Just Who Is This Guy?

Hello Scouters Mountain Families: September, 2019

As those of you who walk your students in from the parking lot each morning already know, one of my favorite parts of the day is personally greeting as many students and families as I can on their way into the building. These little morning chats allow me to quickly check in with students and parents and answer any small questions. Most times, those questions are about upcoming school events. However, since this is my second year at this wonderful school, here’s a question I seem to get more and more these days from parents and students, especially on Monday mornings: “Mr. Long, was that really you we heard on the radio over the weekend talking about football? And, “Are you going to be broadcasting at the Trail Blazers games again this season?” The answer is “Yes!” to Question #1 and “Pretty soon!” to Question #2. For those of you who don’t know, I worked in radio and television sports before earning my Education degree-- and you can usually hear me on the radio interacting with rabid college football fans on Saturdays and soon with die-hard Blazer fans after Trail Blazer games. So, as long as I’m chatting on the air with hyped up fans on Saturdays and Blazer game days, I figured I’d write my first-ever monthly Scouters Mountain newsletter sports-radio style! The phone lines are open!

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Goooood morning Scouters Mountain community!! Welcome to the soothing sounds of the latest and greatest radio station in the area, K-S-M-E! As you may have guessed, the S-M-E stands for Scouters Mountain Elementary…the school that welcomed more than 530 smiling students in early September for another stupendous school year! This is Principal Curtis Long behind the mic, and I’ll be taking your calls for the next few hours. Phone lines are open…so let’s get started! Line 1, welcome to KSME…you’re on the air!

LINE 1: Hi, Mr. Long…thanks for taking my call. Like you, my kids are new to Scouters Mountain Elementary this year, and they absolutely love their new school! I really enjoyed meeting all the teachers and staff at Back To School Night in August, and we’re looking forward to Conferences in November. I do have one question, though-- my kids say there are only four simple rules at Scouters Mountain, and you talk about them all the time. Uh…is that really true?

It sure is! By the way, it was fun meeting you at Back To School Night, and I hope I didn’t scorch your barbecued hot dog! Your kids must have told you about the four easy rules all students have been diligently practicing throughout this first month of school: Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible. When Scouters Mountain kids engage in any behaviors at school-- whether on the playground, cafeteria, or in the classroom-- staff members expect them to remember these four simple phrases. If it’s not safe, kind, respectful, or responsible, it shouldn’t happen at school. If it meets all four, students are likely to receive valuable Howl Ticket slips of paper, which I really hope have come up in conversations at home. Be sure to ask your safe, kind, respectful, and responsible Scouters Mountain students how many Howl Tickets they’ve earned so far this year, and better yet, what they’re saving them for! That opens up another phone line, so let’s head back out to the phones…line 2, you’re up next!

LINE 2: Hey, Mr. Long…love the new station. I hear that Scouters Mountain is trying to reach its annual fundraising goal this year with just one big event, instead of sending new sales packets home every other month about giftwrap…or coupon books…or my favorite, cookie dough. Is this true?

That’s a great question, Line 3…and the answer is yes! Especially these days, nobody looks forward to multiple fundraisers coming home from your child’s school, even if you love cookie dough! Instead, Scouters Mountain has been relatively successful for the past few years raising our total fundraising goal in ONE fantastic, fun-filled event: the PTA Jog-A-Thon! As you might already know, the annual Jog-A-Thon is set to take place Friday, October 26^th, and we need your help in reaching our fundraising goal! All of the money goes toward many important aspects of our school, including assemblies, field trip transportation, additional curriculum materials, and our Artist-In-Residence program. Please contact our PTA representatives if you have any questions or need additional information about business sponsorship. That opens up another line…let’s move ahead to Line 4…you’re on the air!

LINE 3: Hey Mr. Long, it’s me…Freddy Fredrickson. This is a sports station, right? We played on the same baseball team in the third grade. Remember that time you couldn’t play out in the field because you threw your glove on top of the backstop? Man, you got so mad, you…

Uhhhh, that’s enough, Freddy. Line 4, you’re up next…

LINE 5: Hello, Mr. Long. Did you really throw your baseball glove up that high? Anyway, I volunteer a lot at Scouters Mountain, and I’ve noticed a few changes to the great Scouters Mountain staff in just the first month. Could you fill me in on some of those?

We’re so excited about all the new faces! When it comes to new staff members, we’re proud to welcome Melissa Bateen as the teacher of our new TLC classroom! We’re also thrilled that both Adam Harrison and Joanna Sooper (also ELD) join Kai Roberts as a terrific three-person PE team, as well as Patrick Crader as our new evening custodian. We’re also excited about the addition of Angie Addicks and Shawna Hammer as Instructional Assistants this year as well!

OK, up next is Line 4…what’s your question?

LINE 4: Hi Mr. Long—so glad to hear about the additional staff members! That’s so encouraging for our families. Speaking of encouraging, my eager Scouters Mountain students are telling me you say parents shouldn’t tell kids they’re smart. Why not?

Ahhh…that means your kids have been listening to the talk about a growth mindset we’re continuing to instill at Scouters Mountain. I’ve studied it during the past couple summers and have been sharing what I’ve learned with staff members. When students have a growth mindset, they believe they can always get better through dedication and hard work. This leads to a love of learning and resilience. Generalized praise from parents (“You’re so smart!”) may lead to kids never wanting to lose that affirmation, thus a reluctance to try more difficult tasks. Heady stuff, but we’re working hard to recognize and praise the effort of SME kids so they’ll keep trying harder! Alright, let’s try to end this radio program on time, so Line 6, you’re our final caller…

LINE 6: Yeah, Mr. Long…it’s Freddy again. Hey, remember that time we were both playing in the outfield that season, and you yelled to the umpire that you needed a time-out? I’ll never forget you running for that porta-potty, man, and when you didn’t make it in time, you…

And we’re out of time here on KSME. Thanks for listening…and thanks for sending such great kids to Scouters Mountain Elementary each day! I am so lucky to be a part of this special community! We’re off to a fantastic start!

By the way, did you know that you can now follow Scouters Mountain Elementary on Facebook and Twitter? Follow us in both spots, Scouters Mountain Elementary and @ScoutersMtElem for reminders, updates, and photos about all the excitement taking place each day on Coyote Way!

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