Ms. Hong Diversity Lesson

By: Brady Lemke

The past two weeks, Ms. Hong has done a diversity lesson with the kindergarten and first grade classes. They learned what a good community is and how the community is made up of diverse people. Just in case you don’t know, diversity is understanding that everyone is different and that that is what makes us unique and interesting. We can also learn from each other. When they learned about diversity the read a book titled Not Quite Narwhal by Jesse Sima, they learned about diversity and did community circles and had discussions. The classes took the discussions very seriously and understood he was born different, and wasn’t the same as his community. He had to choose to stay with the community he was born into, or leave to a community he felt comfortable with. Diversity is good; we should appreciate all different types of people. Teaching diversity to kids is important because at a young age, kids can understand complicated issues. This can help by helping kids be more aware and understand how to relate to people with kindness and respect. We have to learn to get along and accept each others differences. Diversity can help by helping people get along, respect each other, to be kind, to be welcoming, being brave enough to make new friendships, and to be inclusive. When were afraid or ignorant it gets in the way of relationships and opportunities to build bridges with people. People can always become better, we are always learning and growing. We just have to be open to the process. Diversity should be taught to all ages and grade levels because it’s a great way to build our community and provide unity. Ideas of diversity are always changing. People are changing, our community is changing. It is important to know what diversity is. Diversity isn’t always about race, religion, money, family, or your own appearance. It’s about everything that makes you unique.

Ms. Nguyen, Ms Chun, Ms. Smith, Ms. Stovall

By: Brady Lemke

This week I did another group interview with Ms. Nguyen, Ms. Chun, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Stovall which are teachers here at Raleigh Hills. They are specifically special education teachers. Ms. Nguyen has been working here for more than 5 years, Ms. Chun has been working here for 3 years, Ms. Smith has been working here for 2 years, and Ms. Stovall has been working here for 2 years. Their favorite part of teaching is interacting with students and seeing their growth. They love the community, staff, and parent support for this school. Their students are resilient, can persevere, and have a great sense of humor. They would like to have more assemblies, and recognition for students who are doing well. They like the community because they get support from parents and staff, and because they’re being heard and included. They help by always be willing to step in and help. Our school needs to work on having more all school activities, and acknowledging the diversity of cultures here at Raleigh Hills. Their students overcome challenges by humor, second chances, forgiveness, patience, and a growth mindset. They believe what stands out about students here at Raleigh Hills is they are funny, good hearted kids. What they have learned through students here at school is that you don’t have to take everything so seriously, you have to learn how to be a kid sometimes. They like building a better society for our future, to move past obstacles and to become a better person.

Ms. A. Williams

By: Brady Lemke

For this week, I interviewed Ms. A. Williams. She is a English Learning Development teacher that has been working at Raleigh Hills for 8 years, and also for another school named Vose, for 2 years. She feels it is really fun that this school is a K-8 school and love seeing students out in the garden. She also feels our students diversity makes this a special community. Her students strengths are their language abilities of speaking multiple languages. These people remind her to work on her Spanish. Her class is working well in groups, her class is also a small group making it easy to know them personally. She would like there to be more interacting between elementary and middle schoolers. She likes the community a lot; our community has great people that are supportive of each other and the kids here at our school. She helps this community by supporting kids who are learning English, and loves to see these kids grow as writers. She also advocates for the kids who need to be advocated for. She feels people in this community need a reminder to look out for each other. Her class overcomes challenges by being patient, persevering, and a little bit of humor. What stands out about our students is that one in five speak a language other than English at home, and that we love our garden. She likes having her desk by the garden and seeing everyone going to the garden. Her students come to her writing block to, of course, learn writing. She loves watching them grow in their writing over the years with much improvement. She learns something new everyday, and her class is learning something new also: realistic writing. What she and her class has learned is that building a good relationship, trusting, and listening helps being more successful. Also, a little sense of fun help people enjoy school just a little bit more.

