Mr. K’s Blog

You may not be aware that the Churchill gymnasium has been turned into Churchill Lanes for the month of October.   Thanks to the investigative work of our PE teachers and the assistance of Fox Bowl in Wheaton, the Churchill students have been able to spend the past few weeks learning about and practicing their bowling skills during their daily PE class.  This program is a part of the Bowler’s Ed initiative that we are taking part in for the first time this year. 

The PE teachers have been able to set up 18 separate bowling lanes, each complete with its own 20 foot bowling carpet, rubberized bowling ball, and 10 unweighted pins.  The students have been learning about the proper way to hold and roll a bowling ball, set the pins, and work cooperatively with their classmates.  The students all take turns bowling and setting up the pins and share in the maintenance and clean up of the equipment.   Since the equipment is light weight and portable, we have been able to move it to the Multipurpose Room for our kindergarten PE classes as well.  

I have had the opportunity to talk to students about the bowling equipment and everyone seems to enjoy it.  I know that the teachers appreciate the flexibility it gives them in being able to differentiate the lessons for students depending upon their grade level.  Today, I had the chance to watch kindergarten students work with learning how to hold the ball and roll it properly in the Multipurpose Room while 2nd graders were in the big gym competing as a class to see how many pins they could knock down in a ten minute time period.   Both groups were having fun and were actively engaged.

I’m hoping, that your child has come home from school and told you about their bowling experiences at Chuchill the last few weeks.  However, I realize that it is possible that they haven’t mentioned it to you.  Either way, I thought it was something interesting that was going on in the building that you might like to know and talk to your child about.

For the last two days, the health office staff have been completing our annual vision and hearing screenings for all of our students.  Due to the fact that we lack an adequate quiet space to complete the hearing screenings, I move out of my office so that my space can be used with the students.

I usually take my lap top and relocate in the LLC for these two days.  The students are usually surprised as they move through the library to see me working in a corner.   Typically, they aren’t shy about saying hello to me or asking me questions about why I am working from the LLC.  Today, I had an interesting encounter with one of the kindergarten classes that I wanted to share. 

Mrs. Clegg had just finished reading a story to the kindergartners and had given the students some independent time to move about the LLC and visit some table stations that she had set up for them.  One of the stations was a drawing station with paper and crayons. 

As I walked past this table, I stopped to ask the students what they were working on. 

“We’re drawing” was the collective answer from the group.

“What are you drawing?” I asked.

“We can draw whatever we want,” said one student.  “I’m drawing a pumpkin.”

There was an open spot at the table, so I decided to sit down to continue this conversation.

“Why don’t you draw something?”  asked one of the students. 

“I don’t know.” I replied, “I’m not a very good artist.” 

“That’s okay,”  he said, “just do like I did.  Draw a line and see where it takes you.”  He held up his paper to show me his artwork. 

By this point in the conversation, news had traveled around the LLC that I had joined the drawing table and the small crowd had begun to assemble.

“I’m still not sure,” I said.  “I really don’t know what I should draw, and I’m not a very good artist.”

“Why don’t you draw a picture for our teacher?  She’s not a very good artist either, ” one of them chimed in.

I tried my best to hold back my laughter and decided that I couldn’t pass up the invitation. I picked up a crayon and began to draw the one of the few things that I had confidence in putting on paper. 

Some of you, who have older students in the school, may have heard your students talk about my appreciation for Mo Willems and his pigeon books.  I had discovered his books when my oldest daughter was just starting elementary school and learning to read.  He quickly became one of our favorite authors and we have read and collected almost every one of his books.  We even visited his website and learned how to draw the pigeon. 

Over the years, I have been asked to visit the primary classrooms and read to the students.  I will usually bring one of the pigeon books with me and share with the students the story about my daughter and me reading these books together.  Our time together usually ends with me teaching the students how to draw the pigeon. 

Today, as I was drawing the pigeon for my new group of friends, they were impressed with my finished product.

“It’s a duck,” said one of them.

“Hey, I’ve seen that before,” said another. 

It just so happened that a copy of Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late was sitting on the table next to us.  I picked up the book to show the students where I had gotten the idea.  

“It’s the pigeon!”  said one of them.

As their teacher arrived in the LLC to pick up her students, she made her way over to the table to see what we were working on.  I gave her my drawing and asked her if she would display my work in her classroom.  I also asked if we could set up a time in the coming weeks where I could come and share a pigeon book with her class.  She agreed and we are working on those arrangements.

The students lined up and left the LLC and I returned to my laptop to resume my work.  As I was reflecting on my kindergarten encounter, I realized that this was something that I needed to share with others.   These are the kinds of experiences that we have the privilege of taking part in each day with the Churchill students.

If you haven’t had the chance to lately, I would encourage you to pick up a crayon and draw with your child.  It’s fun, they will enjoy you spending time with them, and most importantly you don’t have to worry about being a good artist. 

To quote my new kindergarten buddy

“Just draw a line and see where it takes you…”

We had a first this week at Churchill.  Our PTA sponsored Tim Hannig and his Pro (People Respecting Others) Kids Show.  We’ve had assemblies in the past, but this event was different.  Not only did we have two assemblies for the students during the afternoon, but this was the first event since I have been at Churchill that also featured an evening show.

Tim promotes his evening shows as a “Family Show”.  It is designed specifically for student and parents to sit together, laugh together and most importantly spend time together.  He uses a combination of magic, music, storytelling, puppetry and humor to spread his message.  He did not disappoint.

We weren’t quite sure what to expect in terms of attendance.  The custodial crew questioned me earlier in the day and asked why I had bothered to bring in the extra chairs.  We set up approximately 300 chairs in the gym thinking that would be enough.  It wasn’t.  Not only were the chairs filled, but so were the three rows of bleachers, both benches, and many students and parents were sitting on the floor and standing at the back of the gym.  I was blown away by the attendance and positive response we received.

I know that one of the major selling points for the evening show was seeing me try to escape the “Shackles of Doom”.  Tim had set this up well at the end of each of his afternoon sessions.  He kept them hanging with the thought of seeing their principal handcuffed on stage with one of them being responsible for putting the locks around my wrists.  Thankfully, I was able to make it out safely – although I struggled a bit.

But more than seeing me tied up, I think that the students really connected with Tim and his message.  He promoted positive behavior;  including relating his material to our PAWsitive Behavior Program, showing respect for everyone’s differences, and having pride in yourself, your school, and your country.   Most importantly, he stressed the importance of spending time as a family.  As parents, I believe that we all can agree that our time with our children goes way too fast.

For me, the best part of the evening was hearing the laughter and seeing the smiles on the faces of parents and students as they left the gym.  I had a number of parents tell me how much they enjoyed the evening and how surprised they were that the show exceeded their expectations.

As a school, we are always looking for ways to build positive relationships with our students and parents.  I’m glad that we were able to offer this show to our families and have so many of them take advantage of the opportunity.  I thank the PTA for their support of this show, and thank all of the students and parents who took part in our Family Night.

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