Dear Parents/Guardians/Community Stakeholders,
Howdy all, I just wanted to take a minute and update you all on a few things happening at LMS. Parent-Teacher conferences are coming up this Thursday, hopefully all the 7-8 parents/guardians have received a slip of paper from PTCfast.com that was sent home with the kids. This slip will help you schedule a time slot to come in and visit. I’m looking forward to these conferences as we look forward to figuring out how we can help your student be successful. Please keep in mind that we don’t have to wait until parent-teacher conferences to talk about grades or concerns, please reach out or stop by anytime so we can talk. We are here to provide the best educational opportunity we know how, we are here to serve. So, if there’s something that is a concern of yours please stop by and have a conversation.
I need to draw your attention to an event that USD 215 is working in conjunction with the Kearny County Hospital on brining Chamique Holdsclaw to Lakin on the 28th of February to speak. She was a member of the University of Tennessee’s women’s basketball team under Pat Summit, played 11 seasons in the WNBA and was a member of the gold medal USA Olympic team in 2000. Her message is going to be about her life and struggles that she has faced regarding suicidal thoughts. She will have some candid talks with the 5-8 kids that morning from 9:00-10:00 and then with the 9-12 kids from 2:00-3:00. She will then meet with the community from 3:30-5:00 at the Wesleyan Church. The topic will be building a community of support regarding suicide awareness. Then from 6:00-7:00 she along with some of our middle school and high school basketball coaches will host a 1st-6th grade basketball clinic in the LMS gym. Your all welcome and encouraged to attend this event. Please reach out if you have any questions about the event.
I’ll leave you with this: As we create these experiences for our kids, we have been gathering their honest feedback based on their perspective. Phil Jackson, former Chicago Bulls coach did something many other coaches would not do. When one of his teams were facing a difficult situation, he would not call a timeout to re-focus them, he would often let them struggle through and figure it out. I believe this speaks to him coaching 11 NBA championship teams. He empowered his team to figure it out. There is a connection to us as parents and teachers. How often do we jump in and fix a problem when our students/children struggle with a situation or their learning? I believe it’s all our job to help students develop the life skills and grit mentality to figure their way out of a tough situation… since we won’t always be around for them. This is empowering them. Letting our kids make some tough decisions on their own now will set them up for success in the future. It’s not always easy as teachers or parents, because we think we are protecting our kids, but ultimately it will be worth it. I sure appreciate the opportunity to serve and your continued support of LMS. Thanks for your time and God Bless.
LMS Principal
Cody Calkins