Woo-hoo! Donut Crew!

Everyone loves Krispy Kreme donuts, right? Everyone knows that high school students love food - LOVE it. I don't know about other subject areas, but pretty much every time you attend a yearbook/newspaper workshop, one of the strategies advisers are told to use is FOOD. And let me tell you, it definitely works with publications kids.

Funny thing though. At my old school, I always felt sort of clandestine on "party" days, like if an administrator walked in the room, I was going to have to say "We're practicing team-building activities, which speaks directly to state journalism competency standard 'Works well with a team.'" Rewarding students was practically unheard of at DHS, because so many days, we were pretty much just fighting to keep our heads above water.

Not so now. And I'm talking about on the level of the entire school. This week, we got news that BVHS received the Governor's Award for being in the top 5 percent of schools in the state for reading and math scores. The principal spoke over the intercom as soon as he found out, shared the news, and let everyone know there would be donuts on Friday during first hour. Seriously, you should have seen the kids.

So, Friday, while my kids were preparing for the current events quiz, one of the assistant principals delivered our box of donuts, providing us with a nice little snack, a break, and a chance to just "be" for a few minutes while they ate mass quantities of sugar and fat. Those times are fun for me, as a teacher, because that's when you get to see the kid behind the kid. One thing I like to think I'm pretty good at is connecting with students, but sometimes we get so caught up in getting things done, getting material covered, that it's nice to have a short break and learn a little more about this teenage alien life form.

And, I gotta tell you, it's amazing what a difference it makes when the students are invested in the school improvement process. They have their own goals for the school, for themselves, and they want to know that the adults in the building take them and their input seriously.

Sometimes, teachers can get frustrated about the way things are going (and trust me, I've been there). You feel like you have no support, you don't make enough money, kids just don't want to work, etc. But we can't let those feelings overtake the good, because that's when things really start to go south. Working in a building where teachers are collaborating, friendly toward one another, and students have the goal of making their school the best in the country is a pretty cool feeling.

Tonight is TigerFest, the big fundraiser for activities. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to go, but if I do, I'll let you know how it goes (and how much money we raise for journalism!).