Mountain View Elementary – KPBSD Communications Field Notes

Ms. Judy Cox awarded Golden Apple

Ms. Judy Cox, Substitute Teacher
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
Golden Apple Award | September 14, 2020

In 1988, Ms. Judy Cox started her career in education, and after her retirement, continued doing what she loves as a substitute teacher.

“For 32 years she has been inspiring, delighting, and educating students as a kindergarten teacher, first grade teacher, librarian, and an amazing substitute. Ms. Cox is also known as the Book Lady and her love of reading inspired her to collect and give away books in the community. In the summer, you can find her at the end of her driveway, with piles of books, eager to share with any and everyone who passes by. Ms. Cox has blesses the lives of educators, students, administrators, and parents (many who are former students), and continues to do so with endless energy and a true love for teaching.”
–Nominator Kim Bates, Mountain View Elementary educator

Third grade teacher Catherine Lyon said, “When called upon, Judy is up for long term subbing, one day subbing, and in the middle of the night emergency subbing. She makes sure that she is there, ready for the students, no matter what is happening in the classroom.” “Judy makes it a point to know everyone’s name and greet them with enthusiastic familiarity,” said Catherine Mendenhall, Behavioral Support Teacher. “She has taught all of my children in various long-term substitute assignments, and keeps up with me about their news, taking a huge personal investment in my family. In fact, she makes me feel like part of her family whenever I see her in the hallways.”

Music teacher Jonathan Dillon shares, “Ms. Cox has a kind heart and is innovative in the ways that she approaches and supports students—maybe this kiddo needs some encouragement, that kiddo needs a smile, and this one just needs to move their body while she plays the ukulele!” Donna Anderson, third grade teacher says, “When I grow up, I want to be just like Judy. She is a role model, for children and adults.” Fourth grade teacher Dave Daniel adds, “She exudes a love for learning in all that she does, and has an amazingly versatile tool kit for her subbing jobs. Judy handles guest teaching from preschool to high school, but I believe her favorite is elementary age. She takes the children to faraway places in stories or in songs, as well as works out those math problems they don’t get.” Sienna Griggs, fifth grade teacher said, “In the five years I have known her, she has never approached me in the hall without a smile or funny story. She goes out of her way to make our staff and students laugh and enjoy our days.”

Donna Schneiders, kindergarten teacher said, “My kids get so excited when they find out that Judy will be my sub that they start to jump up and down and scream!” Bill Vedders, third grade teacher said, “I met Judy my first year in Alaska when I was force transferred to a kindergarten teaching position at Redoubt Elementary. Having never taught kindergarten before, I was a bit distressed. The district gave me a few days to visit each kindergarten room so I wouldn’t be a total stranger when kids were yanked from their beloved teachers to be in my room. Judy set me at ease immediately, and it was abundantly evident that this lady, surrounded by more Mickey Mouse memorabilia than I thought existed, had a deep and sincere love for her children. I heard that Ms. Cox will be retiring again, this time from subbing. Thank goodness that was just fake news, and Judy will still be back in the classroom spreading the love of reading and learning wherever she goes!”

Second grade teacher Lyndi Miller said, “She has completed two long-term subbing positions for me while I was on maternity leave. I had peace of mind while Judy was in my classroom during long-term subbing, knowing that my students were getting a non-disrupted education with continued curriculum and also residing in a nurturing, happy environment. She has a real knack for understanding child development and engaging children to keep them excited to learn.” Nicole Cunningham, fourth grade teacher says, “She comes in on her own time to help other subs, students, and staff. Ms. Cox works hard to build strong, loving relationships with the whole school and truly embodies what a passion for teaching looks like.”

“Having a substitute teacher often disrupts a child’s rhythm at school, and this is not the case with Judy. She subs so often in our school—she never declines—that students know and love her like their regular teacher. Her day subbing usually starts with her playing the ukulele and singing You are My Sunshine with her students. At the end, she asks Who loves you? And students loudly reply, You do! They love to see her and greet her in the hall with smiles even when she is not their sub for the day. I love to see her in the hall as well, to get my own personal smile and pick me up conversation, a dose of Judy so to speak. She volunteers on a regular basis for all kinds of events, loves kids, and she loves to help.”
Principal Karl Kircher, Mountain View Elementary School

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education is proud to recognize Ms. Judy Cox for her dedication to the students of the school district, past, present, and future.

