It's been a great start to the 2015-16 school year!

Worthington Kilbourne High School, September 2015 Newsletter

Thanks to our entire school community for a great start to the 2015-16 school year!  It's amazing how much goes into opening our doors for the first day of school.  It takes much collaboration among our PTO, counselors, staff, administrators, teachers, secretaries, custodians and our school nurse to plan for Schedule Pick-Up including the completion of schedules, school fees, medical forms, set up and much more. Thanks to our District Administration, Facility Management and school community, we have a resurfaced gym floor, a new turf field, a victory plaza, updated paint in the school commons and stairwells, exterior signs and a redesigned school and community lecture hall that will enable our students to present their learning to larger audience.  In summary, it is a crazy-busy time but because we all work together so well, we are able to have fun and make it all happen.  

 

Once again, our Link Crew provided a positive and heartfelt welcome for our incoming freshmen and new students.  The success of this program is based on the three teacher mentors (Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Glaros and Mrs. Smith) and the process of selecting students who will step up to not only support our incoming freshmen but also act as mentors and take the lead in maintaining our positive school climate.  This year, we have 80 plus absolutely fantastic leaders who dedicated time during the summer for leadership training.  They then spent an entire day with our freshmen students before school ever started.  It is important to our 'Kilbourne Family' that our freshmen students feel connected immediately.  WKHS is now a school they are no longer visiting; they own it and as soon as they feel connected and get involved the better.  Our goal is to make this happen on day one!

Our principals, teachers, students and staff had the opportunity to meet all of the freshmen in the auditorium on August 19 where our Student Council spoke and our teachers presented skits to help them better understand our school expectations.  (A few of our staff should probably sign up for Ms. Thompson's Theatre class, including myself).  The skits for the "Top 10 Expectations" or points of advice shared by our Student Council included;

#1 Get Sleep

#2 Keep it "Klassy" Kilbourne

#3 Take Care of Each Other

#4 The Lunch Line

#5 Seek Help

#6 Study Habits

#7 Be Organized - Use Your Plan Book

#8 Use Technology Appropriately

#9 Get Involved

#10 Be Happy!

We will also be celebrating our 25th year of service.  Be sure to purchase a t-shirt with this logo from our PTO.  Members of our IB program are planning to create a small museum that includes our school history and artifacts from the last 25 years. This will be open throughout the school day and events will be planned to welcome the community.  We will keep you posted on our progress and hope that you take the time to observe the work of our students as we celebrate our school history.

As I write this, we are just 8 days into the new school year, but I cannot thank you enough for your efforts in helping to get our school ready for the new year.  I am thankful each and everyday for the opportunity to work with the students, the parents, and the staff of Worthington Kilbourne High School.  

We are "Stronger Together"!

-Principal Adrean

The Mission Of "Happiness" In Our Work As Educators

"When I was five, 

my mother always told me happiness was the key to life.  

When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I wrote down, "HAPPY."  

They told me I didn't understand the assignment.  

I told them they didn't understand life."  

-John Lennon

On June 4th, soon after the last day of school, our school district organized a day of learning centered around collaboration through Teacher-Based Teams while investing in a Growth Mindset.  The book, Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. was given to every participant and will be used throughout the year as a book study.

I must admit that I just started reading this book while on vacation, but in the same breath, I will also say that already it has been most influential for me as an educator and as a person.  It's one of those books where you find yourself nodding your head while reading and looking around thinking, "Is there a hidden camera somewhere?  Is someone setting me up?," because you wonder if this book was written for you.  All in all, it's fairly simple, we can live and lead with a fixed mindset where our qualities such as intelligence and talents are pre-determined for us or we can choose to take every opportunity in life as an opportunity to learn and improve through hard work and commitment.  And better yet, teach our students how to live and learn by understanding their current mindset first and evolving into a growth mindset.

As a building principal, it is always important for me to encourage our high school teachers to commit to these growth opportunities, like our district day of learning (Worth U Learning Leaders Academy).  However, I am very careful as to how I encourage their presence and investment not just because it's a day of Summer vacation but because it's a day of Summer vacation immediately following the last day of school.  I talk a lot with our school family about creating a sense of balance in their personal and work life and here I was, typing an email that explained the agenda for the day, including a keynote from Dr. Brian McNulty about the importance of TBT's in our work and asking them to attend.  Included in that email, I encouraged teachers to plan for a 15-minute forum sharing an instructional best-practice used successfully in their teaching.

