WOODLAND PRIMARY SCHOOL
Mark Houk, Principal
February Update
TO: Michael Green, SuperintendentFROM: Mark Houk RE: WPS MONTHLY UPDATE
Folks throughout the Western Hemisphere, and around the globe for that matter, were shocked to see the plight of the people of Haiti as a result of the recent earthquake.
All schools in our district responded quickly by initiating efforts at raising funds.
In a four-day period, Woodland Schools raised several thousand dollars through penny drives, on-line contributions, and generous donations from students, staff, and many in the community.
At Woodland Primary our effort, spearheaded by our innovative 3rd grade Teaching Team, collected $1,500 in Pennies, and close to $1,500 in on-line donations.
It was my privilege last Thursday to be invited to accompany six third grade students and teacher Melissa Sanders to downtown Portland to present a check to Mercy Corps International. This organization works on an international scale to provide relief to struggling countries - currently, the Haiti effort is #1 on their list.
Mercy Corps gave our students a tour, and spent considerable time sharing their appreciation with our students for their donation. It was heartwarming to see our students realize the impact their donation will have. As well, they were able to meet a Haitian family who has lost and missing family members in Haiti.
When you add in the fact that at least two of our students had never been to Portland, this was truly an impactful day.
And, for me, it was as rewarding an activity as I have participated in as principal of WPS - quite a day!
Coming Up
Beginning this week, an unprecedented training effort will occur at Woodland Primary.
Nearly half of our classroom teachers will receive GLAD Training which emphasizes teaching strategies focused on language development for students. GLAD promotes high academic achievement through academic language, literacy, and cross-cultural skills for multi-lingual classrooms. This program was declared a Project of Academic Excellence by the US Department of Education. GLAD has evolved to a focus on ALL learners - schools that have implemented this program have consistently demonstrated significantly higher and deeper student learning. WPS Teachers will train for a total of 6 days during February.
ALL credit for working to approach the GLAD folks and pull this together goes to Debbie Kernen and teachers Alisha Robison, and Danielle Flanagan!