The Hawkeye » schwab’s update

Senior year should be fun, right?

Principal Schwab — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:06:18 +0000

Standing out in front of the school this week, I was enjoying one of our sunny afternoons. The warm weather reminded me of the fact that spring is just around the corner, if not here already, so it is time for few common sense reminders for all of us.
Go to your classes. Seems simple enough, right? But for some students, the sun causes them to make choices to do things other than go to class. It is tempting to take the long lunch or to not go to school at all. One of the fastest ways to find yourself “knee-deep in alligators” is to get in the bad habit of skipping classes. Your grades will be negatively affected but more importantly, you will become personal friends with Sue VanSenus, who can be very persistent when it comes to tracking students who are having trouble getting to class.
Do your homework and stay on top of major assignments. Again, another no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many students struggle with this one. It is much simpler to do your work when it is assigned and turn it in by the due date than it is to start digging out of holes that you have caused by not turning assignments in. Once you start missing homework deadlines, the work piles up and you tend to fall farther and farther behind.
Be kind to your teachers. They are here to do a job and sometimes that job gets really hard when faced with mountains of paperwork, students who need extra help, and required meetings to attend. You’d be amazed at how much mileage you can get from simply treating your teachers kindly.
To the seniors, keep a lid on “senior-itis.” Stay focused on June 17, 2010, the date for graduation. I have heard this time and again from seniors, “But this is my senior year and it is supposed to be the best year of my life.” I would counter that by saying that if your senior year is supposed to be the best year of your life, does that mean it’s all downhill from here? I don’t disagree that your 12th grade year should be a fun, exciting year. But do not lose track of the fact that you have many more years ahead of you that are going to be made even better because you took the time now to make your school work and graduation priorities.
Drive safely. Every year there is a tragic story about teenagers who were injured or killed in auto accidents. Please do not be a statistic or a terrible story on the evening news.
Make good choices. Every one of you is important to many other people, both here at school and in your life outside of MTHS. Please be safe, make good choices and do not put yourself in any situation that could cause harm to you or to others.
Ok. I’ll climb down off my soapbox now. I hope you all have a great spring and that these final weeks of school are fun and successful for each and every one of you.

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How to disagree

Principal Schwab — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:36:53 +0000

I was looking through my files in preparation for writing my letter to all of your for the upcoming edition of The Hawkeye and I came across something I wrote last year about building relationships with your teachers.
As I reread this, it got me to thinking about some situations I have been involved in recently working with students who have had disagreements with their teachers. In working with them, one of the things I observed is that students often get themselves stuck with teachers because they don’t really understand how to disagree.
Now, I’m sure you’re saying to yourself, “What do you mean, Schwab. I know how to disagree. I do it all the time.” I know that we all know how to disagree. That’s not what I’m talking about. What I am talking about is the art of disagreeing.
There are ways to disagree that are more effective than others and can lead to positive resolution. Many of us tend to shy away from disagreements when things don’t go our way. Or worse, we “lose it” with the person we are disagreeing with and nothing gets resolved.
Why? Because we were not able to communicate in a productive way with the person the disagreement was with. If we only had some tools to use when we disagree, we would be able to keep disagreements constructive. Here are some things I have learned that I want to pass along.
1. Don’t make the disagreement personal. When we get upset with someone, we tend to personalize the issue and make it about them. That teacher gave me a low grade on the project because she doesn’t like me. I hear this all the time. Rather than focusing on the person, try to focus on the issue—in this case, the low grade.
2. Don’t put down the other person’s ideas or beliefs. When we disagree with someone, we disagree with their ideas and beliefs. But you need to remember that the other person is entitled to think a certain way. You need to be willing to listen to and think about the other perspective. It’s ok to disagree with another person’s perspective, but resist the temptation to use sarcasm or put downs in response.
3. Don’t blame the other person. When we disagree with someone, it cam be really easy to say, “You did this to me.” Instead, trying putting the focus on you by saying things like, “I feel frustrated because of the grade I got on this assignment.” Again, it keeps the focus on the issue and not the person.
4. Listen. Simple enough, but we often overlook this tool in our desire to be right. Sometimes the best thing you can do is say nothing and allow the person with whom you are disagreeing to say what they need to say.
5. Stay calm. In the heat of the moment, it can be really easy to let emotions rule when we feel angry about an issue. But staying calm is really the best thing because you stay in control, you come across as mature and rational. You are much more likely to be heard when you stay calm.
Disagreements will happen. It is human nature that we will disagree with others from time to time. I hope you find these tips useful when you find yourself in a situation where you disagree with someone, whether it be a teacher, a parent, or a friend.

