The implementation of a baseball/softball program is still in
the initial stages, but the feedback so far sounds really promising. After surveying the students and getting
great feedback from them we have begun the planning process and looking at all
the implementation strategies to ensure for an effective program. There seems to be a “buzz” around our
community that we are planning on including the activities for our students for
the next school year. Over the past
several years many students have moved on to other districts within our area in
order to have the opportunity to play softball/baseball. It seems that they will stay within our
district until junior high in hopes of our district implementing the
activities, then to only transfer when it doesn’t happen. The initial cost of these programs will be
expensive, but the long term benefits will be well worth it. Not only will this encourage students to stay
at our district, it will also give our students an opportunity to improve
themselves by giving them another avenue of responsibility and character
building.
The effectiveness of the parental and community involvement
within our district has been a major concern.
This is a difficult area, because it takes extra effort on the
administration, staff, parents and community.
Time is the number one issue, but with the proper planning process, it
can be implemented effectively. This
year, as part of my internship, we were able to implement a “Make Reading
Important” program that has really taken off.
Once or twice a month we have an individual, either a business leader,
community leader, parent volunteers, or local celebrity, come to our district
and lead a reading session with our elementary students. We also involve our local media to not only
promote this program, but to also give it a sense of importance to our
students. So far this year we have had such people as our Sheriff, state
representative, our District Attorney, a professional baseball player, a NFL
player and our local television newscaster.
This program has been such a positive for our students and our district
as a whole. It has, our course,
increased the importance of reading to our students, and it’s had many more
positives. For one, the program has brought some positive attention to our district
from within our community. The program also gives the participants an
opportunity to give back to their community and when this happens everyone
seems to win. I am proud to say that this is one imitative that I take pride in
and can’t believe how it has taken off.
I was able to get this idea started, but the teachers and staff and
really taken the lead and are already planning to keep it going for the
upcoming school year.
The next area concern that needed some improvement and
attention was our attendance rate.
Working with our local constable we have been able to start a program
where he actually gets involved with the students that are having attendance
issues. He is trying to use preventive
strategy instead of automatically issue a citation. When our attendance clerk contacts him about
truancy he actually goes to the house of the child and visits with them as a
family. He will go over the
ramifications of truancy and try to be proactive about the situation. If this process doesn’t work, he then resorts
to filing on the students and parents.
He likes to have this meeting so that the parents have a chance to help
with the issue and he can also hold them accountable at that point. The next area of concern is that of
tardiness. Our district didn’t have a
tardy policy in place, so this year we implemented an after school detention
for excessive tardiness. This has cut
our tardiness in half when compared to last year.
In reflecting back over these activities they have been
extremely beneficial to me as an aspiring Superintendent. It has been an added bonus that our district
and students have also benefited from them as well. I am very proud to have been involved with these
activities that have ultimately helped me in my career, but more so that it has
improved the overall effectiveness of our district.
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