I'm not sure why the feedback from my email surprised me.  We had teachers willing to present and 25 or more teachers and staff attend our Worth U Learning Leaders Academy (WULLA).  During the sessions, we sat together as a staff, shared new ideas, challenged one another, laughed and reflected on how we might implement change in our school based on our current learning. We were having fun!  We ate lunch together, outside in the sunshine and the mood was right, so I asked the question, "Would any of you be interested in meeting this summer to continue our growth mindset conversations?"  Unanimously, they responded positively, maybe it's because I offered to serve breakfast and lunch...it's always important to eat well, right?

We met at my house and started the day with all 25 of us standing in the kitchen, drinking coffee and partaking in coffee cake and yogurt parfaits.  We eventually moved into the family room and began to review our agenda for the day.  The teachers chuckled a bit after the review as I am always a bit overzealous about the amount we can get accomplished.   After attending WULLA, I knew we needed to start our day by evaluating our current mission and vision statements.  We had a process planned, but for some reason, we were all very quiet.  I finally asked three simple questions;
1.  Why do we exist?
2.  What do you hope for of yourself and others?
3.  What responsibilities do you have when making this happen?

The family room immediately erupted with conversation.  We grabbed chart paper and markers and divided into groups.  We began by listing words and phrases.  These conversations varied and included both fixed and growth mindset responses.  One might consider these fixed mindset responses as negative, but I truly believe we have to first be able to recognize this style of thinking before before we can engage in growth mindset thinking.  It was just a small hurdle for us as the collaboration and discussion that took place energized us enough to work on our mission for the remainder of the day.

Each group had common thoughts that focused on the importance of happiness in our work and in our life.  It's a simple word, with much importance to student growth  - "HAPPY!"  Our initial focus is not on GPA's, test scores or college scholarships.  We believe at our core that if students are happy in their environment and with themselves that they will evolve and excel in all aspects of their life. Happiness will empower students to find their own purpose.

I'm so thankful to be a part of a team that embraces the growth mindset and continues to be excited about learning more.  This mindset view as stated by Carol Dweck, "creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishments."

Oh, how could I forget...here is the draft of our Worthington Kilbourne High School mission statement.  We will continue to collaborate with our students, teachers, staff and parents as we complete the final draft.  We are "Stronger Together" and believe in the value of the voice of our entire school community.

"The mission of the Worthington Kilbourne High School community is to inspire happiness through developing positive relationships, demonstrating responsible actions and achieving/maximizing personal growth."

Learn * Grow * Contribute * Evolve

#KeepMovingForward

As we reflect on any successes in our lives, failure was a mere stepping stone in that journey.  As mentioned in the Meet the Robinson's Video, "From failure you learn, from success...not so much."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmW3H-EXYS0

At Worthington Kilbourne High School, we encourage our students to view risks as an opportunity to succeed rather than a path to failure.  Some view risk-taking as dangerous.  It is human nature to want to achieve success and any risk I take may take me further away from the stereotypical view of success.

What is success and is it defined differently for different people?  
I believe we have to "Dream Big" and enjoy the experience of risk-taking in order to be successful.  I also believe that when I take risks, it is important for me to define my own success.  I must know myself and measure my success based on my own strengths and weaknesses.  My personal growth not my growth compared to someone else is the ultimate measure.  Risk-taking will open you up to a world of possibilities you may have never known.  It gives you an opportunity to show others your leadership strengths and abilities.  Stop coming up with excuses as to why you are sticking with status-quo and challenge yourself to be uncomfortable.  Each time you challenge yourself to take a risk, the next risks becomes more and more comfortable, it becomes a part of who you are and who you will become.  Now, with that being said, I do believe we must takes risks that are personally and professionally aligned with our goals.  We must also be informed.  We do not benefit from taking risks without making sure we are well-informed of the possible results.  We have to create a sense of balance in our lives when we consider each challenge.

Tomorrow night, Monday, January 26th, 2015, we will host our annual Curriculum and Transition Night starting at 6:45 p.m. in the Auditorium.  The evening will begin with a presentation for all incoming 9th grade students and their parents.  Starting at 7:30 p.m., we will host a 30 minute session titled, "Advanced Coursework."  During this session, we will discuss the many opportunities for our students to challenge themselves and take risks to develop as a learner and a leader.  We want our students to get the most out of their high school experience by earning college credit and developing the skills necessary to be successful at the collegiate level or in their career of choice.  The evening will continue with presentations from all content areas.  You will have the opportunity to choose which presentations you would like to attend. 

6:45 - 7:20 Incoming 9th grade students & parents in the Auditorium

7:30 - 8:00 Advanced Coursework in the Auditorium

(For all attending Advanced Coursework, you will have 2 Choice Sessions to attend.  For all not attending Advanced Coursework, you will have 4 Choice Sessions to attend.)

