Equity and Inclusion Shirt Sale

 For those of you who don't know, Best Buddies is a high school club with a mission centered around inclusion.  We pair students with developmental disabilities with their non-disabled peers to foster friendships. It is a wonderful club with an amazing spirit!  Thank you for your support!

 

https://hiltoncadetsbestbuddies.itemorder.com/shop/sale/?saleCode=7ZCBJ

Healthy Recipe of the Week

 

Weekly Update

 Team,

Need-to-know: 

COVID Testing

Aside from the other testing protocol that the district is doing, we will now also be offering a testing option before school on Mondays. This is voluntary and for those without symptoms. Our testing occurs in the nurses office, and John and Christin are the two in charge of this testing. 

SIT Challenge

Find a way to connect with your colleagues and HAVE SOME FUN!

Each morning, Monday through Thursday, you will receive an email with a new clue describing a staff member at QUEST.  The clues become easier each day. Use your detective skills to figure out which staff member is being described.  When you are confident in your answer, use the link that will be provided to submit the staff member’s name. You may submit your answer at any point in the week.  This is a fun and completely optional and voluntary challenge, but we sure hope you will opt in on the fun.

Two prizes will be awarded; one for the first person to submit the correct answer and one prize that will be randomly drawn from all the correct responders.

 

Think Strategy!!!

Can you talk about the clues at lunch with colleagues? YES!  

Can you send emails to peers asking if they know anything? Yes!  

Can you form alliances? Why not?

Can you add the clues to the agenda of your next team or level meeting? Sure!

Can you question the special area teachers as you drop off or pick up students? Yes!

Can you pick up your phone and call a colleague to inquire? Of course!

 

This challenge is all about fun.  Reconnect with one another and learn more about your colleagues at the same time.

Paper Shortage

Please be very conscientious of what you are printing, particularly large jobs, and instead look to move to digital as much as possible. There are definite concerns with the paper supply chain. Our suppliers cannot keep up with demand and we do not want to get to a point where we are simply unable to produce jobs sent to the Copy Center or unable to have paper to fill our machines at the QUEST. This is a collective request of all district employees, so thanks for your help in going green. 

Sub Google Accounts

Our school has several Google sub logins : questsub01@ga.hiltoncsd.net - questsub10@ga.hiltoncsd.net . Each day, Paula is sent a different password. If you ever want to make the sub account a co-teacher of your Google Classroom, you can simply request that Paula give the sub the login password on the day you are out and they can login and access all the work for the day via your classroom. Please note that Paula receives the new password in the middle of the night for the following day, so if you are utilizing this method and try to get the password prior to the day you are out, she will not be able to help you. 

CIA Next Week

In October, we took an initial look at the CRE Framework. We did not finish our unpacking, so

that's the plan of attack our next CIA. Over 80% of those who voted wanted this to be an independent study, and with the current numbers still being high I am most comfortable with this approach.  You will receive the assignment by Monday evening for you to complete one morning next week. 

Walkthroughs (unannounced)

The second round of walkthroughs will begin next week. This round, I will doing  unannounced; you will receive a one week window in which I will be arriving. Please remember that a walkthrough is never a caught-ya, and nothing special needs to be done different than what you would normally do. The absolute best part of a Principal's job is to be in classrooms, so this is always a favorite from my lens--thanks for always having open-doors and open-minds. 

A mini-challenge: 

This ongoing pandemic has made life tricky for all of us, and we are seeing the impact it has had on student, and sometimes adult, mental health. Consider 30 days of mindfulness in your classroom--our students deserve to learn strategies for self-regulation, and this will provide just that. 

CLICK HERE !

Chew on this: 

Keep learning: 

This is the second article that Mr. Booth has been sharing, and the title pulls you right in: Let your students be the boss! Agency, agency, agency: Let your students be the boss!