Past Golden Apple recipients
Nominate someone to receive KPBSD Golden Apple Award Recognition
Apply to be a substitute in KPBSD – choose when to work!
Mountain View Elementary on Facebook

Understanding Disabilities and Celebrating Kindness

Individuals with disabilities, as well as experts in the field of disabilities, came to Mountain View Elementary to set up eight different stations for presentations on a wide variety of physical and cognitive disabilities. These experts presented information about disabilities to our students and staff and provided engaging activities that facilitated the understanding of challenges that individuals with disabilities face and overcome on a daily basis. Among other activities, students had hands on experience with creating and reading Braille, using alternative communication devices and manipulating artificial limbs. Art was the focus at one station where students worked with illustrator Maggie Winston to paint without using their hands. Her artwork, done holding the paintbrush in her teeth, was yet another example of focusing on abilities as opposed to disabilities.

As KPBSDs largest open enrollment elementary school, Mountain View provides a number of programs designed to meet the needs of students with disabilities. All of our students benefit from their daily interactions within this diverse student body. It was our hope that this year’s Diversity Day would broaden this natural development of empathy and further prepare our students to participate in an inclusive society.
Kindness was the focus of a school wide assembly. A variety of short skits, songs and other presentations focused on all aspects of kindness. Teachers and students from across the school teamed up to celebrate the conclusion of our annual start of the year, and eight weeks focus on Positive Responses to Conflict and Kindness. During these eight weeks, age appropriate lessons for our teaching kindness, empathy and our six positive responses to conflict happen at all grade levels.
Combined, these two events provided a powerful message to our students of what we value here at Mountain View Elementary, Kenai’s Neighborhood School.
https://www.facebook.com/MountainViewElementaryKPBSD

Personalized Learning: Think Kaladi Brothers, soup and salad bar, treadmill

Ms. Sienna Griggs, Mountain View Elementary, 4th grade teacher explains,

I define personalized learning as the ability of a student to have self-directed choice in what and how he or she is going to learn; a sense of ownership over their education. While I am still learning about personalizing, I experimented with several elements of personalization in my classroom this past year.

Flexible Seating

Think Kaladi Brothers
I might always choose to sit in the comfy couch chairs because that’s where I usually prefer to drink my tea. However, a friend may enjoy sitting in the chairs next to the wall, as she likes an outlet for working on her computer while she sips her coffee. When my students were responsible for choosing their seating, it fostered a deeper sense of community in our classroom through sharing, taking care of supplies, and compromising. It also developed students’ skills in taking an active role in their learning on where they work best in the room, and when they need to make an informed change.

Station Rotations

Think soup and salad bar
The salad side is for choosing which toppings you want to go over your lettuce. The soup side is for ladling out the best soup choice according to what you prefer most. Both sides are for lunch, both sides are complimentary to one another, both feed you, and most likely you’ll visit both sides. We had four stations where students rotated through structured learning activities in small groups for both math and reading. Students were responsible for choosing which books they read, which activity would be best to support their level of understanding, and completing collaboration activities were provided to enhance learning and understanding. Their station information was up on a PowerPoint that ran on its own timing between slides, informing the students when it was time to switch stations. With different activities at each station, learning occurred alongside with exploration.

Adaptable Curriculum Pacing

Think treadmill
If a gym member steps on a treadmill in the middle of training for a marathon, their pace is most likely going to be quicker and they will probably run for many miles. Another gym member heads toward the treadmill for the first time in a few years. Both members’ experiences will be vastly different, but with the treadmill having adjustable speeds and incline both of these individuals have the ability to work hard and leave the gym feeling successful with their efforts.

