December 15, 2017 Update - PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge

On August 25, 2017, Aransas County Independent School was Ground Zero for Hurricane Harvey.  To assist the district in its rebuilding LYS announced the PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge which was supposed to run from August 25 to September 30, 2017. And the LYS Nation stepped up!

Then Hurricanes Irma and Maria ransacked Florida and Puerto Rico. So, LYS extended the PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge through October 31, 2017. And the LYS Nation stepped up!

But in October the extent of the devastation that occurred in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands due to the hurricanes was revealed. So, LYS announced that the PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge would be extended through December 22, 2017.  And the nickels keep adding up.  Here are the current donation totals:

August 2017: 5,211 PowerWalks classroom visits, generating a donation of $300.00

September 2017: 39,135 PowerWalks classroom visits, generating a donation of $2,000.00

October 2017: 49,222 PowerWalks classroom visits, generating a donation of $2,500.00

November 2017: 37,238 PowerWalks classroom visits generating a donation of $1,900.00

December 2017 (In Progress): 21,355 PowerWalks classroom visits generating a donation of $1,067.75

So far, the current donation total for the PowerWalks Hurricane Relief Challenge is $7,767.75

As proof that the LYS Nation is going above and beyond to meet this challenge, we’ll share some historical numbers.  From August 25, 2016 to December 15, 2016 there were 80,098 classroom observations completed. This is a number that no other group of schools can match. Unless the comparison group is made up of motivated LYSers.  

Because LYS Nation, from August 25, 2017 to December 15, 2017 you have now conducted 152,628 PowerWalks!  Don’t stop now!

Keep Stepping Up!

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: TASSP Assistant Principal Workshop (Keynote) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

There are Only Two Honest Grades

With every school I work with at some point a conversation about student grades will come up. Because every school I have ever worked with does NOT grade student achievement fairly and accurately. 

By the way, that is fact… Not opinion.

Now I know you are upset and are about to either hit the unsubscribe button or write a comment that explains in detail how accurate and objective the grading policy is at your school.  Don’t do either.  Just know that almost all reported grades have elements of subjectivity.

In fact, I have learned there are only two grades that accurately paint a picture of the student. 

These are the overall semester grades of 70 and 69. 

The student who earns an overall semester grade of a 70 is a decent, agreeable kid. 

The student who earns an overall semester grade of a 69 is kind of a jerk.

“I can’t believe I failed with a 69.”

“Really, Mr. Cain? Because none of your teachers are surprised.”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: TASSP Assistant Principal Workshop (Keynote); NASSP National Principals Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Writes... The Angry Dinosaur - Part 1

In response to the 8/17/17 post, "The Angry Dinosaur," an angry reader writes…

You, good sir, are out of touch with reality. Come down out of that ivory tower and get down in the trenches with us, and I guarantee it will not take you long to see that this teacher (the one who wrote the newspaper article) is spot-on. We may indeed graduate a higher percentage of students today, but at what cost? We have lowered the bar so much that they are, in fact, not ready for college or careers. Certainly, there are the exceptions, thank God. But secondary institutions all over the country are shuttling more and more students who enroll in freshman level courses off to remediation. Are you familiar with the TSI test? It is designed to flag those students who do not have the basic reading and/or mathematics skills necessary to be successful (aka "pass") a college freshman level course. In the "good ol' days", as you call them, that was part of simply graduating from high school. We did not hand everyone a diploma for occupying a seat in a high school classroom for four years. 

SC Response

Though your anger and defensiveness are predictable, you really ought to do your homework before you fire off the angry email.  I don’t work in an ivory tower.  I’m in the field almost every day.  Not at a single campus, but at campuses across the country. From the most striving schools in the toughest of urban settings to the highest achieving schools in the most affluent zip codes.  But for every day spent at an affluent school, I spend five at schools with the greatest need. So, I can assert without question that you and the teacher who wrote the original article are wrong in your assessments.

The bar for student success has not been lowered.  It has been raised. And even with this raised bar more students than ever before succeeding.   What has changed from back in the “bad ol’ days” of education is that we no longer aggressively run off the students who do not fit in the predominantly middle-class school culture.  That practice was reprehensible… And the evolution away from that practice should be applauded.

Do colleges have to provide more remedial courses than in past eras? Yes.  But that is not an indictment of today’s school. Instead, it is a badge of honor. The high schools of past generations would sort students into College material and Not College material. Then the system would remove from high school the “NOT” group with brutal efficiency. Today’s schools keep teaching students from both groups. By not giving up on tough to reach students, today’s educators position any student completing high school with a realistic option of attending college. This is a good thing.  

Because, do you know what you call a student who took remedial courses and an extra two years to complete their college degree?

 A College Graduate.

With all due respect, please do the profession, your students, and yourself a favor. Change your attitude or retire.  Because at this time your belief system is not good for children. 

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: TASSP Assistant Principal Workshop (Keynote); NASSP National Principals Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook