The Hawk Happenings: Hawk Happenings

Hawk Thoughts & Happenings

Team Pennoyer,

I just wanted to take this opportunity before our Thanksgiving Break to let you know how much I appreciate each and every one of you for everything you do for our students and families at Pennoyer day in and day out. I'm so grateful to have such an amazing staff that goes above and beyond to do what's best for students no matter what you're faced with on a daily basis. Nobody except those in education will truly understand the level of dedication, perseverance, and sacrifice you all make to support students and families in their lives. YOU make a difference, and YOU matter so much. Remember to always keep your heads up, even in the face of set backs and frustrating moments. We can get through anything together, and I hope you all know that I'm always here as your principal to listen, learn, and be a support both in and out of the classroom any way that I can be. As we look ahead to a well earned Thanksgiving Break, I also want to share a couple other things I'm so thankful for in both my professional and personal life. I hope you'll all take time to do the same to help bring some perspective to your lives and make the best of what you have.

I'm grateful for our amazing students that show kindness, creativity, spirit, and keep us smiling and coming back for more each and every day...

As I said before, but can never say enough, I'm so grateful for our entire Pennoyer staff who show up for students and families in amazing and thoughtful ways that will leave a mark that lasts a lifetime...

I'm grateful for my friends that mean so much to me in my life and are truly like family. Best friends like Barry have been in my life for almost 40 years, and that's a lucky thing to have...

I'm grateful for my wife Jamee, son Lennon, and daughter Sadie, who I live for every single day and keep in my heart and lean on through all of life's ups and downs...

I want to end with our first staff to staff shout out this week...

Ellen wanted to give a shout out to both Nataliia H. and Megan M. "We just finished our second 7th grade science test and Porter got his second 3. This is amazing! I know Megan and Nataliia both work super hard with him and it is really showing this year. (I don't think he has ever had back to back 3's in my class). I loved working with Nataliia last year but this year especially, she really knows Porter and how he responds and she does a fantastic job with him (and all the students in my room)."

Hawk Action Items

Trimester 1 ends Friday, November 17th. Due to Thanksgiving Break, all final grades and comments will be due on Wednesday, November 29th by midnight, and grades and comments will be opened up on Skyward for students and families to view after 4pm on Friday, December 1st.

Just a friendly reminder about Creating/Updating Teacher Websites (Using Google Sites) if you still need to finish this. You can always take a look at what other staff members have created already for ideas if needed, and reach out for support from other teachers, myself, or our Tech Department. When you're finished, please make sure to share it with Patrick so he can review it and post it on our website...thanks!

Wanna make somebody's day at Pennoyer...don't forget about our staff shout outs we'd like to get started up again this year! It's real easy; if one staff member wants to give another staff member at Pennoyer a positive shout out for something that week, just send a quick email blurb to Adam, and he'll feature it in our weekly Hawk Happenings!

Great job with all the social media posts shared for the month of October! We've gotten great feedback from our community. Please keep it up for the month of November. Remember we created a real easy Google Form for teachers to complete. Just a little blurb/picture about anything going on in your classes and then our leadership team will approve it and set it up to go out sometime during the month. Thanks!!!

Creating new Clubs at Pennoyer and Submitting Club Information for Website (Existing or New Clubs)

If you’re interested in starting up a new club, it's certainly not too late. Please submit your ideas HERE! You can check out the CBA if needed for more information. For new clubs, we’ve created a helpful link on our website to showcase the wonderful opportunities for our students at Pennoyer. Please make sure once your club is approved that you create a one page Google Doc or Slide to share with Adam and Pat. Also, if you’re continuing a club from last year, please make sure the information is updated if needed...thanks! Here’s an EXAMPLE for your reference.

Friday Car Line Opportunity During Arrival Time - Want to be a "Guest DJ" and greeter during morning car line? You can have your own playlist if you'd like and be a part of a fun part of the day connecting with our families and students on Fridays during arrival time. This is from 7:50am- to around 8:10am if you're interested. HERE is a sign up sheet to make things easier, and reach out to Adam with any questions.

Stipend Opening for JV Boys Volleyball in the spring...Connect w/ Adam if interested.

Weekly Hawk Playlist/Lyric

Thank You by Led Zeppelin

Hawk Celebrations

This week the celebration is all about our STEAM night event we had this Thursday at Pennoyer! It was an amazing success, and such a great experience for all who attended. Thanks to Mrs. Kopoulos and Mr. Widd for leading out such an incredible opportunity for our students, as well as all of our other staff members who volunteered their time to come help support this event and make it truly special. I also want to give a huge shout out to our friends at Ridgewood High School. The students and staff that set up stations and have collaborated with us to be part of Pennoyer's STEAM night is certainly something worth celebrating. We love that our students had the opportunity to explore the world of STEAM through a variety of interactive experiences. Students were able to explore how things work, challenge their minds and critical thinking, and have hands on activities that connected them with the STEAM world that has become a fabric of society. The hope is these types of opportunities will open up our students to different understandings, passions, and pathways as they move ahead in their lives.