Personalized Learning
Most of us, if not all, already differentiate beautifully in our classrooms. Differentiation, a teacher modifying material that is being taught and how students will learn it based on the unique needs of his or her class, has been extremely successful in meeting the needs of small groups of students. Before I learned about personalized learning, our classroom differentiated groups were centered around myself as the teacher; even though there was choice involved, I was still the only one responsible for what we were learning, and when, and how. In reaction to hearing about personalization, I wondered how this would work in the classroom and how I could personalize my students’ learning with myself in more of a guide position to support my students. With much help from others, I was able to use an online platform to build part of my math materials for this year. The learning curve was steep, and sometimes frustrating, but my students were helpful by providing feedback and catching mistakes I made.
I had a specific group of students working in a personalized learning method. Eighty percent of the students who were using the online platform met or exceeded yearly growth for math. Student reflections and feedback included statements such as, “I like working online because it lets me go at my own pace,” and “The program helps me be less distracted by other people and I can focus on my own work,” also “I don’t have to be worried about where other people are at.” I observed different students working at various parts of the math unit and utilizing tools and manipulatives that made sense to them as they worked through the lessons. My students also questioned the lessons, helped each other, and challenged one another’s thinking. Watching personalized learning unfold was really neat to experience.
Through personalized learning, I was able to integrate other programs and platforms to further exploration, learning, and real world connections. It wasn’t all smooth and perfect, but that’s where my learning as an educator comes in. This is only the beginning of my attempt to personalize my classroom, and I am already seeing the benefits through the students’ experiences and collaboration, assessment results, and direction that personalizing learning is taking both my students and myself.
Links
KPBSD Personalized Learning blog
KPBSD Personalized Learning FAQs
KPBSD Personalized Learning webpage

Celebrate Jonathan Dillon, 2017 Kenai BP Teacher of Excellence!

“While I am honored by this recognition, I want to share that it isn’t mine alone. What we achieve at Mountain View Elementary—both students and staff—comes from the ways in which each of us work to support one another. I am fortunate to teach alongside helpful administrators, loving families, master teachers and staff, and—most importantly—kind, curious students. I am grateful to be a part of the Mountain View family.” – Jonathan Dillon

Jonathan Dillon teaches music in kindergarten through fifth grade at Mountain View Elementary School in Kenai. He has been a teacher for five years, all five of which have been in Alaska. In addition to being nominated by parents of his students, Jonathon was recognized by many of his fellow teachers. The universal consensus is that he’s a really nice guy, always willing to help struggling students and his coworkers, he simply loves teaching.
Johnathan graduated from University of Alaska Fairbanks with a bachelor’s in music and earned a master’s degree, also in music, from the University of Montana. Clearly, he is a gifted musician, but it’s as a teacher that he earned this compliment from a parent: “Mr. Dillon is remarkable in his ability to include all students, of all abilities, in his classes. When a student tells him they do not know something, whether music-related or not, he kindly interjects, ‘Not yet.’”
Whereas conventional wisdom may be that some people have musical talent and some do not, Johnathon approaches each student with the belief that every one of them can learn to create music. Because he teaches a number of grade levels, he is able to mentor them through the first years of learning music, helping them progress: playing a number of instruments, reading and even writing music. Most important, they learn to sing.
He says, “I believe singing is a great equalizer in music education. Each child has his or her own unique voice – and learning to use that voice is the foundation upon which all other musical skills flourish.”
Johnathan is dedicated to helping his students. He teaches band during lunch, and choir after school. He holds concerts during the year to not only allow his students to showcase their talents but to teach them what it means to learn a discipline in private then use it in real application – in public.
One of the many fellow teachers who nominated Johnathon wrote, “Mr. Dillon uses music as a vehicle to elevate each person to the point that they are operating at their highest self – and to ask, ‘How can I make someone else’s day a bit brighter?’ If Mr. Rogers were to come back as a music teacher, his name would be Johnathan Dillon.”

Many of Jonathan’s students come to school from very difficult home situations, including homelessness, adoption, foster care, poverty, divorce, and so forth. But as another fellow teacher wrote, “Mr. Dillon is a leader in our school in the way he models kindness, generosity of time and attention, and inclusion of all in his program. He goes above and beyond for those kids every day.”

