Failure is Success...

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I often wonder why it is that people are afraid of failure? Beyond that, educators, in general, seem to be so afraid of failure. Almost every educator recognizes when something doesn't make sense and needs to be changed, but are reluctant to try something different because what if it doesn't work? That would make us failures!! In conjunction with that, every educated and worldly adult knows that we have learned life's lessons through failure. By making mistakes and not giving up. So I ask the question, should failure be final? Well, I would argue that clearly in life it is not. We are able to make mistakes and are provided opportunities to correct our mistakes, learn from them, and move on with life. Oftentimes, the feeling of success that accompanies our learning experiences and/or corrected mistakes is a rejuvenation of life in general. In education, failure has long meant that we are not good enough. Given that most people who work in the field of education, were not students who struggled through school and didn't really have to fail to learn, how can we realistically connect with and reach a student who does fail often in order to learn? First, we must not be afraid to fail ourselves. Michael Jordan said, "I've failed over and over. That is why I succeed." Thomas Edison said, "I haven't failed. I just found 10,000 ways that don't work." This attitude is what we need to embrace in education, both as educators searching for change and as facilitators in learning. We have been trained to celebrate success and condemn failure. What would happen if we embraced learning? I bet the world of public education would be a different world if we accepted the failures of our students not as a reflection of our own abilities as a teacher, but as an attempt to receive our admiration and support. The remote environments and processes of learning that have been provided as a result of COVID have certainly created a shift in the manner in which education is provided and assessed with our students. Once a failure does not need to equal always a failure. We know this and we have seen the growth that students can make when failure is embraced and learning is the true goal of a classroom. As we bring this year to an end and plan for the future, let's not forget the new avenues of education that COVID has brought us and let's continue to capitalize on and learn from the failures of ourselves and of students. Failure is not final, but it may be required to grow. 

2021-2022 Budget Vote / District Election

The 2021-2022 Budget Vote and District Election are being held this coming Tuesday, May 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. For anyone that missed the presentations of the 2021-2022 proposed budget, information regarding the budget is posted on our website. All of the 2021-2022 budget information is available at https://www.romecsd.org/news_page/r_c_s_d_budget_hearing___regular_meeting and a video presentation of the Budget Hearing can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pCNGfdYYUQ. Also, information about the 5 candidates who are running for school the school board can be found on our website. To review a recent virtual Meet the Candidates night, please go to https://www.facebook.com/naacprome.nybranch.3/videos/1440763886267954 and to read more information about each candidate, please go to https://www.romecsd.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_695381/Image/Business%20and%20Finance/RCSD%20BOE%20Candidates.pdf. 

RFA Update

At this time, RFA will be reopening tomorrow, Monday, May 17 for in-person learning. All students who have been attending in-person may return to the building to attend in-person again. This will include our two lacrosse teams that have been quarantined for the past week.  

2021 - 2022 Early Childhood Registration

Registration for 2021-2022 Early Childhood Program students will be held from June 7 through June 11. For more information, including required documentation for registration please follow this link: https://www.romecsd.org/news_page/rome_early_childhood_program_registration. 

RFA Vaccination Clinic Reminder

Thanks to our partnership with Mohawk Valley Health Systems, we are pleased to continue providing the opportunity for students to vaccinate in school. As a reminder, on Friday, May 21, representatives from MVHS will be at RFA providing the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine to students who received the first dose last month. For more information and/or if you have any questions, please contact RFA directly.

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