Golden Apple March 2019

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by Diana Knudson

I hope March and arriving spring are putting us all into new and hopeful mindsets.  We have had to cancel several of our curriculum revision meetings in Great Falls, which is always a hard thing for us to do.  They have been re-scheduled.  So please check the calendar on the website to find the new dates.

Ending a career is bittersweet, and I said last time I would give you my best advice about educating our children.  Of course, first on my list was building relationships, building relationships, building relationships.

Second, our students have to be reading.  And reading at their correct reading level or close above it.  Nationwide, students graduate from high school at the same reading level they had when they left 8th grade.  That is something we can fix.  If our high school students are not at 12th grade reading level or above, they will have a difficult time at any career choice they make.  So, we should all be taking that seriously.  How do we improve their reading in high school?  They need to have a comprehensive reading plan—not a worksheet plan or a computer practice plan.  They need to be reading at their correct reading level and reading books that will be continually challenging as they progress. This works.  I have personal and professional experience that proves the research.

Have a great spring as you head toward that summer “vacation.”

Congratulations to last month’s gift card winner, Marta Ferguson from Fort Benton Public Schools!