Morale? Huh...

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One of the prevailing trends in education is to hear that morale is low in our schools. Teachers' morale is low, students are negative about their school experience, and parents are just frustrated with the whole ball of wax. Walk into almost any school and ask the administration this question,  "what's the must important thing to fix in your school currently?" Almost universally you will get the cliche answer of,  "morale."

Is that truly the case though? I will admit that I'm one of those administrators who thought morale was low and that's the solution to all of our problems, but I'm not sure that's true. I have struggled to find a teacher not wanting to teach kids to the best of their ability. If morale was low, wouldn't we expect to see people "mailing it in." Teachers and staff members routinely come to work every day smiling and ready to make a difference. Even in the face of disruptive students and rude mannerisms by our kids, the adults in our schools still show up every day ready to make a difference. So I pose the question, is morale the problem or is the problem really the inability of leadership to make a difference? Being a leader that's kind of a loaded question, but it's the truth. It's time that we, as leaders, step up and make a difference for our communities. Morale is fine, but stress is not. By taking care of our school communities and helping our staff's by reducing stress, not only will morale be higher than ever but our adults may just become the super heroes that we hope the can be.

Black Knight Kudos ...

A giant Black Knight thank you to all of the veterans in our community, past and present, who have sacrificed for our way of life. Happy Veteran's Day!!

Congratulations to our new National Honor Society inductees. 65 students in all have joined the RFA chapter this year.

Congratulations to our athletes who participated in the girls cross-country, boys cross-country, and girls swimming Sectional competitions this past weekend.

This Week at RFA...

11/10 - Rotary Interact Club Polio Vaccine Fundraiser (lunches)
11/10 - Field Trip to Oneida Community House
11/10 - Field Trip to MWP Institute
11/11 - VETERAN'S DAY, No School
11/12 - Sophomore Seminar on Veterinary Science
11/12 - Guest Speaker Andrew Derminio (Knight Times/Journalism)
11/12 - Rotary Interact Club Polio Vaccine Fundraiser (lunches)
11/12 - Math Competition Field Trip to MVCC
11/12 - DASA Task Force Meeting
11/13 - End of Marking Period 1
11/13 - Rotary Interact Club Polio Vaccine Fundraiser (lunches)
11/13 - Guidance Field Trip to MVCC
11/13 - Cap and Gown Ordering During Lunches
11/14 - Vex Robotics Competition at Liverpool H.S.
ONGOING - STASS Canned Food Drive
ONGOING - Sophomore Class Turkey Collection

Worth the Read...

Take a Moment to Self Reflect and Grow...

When was the last time you went out of your way to help a colleague that may have been having a bad day, simply because it was the right human thing to do? Take a moment and this week and try to do something nice for a colleague. Maybe introduce yourself to that person you never met even though you've worked together for 10 years, maybe just compliment someone on their hair or smile. We all have personal baggage that other's don't carry, supporting each other reduces our stress!!

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