Counselor’s Corner – Hello again,

This week is No-Name Calling Week and all of our classroom activities are centered on this theme.  In the upper grades we are continuing to try to figure out the difference between kind teasing and hurtful teasing.  In the lower grades we have focused mostly on choosing the words we use with each other and making a habit of only calling people by their given/chosen names.  Kids will have had the opportunity to have a piece of yarn tied around their wrist as a reminder to speak kindly to each other. I wish we could make this nationwide and all ages.

8th graders forecasting for Grant and Roosevelt should turn in their forms to me ASAP.  I need to get those back to the schools very soon. Lincoln will send me their forms soon and Franklin will be here on February 2nd. Cleveland is scheduled to be here on the 16th of February.  In the meantime, here’s info on Cleveland’s open house:  

Cleveland High School’s Annual Open House
Thursday, February 8, 2018 - 7 p.m. - CHS Auditorium Please attend Cleveland’s annual Open House, where parents and their 8th graders can learn about "bridging the gap" between 8th grade and high school. You will meet CHS teachers, students and parents who will share their experiences and answer questions while you take a guided tour of the campus. Learn about class offerings, freshman Academies, student activities and resources, athletics and student organizations, as well as the International Baccalaureate and Mandarin Chinese Immersion programs. This is a once-a-year event for 8th graders and their parents. We look forward to seeing you there! Parents with questions about Bridging the Gap should contact Jan Watt at 503-916-5120 x75029.

If your 8th grader is hoping to go to a private school, please get the recommendation paperwork to the teachers (and Mr. Sandilands and I) as soon as possible.  It does take us some time to complete.  

We have a middle school theater production called Above, Between, Below focusing on bullying coming to us February 1st.  It’s a collaboration between Kaiser and the Oregon Children’s Theater.  

http://www.etpnorthwest.org/programs-list/above-between-below.  

On February 28th, the middle school students will be watching the movie Screenagers, focusing on the role screens are playing in our lives.  A public screening will be shown at Cleveland that night.  Look for more info from the PTSA soon.  

And our question of the week:  What role does/did race play in your family’s choice of schools?  This is going to be more of a self-journey for the adults in the room, but also one that middle schoolers can be more aware of as they start to think about high school.  Some of this may be really uncomfortable for all of us.  I encourage us all (I do these with my kids as well) to dodge this discomfort, we have to embrace it in order to change things.  The easy answer, of course, is “none”; but that’s missing the deeper complexities.  We all took the time and effort (and luck) to get into this amazing place called Winterhaven.  Why?  How did race play into that decision?  

Have a good week!

Cliff Shaw

cshaw1@pps.net