Bullying In Our School

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by Superintendent Robert "Bob" Lewandowski 

With the amount of time spent on the concept of Home Court Advantage (safety, support & belonging) I would like to think bullying does not take place in our school; but according to a new student study released this week, over half of all high school students admit to bullying someone in the past year and more than half said they have been a victim of bullying. Granted we have a great school with exceptional kids, but that doesn't exempt them from being normal.

After researching the types of issues that are affiliated with bullying, I believe our system needs to take a bold stand in addressing this behavior. Current school policy 3005 Harassment, Intimidation, Hazing and Bullying of Students Prohibited provides a definition:

Harassment, intimidation, or bullying means any act that substantially interferes with a student’s educational benefits, opportunities, or performance, that takes place on or immediately adjacent to school grounds, at any school-sponsored activity, on school-provided transportation, or at any official school bus stop, and that has the effect of:

· physically harming a student or damaging a student’s property;

· knowingly placing a student in reasonable fear of physical harm to the student or damage to the student’s property; or

· creating a hostile educational environment.

The Policy goes on to say there are many forms of bullying; however, it doesn't clearly define all forms such as indirect bullying. Indirect bullying is more difficult to identify; therefore, I would like to share an additional definition of bullying that exemplifies the broader concept.

The National School Safety Center defines bullying in the following:

Bullying is a form of violence that hurts others. School bullying happens at school or during school-sponsored activities when a student or group of students intentionally and repeatedly uses their power to hurt other individuals or groups. Bullies’ power can come from their physical strength, age, financial status, popularity, social status, technology skills, or by association (the people they know, who they hang out with, who their family is).

What do bullies do?

They can bully in direct ways, such as: • hitting, tripping, shoving, pinching, excessive tickling; • verbal threats, name calling, racial slurs, insults; • demanding money, property, service; and • stabbing, choking, burning and shooting.

They can also bully in indirect ways, such as: • rejecting, excluding, isolating; • ranking or rating, humiliating; • manipulating friends and relationships;
• writing hurtful or threatening e-mails and postings on web sites; and • blackmailing, terrorizing, and proposing dangerous dares.

Do boys and girls bully in different ways?

Traditionally, boys tended to bully in direct and physical ways, and girls tended to bully in emotional or indirect ways. However, influences, such as media, technology and new forms of social power, are beginning to blur the gender lines.

Other things to know about bullying:

• Some students are bullies; others are targets of bullying. • A student can be both a target and a bully at the same time. • Some students are bystanders; bystanders can be either passive or active. • Some acts of bullying at school can result in suspension and/or expulsion. • Bullying breaks the law when it becomes stealing, assault and battery, extortion, sexual harassment, hate crimes and other criminal acts. • Administrators, teachers, school staff, students and parents must accept the responsibility to recognize, report and/or intervene with bullying when it occurs. • Bullying that goes unchecked tends to escalate into more serious forms of bullying or even criminal behavior.

Direct bullying doesn't seem to be as prevalent as indirect bullying in this day and age; however, both are wrong and need to be addressed. Being sneaky and cleaver will no longer excuse the consequences of bullying behavior. Bullying hurts others. Here at Mission, we will soon provide professional development opportunities to help staff identify both direct and indirect bullying. We will put bullying on our school and staff's radar to provide the safety, support and belonging every child deserves. If you would like to learn more about bullying go to the Bullying Fact Sheet Series provided by the National School Safety Center.

For additional resources, here are some books to consider: Odd Girl Out, The hidden aggression in girls by Rachel Simmons; Bullying in Secondary Schools, What it looks like and how to manage it by Keith Sullivan, Mark Cleary & Ginny Sullivan. These are just two of many books available. Helping children overcome the obstacles of bullying goes beyond the school. As the educational institution in St. Ignatius, we want to do everything possible to stop bullying and help our students overcome these realities of childhood and adolescence.

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Stewardship Is Part of IT!

by Superintendent Robert "Bob" Lewandowski

Our school district is "under construction" in many different ways. Building a climate of expectation is exemplified through the manifestations of new buildings to a renewed school spirit. To further flavor the changes taking place here at Mission, we need to consider a focus on stewardship.

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of stewardship is: 1) the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; 2) the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.

Teaching students about stewardship is a difficult task since there are so many different ideas about what stewardship means. At this time the school will work towards developing a shared understanding of stewardship (treatment and care for goods and property entrusted to us).

We will try to make stewardship a focus for students and staff alike. Taking pride in excellence extends itself in many ways. We have already had a fantastic start to a great school year. Now we need to take HCA to the next level. When visitors come to our campus to watch a game, walk our hallways, come into a classroom, I hope they will leave with the impression that even though we may not have a lot at Mission, we take pride in what we have here at St Ignatius. With this in mind, we have some work to do to bring everything up to this standard of expectation.

At the K-12 Assembly, on the first day of school, I shared with the students and staff the secret to success. That secrete is "Learning takes Work!" The initiative for stewardship calls for the implementation of the IT FACTOR. In an earlier blog, I described IT as:

"If you walk the halls at our school you can smell it, see it in the classrooms and feel it at our ball games. Something special is taking place here at St. Ignatius, I invite you to be a part of "IT!"

IT can't be described in one word. IT is complicated. IT exist because our students, faculty, parents and community BELIEVE! We are Mission, the standard by which others will measure!"

To be the standard by which others measure takes WORK! I believe that Mission is a community of hard workers! I like what I have seen and am proud to be a part of IT!

Our district must work hard at IT! The district will be utilizing as many resources as possible to pick up school grounds and correct dysfunctional elements and blemishes. For example: we will obtain adequate trash receptacles for hallways, entryways, bleachers, and parking areas. If we want people to pick up after themselves, they have to have a place to put it.

In addition, the district is addressing storage and buildings that are not being utilized and costing the district money to maintain. There are places in this school district that certainly need to be cleaned out and up. In past efforts to be conservative, we have stored most everything of value. NOW much of what has been stored is dated and not worth the space it takes. Addressing these issues will be difficult, but needed.

I am asking everyone who reads this blog to "pitch in" and help. Making sure students learn is everyone's responsibility and as said before: learning takes work. Work is a big part of IT! Stewardship is a concept that needs to be shared by all. We've got a great school and community! We invite you to be a part of IT!

The Helping Hand!

Special thanks to the following students for volunteering and helping set up the new computer lab in the Multi-purpose complex:

Lomah Woodcock, Brandon Hernandez, Billy Gopher, Fabian Camacho, Matthew Westenberger, Harry Suta, Mauro Grosso, Ashley Courville, Sydney Allard, Chadd Anderson, Stuart Grant

The students set up 30 computers in less than 40 minutes. They did it with out complaint and were eager to please.

They are from MISSION, I wouldn't expect anything less!

Nicely done guys and gals!

Just Another Good Example of HCA

I just wanted thank all of the faculty that attended the home volleyball game against Big Fork on Tuesday evening (Oct 5). There were more staff than I have seen thus far at the game. I am equally proud of our staff starting the cheer “MISSION” with the student-body echoing “Bulldogs.”

What a moment!
What a night!
WHAT A FACULTY!

Keep up the great work! Thank you for everything you do for kids!

Afterschool Programs Are Underway

Our Supplemental Education Services (SES) feature after-school opportunities for all students. These programs are not just for struggling students but for all students wishing to gain additional knowledge and growth outside the classroom. We are asking everyone to sign their children up for these programs. Please know there will be feature events and activities connected with these programs. Even though the District feels strongly about the academic focus to help children succeed, we also recognize the needs of the whole-child. These programs contain a mixture of both academic and enrichment activities. You may contact Principal Cherie Stobie to sign your child up. The programs take place Monday-Thursday and once a month on Friday's (Friday Field Trips).

The SuccessMaker computer lab is located in the new Multi-purpose Complex in the Elementary. The lab will always be supervised by school personnel during our SES programs. Students only wishing to particpate in the SuccessMaker offering are to report to the new computer lab. Even though our students will log time in on SuccessMaker during the school day, the more time a student is on this program has proven yields in higher grade-level growth. We want your child to be all they can be; SuccessMaker can help them get there.

High School students are also invited to use the computer lab during the times below for academic follow up and research. Once again the lab will be supervised and a student log will be maintained.

Below is the current after-school schedule. We will be producing a calendar in the near future for monthly referencing all after-school activities.

PROGRAMS MONDAY - THURSDAY

Elementary

Start Date: October 4, 2010

Time: 3:30 until 5:00 PM

Place: Multipurpose Room

Academic Focus: SuccessMaker & Home work assistance.

Middle School

Start Date: October 4, 2010

Time: 3:30 until 5:00 PM

Place: Mrs. Krantz’s Classroom & Multipurpose Complex (Computer Lab)

Academic Focus: SuccessMaker (Computer Lab) & Study Table (Mrs. Krantz’s room: 3:40 – 4:40 PM).

High School

Start Date: October 4, 2010

Time: 3:40 until 4:40 PM (Computer Lab: 3:40 until 5:00 PM)

Place: Study Table (Mrs. Keast Classroom); Computer Lab (Multi-purpose Complex)

Academic Focus: Study Table, Computer Use (Academic Use Only)