Friday, October 13, 2017

PFA Meeting, Class of 2020

2017.10.13

PFA Meeting, Class of 2020

“Outtakes”. A snippet of thoughts to kick off this blog post:

Academics and GPA are critically important in a school. So are the other domains that make up the whole-child, and their personal experience.

What I am looking forward to putting into practice, or continuing:

Supporting academic growth while considering the social-emotional needs of students.

Quote(s) that resonated with me this week:

It’s all perspective. Think about growth mindset. “Instead of…, try thinking…”

Tuesday, October 10th was my first opportunity to speak directly to parents of the class that I am working with for the next three years, the Class of 2020. The NCHS PFA (@nchs_pfa) held the tenth-grade Networking Meeting and the title of the meeting was “The Academic Roadmap and Understanding GPA”. Before getting into specific details on the meeting, it is necessary to acknowledge the tremendous job that the PFA does and the service that they provide for all stakeholders within the NCHS school community. Thank you! If you are interested in learning more or would like to join, please click on this link.

Now, back to the meeting… It was well advertised and well attended with some estimates north of 90 people. Director of School Counselor, Cindy Rivera and I spoke to the crowd and discussed topics that are relevant to the class of 2020, and their parents. Feel free to check out the presentation, here. In addition to the nuts and bolts of the academic and GPA portion of the presentation, one of my goals was to reiterate the message that we are focusing on a well-rounded education and educating the whole-child. Often times, the academic components overshadow the ever-important social-emotional and physical needs of our students. There are so many opportunities for students to feel connected, grow their passions, and develop and mature in all domains, at their own pace.

Each child has an individual roadmap to their success. The professional staff in the counseling suite is trained to learn about, assist, and navigate students with their personal journey. This is sometimes a challenge to effectively communicate to each attendee with such a broad, important topic as this one. My hope is that parents who read this will maintain that open line of communication between their child, their counselor, and their teachers. If there are specific questions, please contact your child’s counselor. They are terrific and always willing to help. My goal is always to support all students in this journey, regardless of the path they may take to get there.

New Canaan High School is a special place, in a special community. The care, consideration, and support for a quality education are evident almost everywhere. There are many moving parts that make this school as successful as it is. I am honored to be one small cog in this machine.

Please feel free to contact or follow me:

Twitter: @DavidGusitsch

Blog: https://davidgusitsch.blogspot.com/

Email: david.gusitsch@ncps-k12.org

Friday, October 6, 2017

Wellness: A tribute to something that impacts all of us...

2017.10.6

Wellness

A tribute to something that impacts all of us...

“Outtakes”. A snippet of thoughts to kick off this blog post:

There is nothing more valuable than taking care of ourselves. That means many different things to many different people, but we can all be committed to operating at an optimal level.

What I am looking forward to putting into practice, or continuing:

Finding ways to promote wellness amongst the NCPS community, in meaningful ways.

Quote(s) that resonated with me this week:

Exercise not only changes your body. It changes your mind, your attitude, and your mood.

(thank you, Janet Reed, for sharing with NCHS staff and leading the Wellness Walk!).

Positive. Negative. Active. Passive. Indifferent. These are just a few words that describe how people approach the one element of our lives that impacts us all. Understandably, there are variables in all of our lives but we are ultimately capable of directing our overall wellness. Some people choose a more physical approach through exercise. Others choose a more psychological approach through meditation, mindfulness, yoga (also physical), etc. Another popular approach is through diet and hydration. Some will find positive mindsets through helping others. Most people probably do not get enough of the one thing that is most important, sleep (myself included).

I have mentioned in previous posts that I am so proud to work here at NCHS, and in the NCPS system. This feeling of pride grew deeper this week when I attended the Employee Wellness Committee meeting on Wednesday. I have never seen a more committed approach to caring for the needs of a district than here in New Canaan. The fact that a full district meeting was held to discuss and promote employee wellness and the multiple positive impacts is amazing. These impacts include healthier employees which ultimately mean better educators (not that there is a current deficit, by any means!). There are also financial advantages to having a more preventative approach as well. The first thought that came to mind was that: NCPS is committed to educating the whole-child, while caring for and valuing the whole employee. Great stuff! There will be more communication on this in the near future. In the meantime, check out some of the great sights from the inaugural NCHS Employee Wellness Walk this morning (below).

A couple of quick resources that show how health and wellness impact learning and our overall selves:

“Finding time” to take care of ourselves: