Shearer will be dearly missed. Most will be holding back all our sadness on his last day, May 24. His memories will be cherished, his ideas will be continued. And like he always tells us each morning over the P.A. system, “Everyday will be a great day at Crestwood!”
Annie Livengood of Covington is an aspiring journalist and sixthgrader at Crestwood Elementary.
ent questions: what about the outcomes and indicators work, what is missing, and how can they be changed to help students compete in a global economy, respectively. These questions, I felt, led to some really interesting conversations. Hearing from so many different people who brought their own worldviews and ideas was fascinating. I especially appreciated talking with two current Tahoma High students, Alyssa and Dakota. That said, I think that the message and focus of the Future Ready initiative can be confusing and unclear. And that’s something I felt was reflected somewhat in the questions asked and the conversations that resulted. It can go so many different directions the heart of the message can get lost in the noise. Now, on the surface, it seems fairly straightforward. A mission statement crafted by a committee last summer reads, “Together provide the tools and experiences every student needs to create an individual, viable and valuable path to life-long personal success.” Simple enough, right? Simple to say at least. Carrying it out is another matter. At the café Superintendent Mike Maryanski [ more FOCUS page 5 ]