.Hello from the Dean of Student Services.
Sometimes I remember my child is a mystery. I cook in the kitchen and overhear her talking to a neighbor or friend in the living room - and I witness parts of her I don’t normally see. While I understand (on a conceptual level) that she is more than just who she is with me, it still feels surprising, somehow. I keep rediscovering her steadily.
Context matters, I know, for all humans. I know that (to this day) I feel differently around my parents. When I’m at their house, I let myself sleep in and I worry less about getting things done. It doesn’t mean I’m inconsistent, but simply that in different roles, different aspects of me show up differently.
I mention this because I see a recurring pattern at schools connected to this mystery. Children are often understood differently from parents than they are from the peers and teachers who also see them regularly, but in a different way. This does not make either party wrong. It means that a whole, complex person is being seen in big ways when a community sees them in different circumstances. Part of education is teaching children to work in social circumstances and practice being themselves with others who do not understand them as quickly and readily as family.
The art scholar John Berger touches on a concept connected to this idea in the 1970s when his Ways of Seeing discussed how the meaning of art has changed over time. He showed how where you put a painting changes its meaning and how you understand it. Taking a painting out of a church and putting it in a museum changes what it means or how you see it. Putting a copy of a painting next to an advertisement in a magazine changes its meaning too.
For Berger, the meaning of a painting - like the meaning of a person - is always in context. Meaning doesn’t change completely, but subtle shifts matter. In schools, we see the same thing. Who a child is at home and who they are at school might look almost exactly the same, but the context changes the meaning.
I am not saying that everything is relative, but I am saying that, for example, when you say “I love you” to your mother, it means something different than telling your 6th grade best friend that you love them. Adults often forget this is something children have to learn as they grow up. We assume it’s obvious when, in fact, it takes a great deal of time to grasp such things.
At schools, children are learning what certain actions or words mean in a social context, not just a family context. They are learning what it means if you don’t cooperate with friends or a teacher. (And that this is different from not cooperating with a sibling or a parent.) They are learning when having fun in certain ways is appropriate and when it’s disruptive. As simple as this sounds, this is complex learning. It’s important learning. (It’s learning that most children lost chances for during COVID and are struggling to catch up on.)
To enter a social system offers children chances to understand that there is a difference between intentions and impacts. In repeated social situations, many children can pick this up from very simple cause and effect. For example, a boy yelling at a classmate during a soccer game might have been trying to solve a problem — but now everyone else might be mad at them and think they are unkind. This is important and good feedback for children to learn what their impact is.
As you talk though things at home with children, I encourage parents to help children understand that there is a difference between an intention and an impact. You can share that what a person wants to communicate and what is someone else receives are not always the same.
Actions speak louder than words in an old adage, but still an important one. Humans are responsible for their actions, not just their intentions.
At CCCS, we have seen a shift since COVID in understanding the idea of self-managing. Students are struggling to understand responsibility for their actions across the board. Parents who want to help students succeed in school can help with this kind of school readiness, and not just phonetic awareness and math fractions.
In an ideal world, everyone would instantly understand everyone else’s intentions. Since that is not possible, we have social systems and structures to try to create shared meanings that our brains can understand more easily. Schools are working diligently to help children understand this - not to crush their spirits or not see their intentions, but because existing in a social system requires these core understandings.
Children do not automatically understand the things adults understand about cause and effect. Let’s have kindness and mercy to help them understand what their actions mean in different contexts. It’s much harder than learning to spell, but (I’d argue), some of the deepest learning our children need.
Best,
Liz Bruno
.General Information.
Calendar:
Thursday, May 5- Arts & Starts
Thursday, May 5 Board Meeting 7:30 pm ZOOM
Friday, May 6- NO SCHOOL
Monday, May 9- Board Meeting 6pm
Monday, May 23- Board Meeting 6pm
Monday, May 30- Memorial Day, NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, May 31- Dental Sealants
Good of the order:
"Gratitude paints little smiley faces on everything it touches"
-Richelle Goodrich
A huge thank you to PCS for spoiling us during teacher appreciation week, we are grateful to all of the families in our community!
Arts & Starts:
Leadership:
The Coburg Leadership team has now successfully painted a design in each school bathroom!
In the K-1 bathrooms, we painted a set of forest trees. In the boys 2-4 restroom there is a pine tree, and in the girls there is now an amazing mountain scene done by a talented parent. Finally, in the 5-8 bathrooms we completed some ocean waves spanning a full wall.