7:30 - 7:45 Session 1 Choice

7:50 - 8:05 Session 2 Choice

8:10 - 8:25 Session 3 Choice

8:30 - 8:45 Session 4 Choice 

We look forward to our time together as a school community.  Thanks for all that you do to make our school a great place to learn and grow.  We are very thankful!

#ForWorthington

"A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for."

-William G.T. Shedd

Share "Thanks"

Dear Kilbourne Family, Monday, December 1, 2014

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving celebrations with family and friends.  From my perspective, the excitement was in the air at Worthington Kilbourne High School the two days prior to Thanksgiving break.  Our students were happy, a little more rambunctious than normal and certainly looking forward to time away with family and friends not to mention the scrumptious Thanksgiving feast that awaited them on Thursday.  I took just a few minutes to share a message to all students and staff on Tuesday morning.  I encouraged everyone to take some time alone and reflect on what they were most thankful for and better yet, share those thoughts with others. So as you gathered around the dinner table to enjoy the food and fellowship with your loved ones, I hope your high school child spoke up and shared their thoughts with you and others.

We are so fortunate to live, work and learn in The Worthington City School District.  Of course, I am realistic in saying that there are days at Kilbourne that challenge us, but we are “Family” and we support each other through those days and for that, I am thankful.

We have choices in life and we all chose to be contributive members of The Worthington Kilbourne Family.  I am thankful to be a part of this community and appreciate all that you do for our students and staff.  

“Dream Big!”

Angie Adrean, WKHS Principal

Follow us on Twitter @WKHSWolves

How are we making our students THINK?

How are we making our students THINK?

...a blog co-authored through the eyes of Megan Humphrey, our Library Media Specialist and Angie Adrean, our Principal

“We are all in this together.”

#FI14

Tuesday, November 4 was Election Day for all of us, and it was also “A Day of Learning” for all Worthington educators. Approximately 740 educators gathered on our Worthington Kilbourne HS/ McCord MS/ Granby Elementary campuses to collaborate, contribute, and connect. Our focus centered around gaining a further understanding of the rigor of the new standards, as well as the connection to our current assessment practices and the upcoming computer-based PARCC and AIR state assessments.  

The PARCC website (http://www.parcconline.org) explains, “high quality assessments will allow parents and educators to see how children are progressing in school and whether they are on track for postsecondary success. The PARCC assessment also provides teachers with the ability to identify students who may be falling behind and need extra help.” PARCC includes two Summative Assessment Components:

• Performance-Based Assessment (PBA) administered after approximately 75% of the school year (February 16-March 20). The ELA/literacy PBA will focus on writing effectively when analyzing text. The mathematics PBA will focus on expressing mathematical reasoning and modeling real-world problems.  The ELA PBA consists of 3 Units and the Math PBA consists of 2 Units.  
• End-of-Year Assessment (EOY) administered after approximately 90% of the school year (April 13-May 15). The ELA/literacy EOY will focus on reading comprehension. The mathematics EOY will call on students to demonstrate further conceptual understanding of the Major Content and Additional and Supporting Content of the grade/course (as outlined in the PARCC Model Content Frameworks).  The EOY for both ELA and Math consists of 2 Units each.

AIR (American Institute for Research) will provide the Social Students (American History and American Government) and Science (Physical Science) assessments to compliment the computer-based PARCC assessments. Each of these assessments will consist of 1 PBA and 1 EOY Unit.   

So, what does this mean for our students and our teachers?

As educators, we have a responsibility, regardless of our content area, to motivate our students in learning that engages them to think on a deeper and more complex level. During our “Day of Learning”, WKHS staff members were asked to produce a group definition of what the word RIGOR meant to them. Here is an example of a found poem created by four of our teachers:

Deep Immersion

Entrepreneurial, Initiative

Application, Agility, Adaptability

Complex, Critical

Quality, Questions

Solutions

Depth

As our teachers collaborate, they plan with intent to incorporate higher order thinking skills from Bloom’s Taxonomy including creating, evaluating, and analyzing. For example, rather than the traditional 1980-1990’s models (and yes, we are dating ourselves) of questioning and understanding through knowledge based comprehension and recall questions, we are now asking our students to take it a step further and apply knowledge to questions such as comparing and contrasting two to three texts about a similar theme or concept.

Below are several links that will allow you to navigate through the PARCC website including practice tests, technology tutorials, and rubrics.

Tutorial on Navigation of Test Technology Tools http://parcc.pearson.com/tutorial/

Practice Tests: http://practice.parcc.testnav.com/

Rubrics and Answer Keys: http://parcc.pearson.com/sample-items/

Admittedly, the logistics and the accountability of the new state assessments have increased our anxiety and pushed us to self-evaluate and reinvent our practices. However, we can assure that Worthington Kilbourne High School teachers and staff value students’ personal and academic growth and are up to any challenges that come our way.  We are in this together and together we shall provide our students with the skills and knowledge to be successful not just on these new state assessments but in life beyond high school.