“Music is only a small part of the curriculum that Mr. Dillon delivers to Mountain View Elementary students,” said Karl Kircher, Mountain View Elementary principal. “Good teachers model what they want their students to learn, and on a daily basis Mr. Dillon seamlessly models kindness, empathy and assuming positive intent as he manages his classes. The entire culture of our school is affected by his actions as he inspires our staff to emulate his practices. The amazing relationships that Mr. Dillon develops with his students and the joy they find in singing together with their friends is evidenced by the fact that 46, 4th and 5th grade students participated in after school, extra-curricular choir this year. Mr. Dillon’s smile and demeanor as he goes about his day from classes to Kindergarten lunch duty to his after-school computer code writing club for shows that he takes in as much joy as he gives.”

This year’s nominees were again, an excellent representation of our staff as a whole,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent. “They are humble, hard-working and student-centered. They are willing to go above and beyond to help students succeed and reach their full potential.”
“BP is proud to honor these great teachers and their tireless work in the classroom,” said BP Alaska Regional President Janet Weiss. “We see it as part of our ongoing commitment to the communities where our people live and work – and an investment in the people who help make Alaska great.”
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District BP Teachers of Excellence winners are:

Stephanie Cronin, Seward High School
Jonathan Dillon, Mountain View Elementary School
Barbara Larivee, West Homer Elementary School
Meredith McCullough, Kenai Central High School
Colby Way, Port Graham School

Congratulations, Jonathan Dillon, BP Teacher of Excellence!

Celebrate Karl Kircher, BP Educational Ally Award, 2017 Kenai Peninsula

BP Teachers of Excellence 2017

Karl Kircher, BP Educational Allies Award, 2017 Kenai Peninsula
The award recognizes the additional unsung heroes in our schools—support staff, administration or volunteers—who are working alongside teachers to inspire students and are making a difference in our schools and community.

“It is an honor to receive the BP Educational Ally in the School Community Award. The words “ally” and “community” really made this special for me. I’ve always considered my job as principal to be a supporting role to help create a community where teachers are inspired to excel by each other and by their students. The presentation also recognized our school’s efforts at community service to live up to our role as Kenai’s Neighborhood School. I was proud to receive this award as result of supporting a great team here at Mountain View Elementary.” –Karl Kircher, principal, Mountain View Elementary

At the BP Teachers of Excellence awards, this introduction was spoken, “The awardee from the Kenai Peninsula is just this type of individual. I’ll introduce him or her and ask them to come up to receive their award. And to make it more fun, they have no idea they’re here to be honored tonight.
This individual came to their school first as Vice Principal, then took the helm as principal two years later. Under his leadership, the school has taken on the subtitle of: A Neighborhood School which emphasizes kindness.
A tall man, this principal meets children at their level, sitting on the floor, listening, and engaging with the heart of students before speaking. He’s a creative thinker, a risk taker, and a man of action.
Not only does he respect the students, the staff and strive to improve the level of education for all students, he also seeks to engage with and meet the needs of the community.
He’s organized many community engagement opportunities such as the fall carnival, bike rides, and cook outs. He’s encouraged students and staff to reach out and give back, planting trees in public gardens, honoring veterans and packaging Christmas gifts to struggling families.
More than anything, we’re told, Karl Kircher, principal at Mountain View Elementary School, is a cheerleader—the director of a huge team working together for a common cause: equipping the next generation for success.
When we asked what type of prize Karl might like, his colleagues responded that his greatest joy in life is his family, especially his little grandson. So we have purchased Karl tickets for two adults and one child for the Kenai Fjords Tours National Park tour in Seward, so he can spend some much-deserved quality time with his family this summer.”

“I am excited Mr. Kircher has been selected as the first Educational Ally recipient in KPBSD,” said Sean Dusek, superintendent. “He is a tireless leader at Mountain View Elementary that has implemented a successful kindness culture at the school. He has done an excellent job supporting teachers make the kind of difference that has raised the bar for all students.”