We are now planning to add some more small details and elements to each mural, but do not need any more paint, so thank you for all the donations.
Thank you so much for all of the support and donated supplies, it is greatly appreciated and a huge help to us!
- The Leadership Team
Snacks:
Please send a snack to school with your child! The only snacks that will be handed out will be to students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. Those students should report to the office prior to school starting and we will give them a snack to eat during snack time.
Yearbooks:
2021-22 school year memories are yours to keep if you order a CCCS yearbook. You can order online at ybpay.com with yearbook code 14666122. Order your yearbook today!
Books to a good home:
The red cart at the front of the school is full of books we are giving away. Please feel free to go through them.
Lost & Found:
Please check the Lost and Found rack at the front of the school. Items are labeled with the date found and will be kept for 6 weeks. Items clearly labeled will be delivered to the students’ classroom.
Library:
Used books and DVDs will be for sale at the Arts and Starts sale for .25 cents, .50 cents or $1. Selection will include previous OBOB books, non-fiction books for all ages, and beginning reader books. Cash or check accepted.
.Board Corner.
Please find the agenda for our special meeting to be held this Thursday, May 5 at 7:30pm by zoom HERE.
.PCS Corner.
Hello from PCS (People for Coburg School), the school's parent group. Three things to know or help with this week….
PCS Our Teachers & Staff: Staff appreciation week kicked off with a thank you breakfast and Tuesday sweet treats, and continues with lunch today from Mucho Gusto and Coburg Pizza Company on Thursday. Thank you to the volunteers who organized these delicious ways to thank our teachers & staff for their incredible dedication!
Bronco Bash: If you are ATTENDING, you will receive an email this week with event details (including the attached preview list of auction items, and things to know the night-of). If you’re UNABLE to attend and are able to donate, you can contribute online http://paypal.me/coburgpcs or by dropping a check (labeled Bronco Bash) in the black mailbox in front of the school. And either way, please consider volunteering (sign up link below). Thank you!
Bronco Bash: Need Your Help with two items:
Please sign up to volunteer with day-of activities; and
Please send candid student photos at school to board member, Kate Panum by next Monday 5/9 (kpanum@me.com) to incorporate into the slideshow/decor.
Many thanks to our financial sponsors: Jon Derby/Edward Jones, Kristi Blain/Triple Oaks Realty, Chvatal Orthodontics, Johnson Brothers, Slocum, Wildish Sand & Gravel, Blue Valley Bistro, Chiefs Brew House, Alison Cramer/Icon Real Estate Group, Grace Manor, Guaranty, Shannon Hay/Icon Real Estate Group, Hayward Inn, Johnsen Electric, Rosboro, Coburg Pizza Company, Central Print, and ES&A Sign and Awning Co.
SAVE THE DATE: PCS will meet on Friday, May 20th at 8:15 am (in the cafeteria) to help with auction wrap-up and discuss the Jogathon and Book Fair on June 3rd.
Join us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coburgpcs. Other questions or comments? E-mail PCS@coburgcharter.org. Thank you!
.Community Corner.
We are excited to announce a new program we’re rolling out with help from our friends over at the local Coburg Food Pantry! Starting May 13, each Friday we will put together a bag of food for your student to take home for your family. If your family could benefit from a little extra food over the weekend we would LOVE to help!
You don’t need to qualify for any certain thing to take a bag of food home…if it’s helpful for your family we want you to take one! If you know you want one, please email us back to let us know how many people you have at home so we can stock your bag appropriately. It’s also ok to just show up and grab one, but to make sure we have enough it's best to reserve yours.
The first bags will be given out Friday, May 13. They will be placed by the front doors with a label for family size.
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We are so thankful the Coburg Food Pantry is helping us with this project! You can also check the info below to see if your family qualifies for the pantry (totally different from the bags that will be given out on Fridays.)
Family Size Monthly/Annual
1 $3398/$40,770
2 $4578/$54930
3 $5758/$69090
4 $6938/$83250
For each additional member, add $1180 per month or $14160 per year. For more information on the Coburg Food Pantry, call Peggy Wells at 541-345-6645 or Patty Yarr at 831-345-3866. The pantry is open every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month, 2-4pm.
Thank you to our May sponsor!