                             

#GoWolves

                                                                                            

The answer is, "YES!"

A  Message from Principal Adrean to the WKHS Community

Dear WKHS Family, September 2014

Last year during this same time, I started writing our September Newsletter and posed the question, “Is it possible that the opening of a new school year can get better and better every August?”  Well, I can now answer with much confidence after being here 3 years and now starting my 4th year.  The answer is, “YES!”  This answer is attributed to the collaborative work of our parents, our teachers and staff, and our students.  

Although the work of our parent led Landscape committee is on-going, they certainly put in more time and effort this Summer, and “YES”, our school was ready in August.  Grants were written for the removal of 20 plus year old shrubs and trees and were replaced with new hosta, burning bush, evergreens and lilies.  Trees were trimmed and new mulch was laid in several areas around our building.  Sidewalks were edged and excess trash and litter were gathered to add the finishing touches to our building, which we all consider our second home.   A “shout-out” to all of our parents, teachers, students and community members who helped make this happen.

Our teachers worked throughout the Summer to plan and prepare classroom lessons plans that are rigorous, engaging, and differentiated for all learners.  And “YES”, a few of these teachers even took the initiative to learn more about our High School Orientation and Transition Program called LINK.  These teachers and student leaders received extensive training that develops their skills as well as provides them with a vision of what it means to be a leader.  Link Crew provides an opportunity for students from numerous social groups to have a common goal and purpose, thus diminishing stereotypes that can unfortunately exist in our world.  Our goal at WKHS is to make sure our incoming Freshmen students feel welcomed, accepted and connected.  This sense of connectedness strongly influences a child’s academic success.  A “shout-out” to our Link Advisors Mrs. Nancy Smith, Mrs. Lauren Glaros and Mrs. Ellen Clark and to our Student Link Crew Leaders (90 Junior and Senior students).

The most important attribution to this “YES” answer is our students.  They are the reason we do what we do and the reason we are motivated to come to WKHS.  As the adults, we can do all of these things to help make the learning environment the best that it can be, but in the end, the students have the choice as to whether they will learn and grow.  The students at WKHS make the choice to do just that...Learn and Grow (and have Fun when doing it).

We talk a lot as a staff about how fortunate we are to be a part of such a strong community.  A “shout-out” to our students for making your academics priority, keeping it “klassy,” and for taking care of each other at all times.  We value you and the spirit that you bring to our high school.  

We believe in our work as educators and hope that you are pleased with what Worthington Kilbourne High School has to offer your child.  Our teachers and staff are some of the hardest working professionals I know, but we also know we can’t do it without your support.  Thanks for all that you have done and continue to do for our school.  There is no substitute for passion and commitment, which you give every day to your children and to our school to make it the great place that it is to learn and grow.

Let’s continue to say “YES” together for the success of our WKHS Family!

“Make Memories…”

Angie Adrean, WKHS Principal

Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports

PBIS

"Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) is a school-wide systematic approach using evidence-based practices and data-driven decision-making to improve school climate and culture:  to achieve improved academic and social outcomes; and to increase learning for all students.  It encompasses a wide range of systematic and individualized positive strategies to reinforce desired behaviors, diminish reoccurrences of challenging behaviors and teach appropriate behaviors to students." -State Support Team 11

Components of the PBIS Schoolwide Plan:

1.  Mission Statement

2.  Statement of Beliefs

3.  Building Expectations

4.  Encouragement Procedures

5.  Corrective Procedures

6.  Common Area Procedures

7.  Implementation Plan

 

We are committed to keeping Worthington Kilbourne High School a place where all students, staff and community can work and learn in a safe environment that is conducive to learning.  This plan will allow us to continue to enhance our schools culture and climate at Worthington Kilbourne High School.  Thanks to the leadership of Assistant Principal, Mr. Ken Nally and our PBIS Team (Angie Adrean, Rob Brown, Ed Chism, Cindy Fushimi, Kevin Johnson, Ralph King, Carol Miller, Ariel Schwartz, Vanessa Scott, Tom Souder, Jeff Todd and Sophia Whitehouse), we are ready to begin full implementation this Fall. 

 

Because we have an expectation that all students and staff are a "Part of the Pack," the acronym P.A.C.K. will provide us with clear and consistent targets.

 

P - Practice Respect

A - Act Responsibly

C - Commit To Be Involved

K - Keep it "Klassy"