Healthy Recipe of the Week

 

Erin's Law

 

Weekly Update for week of 1/10/22

 Team,

Need-to-Know: 

• Please be sure to review the remote plan. This plan will be implemented IF and ONLY IF we were to go remote for a particular reason. For example, we don't have enough bus drivers one day, etc. In the event that were to occur, you can work from home...I would just need to be made aware that day. Per the plan, and generally speaking, an emphasis is placed on synchronous instruction and maintaining a current schedule, but virtually. 
• Sled race is currently scheduled for next Friday at 9:30 am. 
• Our Erin's Law lessons begin in February. Please scroll down in the blog to access the schedule if you have not viewed it yet. 
• We are hitting pause on the Principal Pick read aloud time for January. Back at it in February! 
• Keep pluggin' ! 

Chew on this: 

Keep Learning: 

Greg has started discussing agency--what it is and what it is not--at level meetings. For those that are not attending level meetings, this word should also be meaningful to you. The learning belongs to our students, not us, and we all need to work toward the common goal of agency. Enjoy the article. 

Agency

Three Schools One Book

Three Schools One Book kick off is February 1st!  Please make sure you sign at least 8 books that are in the staff lounge.  Suzanne Selfors (author of Wedgie and Gizmo) will be our visiting author the first week of March in person.  

Everything Three Schools One Book is at this link included extra activities and directed drawings: 

http://questrockstar.pbworks.com/w/page/103980207/Three%20Schools%20One%20Book%202022

Healthy Recipe of the Week

 

Weekly Update

Team, 

Weekly Need-to-Know: 

• I will be out of the building on Friday, 1/7/22. Carol Saladzius, High School AP and QUEST parent, will be covering for me. Please make her feel right at home. 
• In the event that you need to be out, the main office would respectfully ask that you submit for the sub as soon as you know you will be out. 
• Next week, the staff meeting will become an independent study. The assignment for the staff meeting will be handed out Monday, and you will have until the end of the week to complete it. The reason for this is because of the current variant, and with all that many of us are dealing with at home, grace and flexibility needs to be displayed by me. 
• Thanks for your help with the fire inspection. Mike is just about complete with all he needs. The Grinch did NOT steal Christmas after all! :) Thanks for your work with this as well, Mike. 
• As we navigate these wild times, let's be the school that steps up to walk in the shoes of one another. When times are stressful, we have to dig deeper for this; kids deserve to see this, and we all deserve this level of grace. WE are QUEST.  

Chew on this: 

A poem that a colleague shared with me that I wanted to pass along. Give yourself grace. 

If I Could Live My Life Over Again
By Jorge Luis Borges

If I could live my life again.
Next time, I would try to make more mistakes.
I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more.
I would be sillier than I have been.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would be less fastidious.
Accept more risks, I would take more trips,
Contemplate more evenings,
Climb more mountains, and swim more rivers…
I would go to more places where I have not been,
Eat more ice cream and fewer beans.
 
I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.
I was one of those people who lived
sensibly and meticulously every minute of their life.
Of course I have had moments of happiness.
But if I could go back in time, I would try to
have good moments only,
and not waste precious time.
I was someone who never went
anywhere without a thermometer, a
hot water bag, an umbrella
and a parachute. If I could live again,
I would travel more frivolously.
 
If I could live again, I would begin
to walk barefoot at the beginning of the spring
and I would continue to do so until the end of autumn.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds,
I would contemplate more evenings and I would play
with more children.
If I could have another life ahead.

                           

Keep Learning: 

Click here to learn about math talk!

Healthy Recipe of the Week

 

Turkey/Ham Pepper Boats 

Ingredients: 

-Bell Pepper (any color) 

-1 slice provolone cheese 

-6 slices of turkey or ham deli meat 

-"Everything but the bagel" seasoning blend 

 

Cut a bell pepper in half. Put 3 slices of deli meat on each half and top with 1/2 a slice of provolone cheese. Sprinkle with "everything but the bagel" seasoning to add some flavor. You can either microwave for 30 seconds to a minute (to melt the cheese and soften the pepper) or you can pop this in the air fryer at 350 for 5 minutes for crispy deli meat. This is so easy for lunch or a quick dinner idea. Enjoy!