Please congratulate Karl Kircher, BP Educational Ally for the Kenai Peninsula!
Facebook: Mountain View Elementary
Website: Mountain View Elementary

Commit to Respond to Conflict in a Positive Manner

Mountain View Elementary Celebrates School-Wide Commitment to Responding to Conflict in A Positive Manner

Nobody likes to get their feelings hurt! While most of us mask the hurt pretty well, it negatively effects affects us in a variety of ways. Most certainly it affects students who may have a hard time learning if they remain focused on a negative interaction with a peer or teacher.
With that realization in mind Mountain View Elementary developed and implemented a Positive Responses to Conflict Curriculum for students Kindergarten through 5^th grade. All adults in the school have also been trained to model these basic practices in their conflicts with students and each other. At a recent assembly the school celebrated the completion of the annual seven week rotation of teaching grade level appropriate lessons on kindness and the six basic positive responses to conflict.
Staff members entertained students and provided reinforcement for the following positive responses to conflict:

Assume positive intent by asking clarifying questions in a positive manner, these questions often begin with “Did you know….”
Politely ask someone to stop a behavior and tell them why.
Wait and cool off followed by using another strategy.
Simply let it go.
Compromise and share.
Talk it out using a structured process including: calming strategies, positive body language, and script prompts.

“The Conflict Wheel” is a graphic designed by Mountain View staff to promote the use of these strategies. The conflict wheel can be found on posters in all all rooms of the building, on a large sign on the playground and on lanyards carried by teachers while on recess duty.
A smaller version of the conflict wheel, with a description of the 6 strategies is discussed with and given to families at open house and conferences to promote its use at home. In April 2016, 87% of the 189 Mountain View Elementary families who returned a survey stated they utilized the 6 positive responses to strategies to resolve conflicts at home.

Mountain View Elementary parade time is overall win-win

Shoutout to Mountain View Elementary students and staff for “Honoring Hometown Heroes” in the Kenai Fourth of July parade, and taking prize for the Overall Award winner!

Thank you to Snug Harbor Seafoods for donating the use of the 20-foot trailer, and Stanley Ford providing a new truck to pull the trailer.

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Neighborhood school takes it to the streets

On May 2, 2015, twenty six “Mountain View Minions” participated in the Walk and Roll for Hope. This event, the 46^th annual, takes place in communities throughout Alaska to raise funds for and awareness about disability services available for Alaskans.
As a large, open enrollment, neighborhood school Mountain View Elementary is fortunate to be able to provide services to students with a wide range of disabilities. By forming a team to participate in this event the Mountain View family was able to show our support for those students as well as the people who work with them, both within our school and elsewhere.
The Mountain View Elementary team included staff participating with their children, grandchildren and parents as well as students participating with their families. With a little inspiration from Disney and artistic help from Pinterest a group of staff members made customized Minion shirts for the team. Wearing bright yellow, googley eyed, and smiley faced tee shirts the team was hard to miss and certainly did its best to add to the festive nature of the event. The “Mountain View Minions” raised $900 to support Hope Community Services, the most raised by any team participating in the event.
The Mountain View Elementary staff has a strong sense of community service that it hopes to impart on its students as well. Other ways they have served the Kenai neighborhood this year include:

Staff members setting up a booth at Industry Appreciation Days where they helped close to 200 local children make individualized, hand printed, eagle art work
The after school choir singing patriotic songs at an evening veterans day celebration
The student council, working with Hilcorp Alaska, serving Thanksgiving Dinner at the Kenai Senior Center
Staff members coordinating a Christmas drive that provided dinner and gifts for over 100 local families
The 2^nd grade singing Christmas carols at a variety of local businesses
The kindergarten promoting a Pennies for Pets campaign that raised $500 for the Kenai Animal Shelter
Student families maintaining a city of Kenai flower bed over the summer

Mountain View Elementary is Kenai’s “Neighborhood School” and its students and staff strive to live up to that moniker. Look for their students and staff at a community service event near you.