Ms. Moore

By: Brady Lemke

Ms. Moore is the librarian here at our own Raleigh Hills library in the upstairs of the school. She has been working here for 7 and a half years. What she likes about her job is that she can see students progress through their years at Raleigh Hills, Kindergarten through 8th. What she would like to have more of at this school is books, lots and lots of books, so kids can read more of different types and new books. Ms. Moore loves this community because she and her kids live here. She also likes it because her friends live in the community, and her kids went to this school which is a part of the community we live in. She helps this school and community by helping people find books that are right for them, and to teach kids. She feels our school needs to work on kindness, just as the whole world does; also we need to ask more questions and not make assumptions about people. To overcome a challenge is to meet it head on, and be able to make mistakes in Ms. Moore’s words. What she has learned through her job is to be patient, most things work out ok, and that people are good, all of us. Kids point out new ideas and ways of seeing books, they give a new perspective. Talking about a book is what makes reading them fun to read, not boring. It makes it something to look up to doing, seeing new perspectives and views of a book, not just yours. She never wants you to judge a book by its cover.

Mr. Val

By: Brady Lemke

This week I interviewed Mr. Val, another one of our very important staff member who I am going to tell you about today. Mr. Val has been working here for 8 years, since 2011. What he does around this school is to keep this place safe and clean for the students. He also meets teacher, staff, and the office’s requests as well as everyone who comes into this school, and helps to set up events. He feels renewing the school will help our students and staff with bigger classrooms. He likes his job and is very happy to serve. He feels Raleigh Hills is his second home and family. He feels we have a strong sense of community and we always communicate freely with everyone. What he has learned throughout his job is communicating.

Mrs. Lowenberg

This week I interviewed Mrs. Lowenberg, a 4th grade teacher. She’s worked here for 8 total years; the past 4 years, and 15 years ago for 4 years. She likes that we have a strong diverse community. She also likes the middle school’s Weekly Announcements videos. Her classes strength is working together as a community. They’re also resourceful and are problem solvers. She would like to have more interaction between grade levels. She would also like the behavior expectations to be more clear schoolwide. She feels that everyone in the community is willing to help out. Her class overcomes challenges by discussing them during their community circle. What makes her class stand out is they are very creative and enjoy working together on their Oregon Forest unit as a group.

Ms. Towell

This week I interviewed another one of our beloved 5th grade teachers: Mary Towell. You probably know her as Ms. Towell. This is her 3rd year as a 5th grade teacher here. Ms. Towell likes that Raleigh Hills is a kindergarten through 8th grade school. She also likes that she can see the students she taught for hopefully another 3 years, and also likes the staff and parents at this school. Her classes strengths are in reading, writing, and math. In her opinion they have been doing the best in writing. She thinks her class is working well in groups thanks to their previous teachers. What Ms. Towell would like to see at Raleigh Hills is more interaction between the elementary and middle school students. She would also like to see more interaction between grade levels and a strong leadership group to help guide Raleigh Hills. She thinks the community is very supportive at this school, they make the class easy to work with. The PTO provides materials they wouldn’t have access to without them. Ms. Towell helps this school by helping run the leadership group and helping teach leadership skills. What Ms. Towell’s class does to help overcome challenges is to work in groups, be supportive, and persevere. She believes groups are very beneficial for all ages, but it is hard on some kids during tests when you aren’t allowed to do those kinds of things.

Mr. Rosenquist

by Brady Lemke

This week I interviewed Mr. Rosenquist. He has been working at Raleigh Hills for 18 years, this is his 18th. He works here at Raleigh Hills as an 5th grade teacher. He likes the great community, staff, parents, and of course the students. He feels the neighborhoods around the school are connected to it in a way. He also likes this community because everyone seems to have an inner connection with this school are very supportive about kids learning here at Raleigh Hills. His class has very kind, good natured kids that have a lot of excitement for learning. They also have a great, positive sense of humor. He feels working in groups is a challenging process and his class is doing a good job on it. They mostly work in groups in science and math. It’s challenging, but they’re doing a good job with it. His class has a great growth mindset all around and he feels his class has been learning from their mistakes, even though it may take time. He would like there to be more interaction between elementary and middle school students. He would also like for the school to manage waste and recycling better, and to be more energy efficient. Mr. Rosenquist loves teaching here and feels that it’s a great place to be.

