Miles to go Before we Sleep

One my favorite poems always comes to mind at this time of  the year.

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though:
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.


My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farm house near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.


He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.


The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And mile to go before I sleep,
And mile to go before I sleep.


Thank you Robert Frost.

We are almost half way through the school year, but we too have promises to keep and miles to go before we sleep.  But take the time to stop and see what your students have accomplished already this year.

This Week @ BAC

Nov. 30
Dec. 1  ESC team meeting @ 3:15; MS W @ Pella; 7/8 GBBall @ home vs Sigourney
         3 7/8 GBBall @ home vs Clark; 7/8 BBBall @ Osceola

This is a slow week, but watch out for the rest of the month.

Being Part of a Team

Next fall, when you see geese heading south for the winter, flying along in "V" formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way.  As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following.  By flying in "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.
People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily, because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.  When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.  If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those people who are headed the same way we are.
When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point.  It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs, whether with people or with geese flying south.  Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.  What message do we give when we honk from behind?
Finally, and this is important, when a goose gets sick or in wounded by gun shot, and falls out of formation, two geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection.  They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies; and only then do the launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with their group.  If we only had the sense of a goose.
Thank all of you for being part of the same team and flying together.

NW@BAC

Nov. 23  Begin 2nd Trimester for Elementary; 7/8 W @ Tri Co. ; 7/8GBBAll @ DC; 7/8BBBall @ home vs DC
         24   Sped meeting 2:00 @ BAC; 7/8 W @ BGM; GBBall pratice @ EEAC picture day; BBBall pratice @ BAC
         25 Early Out
         26  Happy Thanksgiving
         27 No School; see you Monday
   
Nov. 30  Report cards need to be going home from the Elementary

Why "Pretty Good" isn't Good Enough

I've sat in on a lot of meetings, wheather it's an IEP, Staff Development, Parent Teacher Conferences, Teachers meeting, or even Administrative meetings, I hear a lot of the same things.  Our students are doing pretty good.  And I've always thought everyone must be happy with the way our students are doing.  I alway was.  Then I read something that made me think we could be doing better.  Here it is.  It was written by Charles Osgood.

There once was a pretty good student
Who sat in a pretty good class,
And was taught by a pretty good teacher
Who always let pretty good pass.
He wasn't terrific at reading,
He wasn't a whiz bang at math,
But for him education was leading,
Straight down a pretty good path.
He didn't find school too exciting,
But he wanted to do pretty well,
And he did have some trouble with writing,
And nobody taught him to spell.
When doing arithmetic problems,
Pretty good was regarded as fine,
Five plus five needn't always add up to be ten,
A pretty good answer was nine.
The pretty good school that he went to,
Was there in a pretty good town,
And nobody there seemed to notice,
He couldn't tell a verb from a noun.
The pretty good student in fact was,
Part of a pretty good mob,
And the first time he knew what he lacked was,
When he looked for a pretty good job.
It was then, when he sought a position,
He discovered that life could be tough,
And he soon had a sneaking suspicion,
Pretty good might not be good enough.
The pretty good town in our story,
Was part of a pretty good state,
Which had pretty good aspirations,
and prayed for a pretty good fate.
There once was a pretty good nation,
Pretty proud of the greatest it had,
Which learned much too late,
If you want to be great,
Pretty good is, in fact pretty bad.

Next Week @BAC

Nov. 16  MS GBBall @ BAC ; BBBall @ EEAC; School Board meeting 6:00@BAC Library

         17   MS BBBall Pictures @ 3:30; MS WR Pictures 4:15 @ HS; BAC PTO rescheduled meeting @ 7:00

         18 Mr. R to Mahaska Tech meeting: Early out; PD @ EEAC 1:30

         19 First BBall games; 7/8 GBBall @ Albia; BBBall @ home vs. Albia

         20  End of 1st Trimester in Elementary; Elegigility due; MS ETS 8th grade 7th perios; 7th grade 8th period
       

What a Weekend!!!

The sun is out, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you.  Dear Prudance, won't you come out and play.
How nice was this past weekend, and three days at that.  I even got out and played a little golf, although not my best.  But, it sounds like our Mock Trial team did their best on Saturday.  They are going on to the state competition again for the second year.  Congratulations!!!!! 

We have had our share of sickness in the past couple of weeks.  I hope the worst is past, but remember if you are sick, please take the time off.  We need you here doing that thing you do, but we also what you well.

It looks like we had a good turn out for our first Parent Teacher Conferences.  Make sure you turn in your numbers to Conne. 

Veterains Day is this week, let's remember those who serve to keep us safe.

Next week at BAC

Nov. 10  Early out schedule for MS/community clean up in the afternoon; PTO meeting @ 7:00 ; MS girls BBall pratice at EEAC/boys @ BAC
         11 Veteran's Day; MS band to preform at City Park @ 9:00; sixth grade class to participate in flag raising at City Park; all elementary classes invited to attend.; MS girls BBall pratice in back gym @ HS/boys @ BAC
        13 Mr. R to admin meeting in AM