Bear Encounters

I knew there were going to be a lot of new experiences and challenges when I moved my family to St. Ignatius, but I didn't count on having bears being a part of it. I was amused to say the least to see a Fish and Wildlife bear trap located behind the District Office here in Mission (see photo). It seems that there has been bear activity in and around neighborhood trash receptacles. Bear scat along school sidewalks as well as student encounters with a bears during the evening hours on the edge of campus.

The "Wildlife" here in Mission is definitely intriguing, amusing, as well as alarming. You don't have to drive to the National Bison Range, or Glacier National Park to encounter bears. Living in and around Mission, bears are some-what common. My family and I had such an encounter (see the bear photo above) last Friday evening not more than a couple miles from home. I was later told the bear was trapped and relocated. I can't say I didn't enjoy seeing the bear, but when I see a bear trap not more than a hundred yards from the front doors of our elementary school, I am a little alarmed and want to take precautions and share some information on bear awareness.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has some very good information on living in bear country. According to the website:

Nine times out of ten, bears that repeatedly get into attractants around our homes are eventually euthanized. Please help save Montana bears from this needless outcome by learning some tips to help keep your residence bear-friendly.

• Do not put out salt licks, grain, or deer blocks to attract wild animals as these create areas of concentrated animal scent that will then draw in bears and mountain lions.
• Use native plant landscaping whenever possible. Be aware that a watered lawn with lush grass, clover, and dandelions is an attractive feeding site for bears.
• Close all windows when not at home or when cooking.
• Talk to your children about bears and how to avoid them.
• Have a plan in case a bear comes inside your home and keep bear pepper spray handy. Give a bear that is in your home an escape route by propping all doors open with something heavy that will act as a doorstop.
• Never approach a bear in your yard, always give bears an escape route and never crowd or harass a bear.

For more information you can go to the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks website and learn about bear attractants, how to tell if your residence is bear-friendly, and some bear aware tools to help keep bears wild.

Maybe my alarmed reaction and this response is due to the fact that I am not use to this type of issue (bear activity around school and children). It is certainly possible that the St. Ignatius staff and students find bear encounters to be common, but non-the-less, its better to be safe...right?! Other than this "heads-up" blog post, the district will instruct staff on bear encounter response and an overview on the use of bear pepper spray that will be located in strategic locations on campus only accessible by staff and not students. We will also encourage bear awareness to be shared and discussed with students at the appropriate developmental levels.

Facility Use

At the October 19, 2010 board meeting, the Board approved an Administrative Execution for St Ignatius School District #28 Board Policy 4010 Facility Use Agreement. The execution is simply a facility use agreement between the school district and those wishing to utilize its facilities. You may pick up a Facility Use Agreement at the District Office for all facility requests or you may down load it on line from our District website.

We ask that individuals filling out the form be specific in the facilities requested; for example: identify the multipurpose room, stage, elementary gym or kitchen not just the cafetorium or cafeteria as it is possible that multiple events can be taking place in those areas. Please note: Facilities include all buildings, elementary through high school (including classrooms), as well as all grounds (softball field, football field, track, football practice 1, football practice 2 and football practice 3). Turn all requests in to the Superintendent’s Office for approval by email or fax (406-745-4421). The District would like at least one week prior notice of the intended use.

The Facility Use Calendar is available on the school web page. You can visit this link to see an update schedule of current facility use as well as future planning. Please note, that if an event is not on this calendar, the district probably isn't aware of it happening within our facilities.

For more information, read the Administrative Execution and Policy posted on the St. Ignatius web site for a better understanding of prioritization and use of school facilities.

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!