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A big thank you to all

Principal Schwab — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:38:03 +0000

I am always a little bit sad on the Monday following Homecoming Week. After such an exciting and energetic week, the next week of school, while much calmer, makes me miss the enthusiasm that we all had. This year’s Homecoming was a great one. First off, let me thank our ASB and Stew for the amazing job they did planning all of the activities and dress up days. They also did a wonderful job planning a great assembly on Friday. I don’t know if you realize what a task it is to plan and execute a 90
minute assembly, but t hey pulled it off very well . Also the tailgate party at the school prior to the game was a great idea and a
fantastic way to celebrate our school spirit prior to the game. Thanks to all of you, our students, for the showing of school spirit last week. From your participation in the dress up days to the lunch time activities to Friday’s spirit day and assembly, you all did a great job representing all the makes MTHS such a great school. Your spirit and enthusiasm are much appreciated. While we may have had a few not so positive things to deal with on Friday (as we always seem to do) the majority of you kept the intent of Homecoming positive and for that, I thank you. Thank you to our teachers for their work to maintain an environment that focused on learning. While we get pretty revved up to celebrate Homecoming each year, we are still a school and our main focus is about learning. Our teachers did a great job keeping our focus on the reason we all come to school every day—learning. Not an easy task when you consider all the distractions that take place during Homecoming. Thank you to our football team for their
efforts on the field Friday night. What a great game. Our football team has done an outstanding job this year and regardless
of the outcome of the game, we are very proud of you and they way you represent us all so very well. You have given us a lot to cheer about this year and Friday night was no exception. And now it is on to the playoffs for the first time in Terrace history. What an accomplishment! Thank you to ASB for the great dance on Saturday night. Our dances are always great events and this year was another example of the outstanding work our ASB does to plan activities for students that are fun. The music, the decorations—everything was very well done. I also want to make sure that I thank our other fall sport athletes as well—Boys tennis is going to state, cross country is sending Michael O’Neill and Nina Penner to state, our volleyball team is in the playoffs. What a great fall season. Again, thanks to all of you for a fun week. We made some great memories and had a wonderful time.

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Homecoming reminders

Principal Schwab — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:08:08 +0000

We are well into the new school year and Homecoming is fast approaching. I know that our ASB has done an excellent job planning a week celebrating all that is great about Mountlake Terrace High School. From Coronation, to the big Assembly to the football game Friday night and finally, the Homecoming Dance on Saturday, it is very exciting week.
This year’s Homecoming celebration is especially important given the fact that this year is the 50th Anniversary of Mountlake Terrace High School. 50 years of outstanding celebrations is quite an accomplishment and this year we need to make our Homecoming extra memorable.
Because of the significance of this year’s celebrations, it is important to remind ourselves that while Homecoming is a week to celebrate all that is great about Mountlake Terrace High School, we need to remember not to let our celebrations get out of control.
When I came here six years ago, there were some behaviors that took place at school that were not very positive and we have worked hard to place a focus on all the good things we do and eliminate the negative aspects of Homecoming.
So, what am I talking about? For the most part, our Homecoming is a great week. There is one day that we need to work on, we need to remember that Homecoming Friday, while a very fun day, is still a day of school. We have put the assembly at the end of the day so we can all maintain a focus on school until the assembly in the afternoon.
Then there are the obvious questions like, “can we have face paint?” The answer is no. You may not paint your entire face. We have allowed students to paint their class number on their faces, but if you have any other paint on your face, we will ask you to wash it off.
A big issue we have had to continue working on is tagging. Tagging is when a student marks on another student with a pen or paint. Simply put, this is not ok. Period. Marking on another student, regardless of whether they give you permission or not, is a form of hazing and as such carries with it some pretty harsh consequences. Please understand this and do not engage in this kind of behavior.
Finally, any kind of behavior that disrupts the school day is not acceptable. This includes pranks on the school. In the end, the best advice I have for everyone is this: go to your classes, hang out with your friends, enjoy the day and get ready for the afternoon.
I really hope that we can all take a role in making our Homecoming one that we can celebrate for being a positive experience worthy of the 50 years that MTHS has been a school. I appreciate all of the work that everyone has put into Homecoming and it us up to all of us to make sure we have a great Homecoming.

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