Juliet Hong

By: Brady Lemke

Today I will be talking about Juliet Hong, another beloved teacher here at Raleigh Hills. You may also know her as Ms. Hong. Ms. Hong has been working here for 10 years, this is her 10th. Her job here is a student success coach. She loves working with all grades to help everyone and problem solve. She would love to see the school be more warm and welcoming to students so they feel they are safe here and encouraged to learn. She likes to see kids learn the value and importance of their community and working in groups and showing them that including each other is important. Ms. Hong loves that the community has a lot of history and that everyone is working hard to do their best. She helps this community by working with kids who have challenging times and helps teachers have discussions, she has also helped teachers present. Ms. Hong wants people to be happy and accepted at school. She has discussions with students about how differences can be a good thing to help them accept each others’ differences. She likes how all the classes are working hard and trying to be better everyday. She feels we need to work on having better relationships with each other and to be more inclusive as a community.

Christopher Pletsch

By: Brady Lemke

Today I will be talking about another one of our beloved teachers here at Raleigh Hills, Christopher Pletsch. You may know him as Mr. Pletsch. This is his second year here at Raleigh Hills, and he works here as a fifth grade teacher. He appreciates the diversity we have in the Raleigh Hills community. He also likes how the school focuses on tech. Something Mr. Pletsch would do to better the experiences at Raleigh Hills is to have more projects where grade levels connect, for example 8th grade doing a project with 5th. Mr. Pletsch loves his job, and loves working with his 5th grade students. He says his class has improved a ton, but they have improved in different ways. He feels they are getting more involved in their teamwork and communication. Mr. Pletsch is hoping to work here at Raleigh Hills until retirement. He thinks we have a tremendous community and loves that Raleigh Hills is kindergarten through 8th grade school. He likes the wide range of ages at the school.

Ms. Shier

By: Brady Lemke

Ms. Shier is one of our beloved teachers, and I am going to tell you about her today. Ms. Shier has been working at Raleigh Hills since 2001, a long 18 years. She currently has 2 jobs here at Raleigh Hills. Half of the time she is a digital media lab teacher for middle school. With the other half of her time she is an instructional tech teacher. She loves coming to work everyday no matter what, it is her favorite place to be. Along with Ms. Shier’s love for school, she also loves watching kids grow throughout the years. If Ms. Shier were to do something to make the school a better place for learning, she would love to have more- and bigger- rooms to learn, with books on all the subjects one can think of. She thinks her classes have improved well; they’re always learning new things and also different things every year. With Ms. Shier’s time at Raleigh Hills, she hopes to spend all her career with us at this school.

Mr. Anderson

By: Brady Lemke

Today you will learn more about our beloved teacher Mr. Anderson, who works here at Raleigh Hills. I interviewed him so you guys can get a better understanding of who he is and who he wants to be. First I asked him how long he’s been working at this school. Mr. Anderson answered that he has been working at this school for about a year and a half. This is his second year. "What is your job here at Raleigh Hills?" He answered that his job at this school is as an instructional assistant. Mr. Anderson says he likes his job because he loves working with kids and seeing their minds grow, especially while working in PE. He loves how this is a small community feel and almost everyone knows each other, especially at this school. Mr. Anderson said that he would like to do for better experiences at this school is have more assemblies so we can catch up on what’s happening around the school and refresh our minds of what to do around the school. He is proud of how the kids he have worked with have improved, they have improved well. Mr. Anderson is very excited for what’s to come in him in his years as a future educator. Thanks, Mr. Anderson.