May 28, 2020

• Summer school is available for grades 7-12 students May 26^th through June 12^th. Instruction will be provided on-line followed by on-site instruction beginning June 1^st. If interested please contact Denise Ternes at 436-2658 or by email at denise@broadus.net
• Summer school for grades K-6 students will begin July 6^th through July 24^th. Please contact Denise Ternes at 436-2658 or by email at denise@broadus.net
• As we begin to prepare for the 2020-21 school year, I believe it would be beneficial to share the Superintendent’s May board report on the “Hidden Benefits of Education” we take for granted.

Without students in the building, it forced me to reflect on what our students are missing, and maybe more importantly, what our expectations are. In my own situation I asked myself what I wanted my kids to experience before they graduated from Powder River County District High School? Personally, I wanted them to have problems-yes problems. After all they were getting prepared for their next journey. I wanted them to disagree with classmates, experience a demanding teacher and an easy teacher with low expectations, experience conflict, celebrate victories and deal with defeats, strive for strong attendance, and even deal with a class bully. No matter how strong students’ academic abilities are, they must learn to be resilient. Can they learn these life lessons at home in front of a computer? Maybe they can, but on a reduced scale, and they have the option to turn the computer off. Avoidance is certainly a coping skill. It is easy to implement but seldom provides long-term success.

If this year teaches all of us one thing, it should be the importance of teaching students to be resilient. Did we teach them skills to appropriately cope with life’s difficulties? I miss seeing students in the hallways, and all the problems that come with it. Why, because I believe this place provides much more than just an academic education; it provides needed opportunities for social and emotional growth as well.