In two more days, the 2014-2015 school year comes to a close. On Wednesday night our seniors close one chapter of their lives and move on to the next. Their time spent at Fairfield High has helped prepare them for what lies ahead. The graduating seniors' journey through school began the day they walked across the threshold of their Kindergarten classrooms. I am sure some were so nervous they wouldn't let go of their mom or dad. I am sure some were so excited they wouldn't stop wiggling around. Eventually, they all learned their alphabet, numbers, how to read and write, and the basic tenets of what being a "student'" means. Every teacher that has had the pleasure of working with our seniors from Kindergarten to senior year can be confident that each of them helped shape who these students are today. Our seniors will leave FHS on Wednesday and will take a piece of each of you with them. They will forever be part of the Fairfield High Family!
Congratulations on a job well done! Congratulations on a year that we saw Fairfield High "above the fold," in the newspaper multiple times for some amazing events on campus. Congratulations on modeling grit, resilience, and perseverance. Thank you for making my first year at Fairfield High one of the best in my educational career. I am PROUD to be a FALCON!!
I wish everyone a great summer. Take time to refresh and recharge. Come back ready in August to take on a new school year and make an impact on even more students lives.
As we end our long four day weekend we need to make sure we reflect on the reason we had time off. Memorial Day is a solemn day of remembrance for everyone who has died serving in the American armed forces. The holiday, originally known as Decoration Day, started after the Civil War to honor the Union and Confederate dead.
On Thursday of last week, Math teacher, Jeff Macloud conducted a lesson on Memorial Day with his students. Here are a a few reflections from some of our very own FHS students on what Memorial Day is and what it means to them.
"Memorial Day, to me, is a day of solemn remembrance of not only our country's history, but our history as humans. From the peak of the first industrial revolution to the day man utilized fire, human civilization has grown and diversified in countless ways that one can never truly comprehend. The American Civil War is only one of countless conflicts that permeate our history, and to remember it alone does not do history justice. We'd remember WWI, WWII, The Thirty Years' War, and so on. Conflict is ever present and it is near impossible to consolidate a single day for a single tragic war."
"Memorial Day to me is the day that we honor many of the soldiers that have fallen. It is a day we visit graves of family members and friends who have passed. It is also a day I visit my grandpa to appreciate that he is still with us. Every year on Memorial Day I go to his house and watch the parades. Over all Memorial Day is the day to appreciate the fallen soldiers the active members and the veterans."
"Memorial Day is a national holiday where Americans gather around to celebrate and honor the men and women that lost their lives fighting for our country . To me Memorial Day means to get together with my family and honor the men and woman that have died in the service. Our family usually gets together and have a barbecue or when it's a nice warm day , we go to the lake or beach. My uncle Noel served in the military as a military police . He's still alive but we still give him thanks for what he has done for this country . I give thanks to all that have done great things for this country ."
Our ONE goal: To graduate every Fairfield High Student and to ensure that they leave FHS college and career ready!!!
This last week I attended the Solano County Work Ready Certification and had the honor of hearing guest speaker William Wesley. Mr. Wesley began his speech by saying he is not a motivational speaker but a transformational speaker. He emphasized that he doesn't want to speak to crowds to merely pump them up and get them excited, but he wants to leave them with takeaways that if put into action will transform their lives.
Merriam Webster Dictionary defines motivation as, "The act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something: the act or process of motivating someone." Merriam Webster Dictionary defines transformation as, "A complete or major change in someone's or something's appearance, form, etc."
Two quotes of Mr. Wesley's that I found the most inspiring were:
"Think It, Believe It, Plan It, Achieve It."
AND
"Nothing can stop a human being who refuses to lose."
As educators we help transform lives. We also motivate our students, but the real power comes when transformation occurs. Never forget the impact you make each and every day on your students. Every student matters and every student has greatness inside him/her. As educators it is our duty to help foster the greatness inside every student.
Another Great Week in Review @FHS
Colonel Avery, Cadet Ryan and Cadet Elder
JROTC Cadets Nic Elder and Layne Ryan holding up the Proclamation from Solano County Board of Supervisors
Certificated Staff that were Made in FSUSD
ROTC Awards Ceremony
ROTC Awards Ceremony
ROTC Awards Ceremony
ROTC Awards Ceremony
ROTC Awards Ceremony
The 2015-2016 Leaders for ROTC
Special Honorees at the ROTC Awards Ceremony
Cadet Kaloi and Colonel Avery alongside the Air Force representatives
The Staff versus Student Softball Game!!
Lesley Martinez the Fairfield High Student of the Year!
Our Saturday Garden Project: Building the Raised Planter Boxes
Our ONE goal: To graduate every Fairfield High Student and to ensure that they leave FHS college and career ready!!!
I had the privilege of attending the Future Ready Summit with Superintendent Corey, Tim Goree, Roxane Liu, and Melissa Farrar on Monday and Tuesday of this week. We collaborated with other districts and worked on building our district plan that will support all of our schools in becoming #FutureReady. What is a #FutureReady school? A school that has robust, rigorous resources, engaged students with equitable access, active parents for deeper engagement, dedicated educators, and a "yes culture" of leadership.
After attending the summit and speaking with other educators, I couldn't help but focus on the idea of modeling what we want to see in the classroom. As I was speaking with a teacher from St. Helena he said to me, "Every time I leave a conference like this I tell myself I need to do it differently in the classroom with my students. I can't forget how hard it is to sit for so long with no breaks. I go back and I start out strong and then fall back to my old ways." This stuck with me and is a CRITICAL reflection for all of us. If I as a leader of a school continue to run meetings in a traditional fasion, how can I ever expect the teachers to transform their classrooms? If we want educators to "disrupt" education we need to do the "disruption" in all the facets. To that end I had a staff meeting the day I returned to work. There were a few "nuts and bolts" pieces of information that were shared for the first 20 minutes. Then, it was time to truly mix it up. I utilized an app called GooseChase that I was introduced to at the summit. I told the staff that for the remainder of the meeting they were going to engage in a form of a digital scavenger hunt. I further stated that they would not need to return to the library to end our meeting, that the time was flexible. I wanted them to engage in conversation and collaboration with their departments. I wanted it to be organic but directed by the "missions" that I had prepared for them to complete. This was an effort to model a tool that could be used in their classroom with the students and additionally show the importance of changing our delivery of information.
What took place was exactly what I had hoped for. The teams took off on their missions and another benefit; hearing teachers talk about ways of incorporating GooseChase into their classroom. One teacher saw a way of using the application as a form of "choice" for his students. FHS understands and embraces the fundamental structure of being a #FutureReady school. We need to continue with this focus and connect all of our students with not only devices for school and home, but also work to ensure connectivity at home.
This past week Fairfield High had some very memorable moments. It was a great week to be a FALCON.
On Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday we had our WASC visit. Tuesday afternoon the WASC committee shared an exceptional report for Fairfield High. We are making progress towards all of our action goals and working closer to achieving our over goal of graduating all students and ensuring they are prepared for college and career.
Wednesday evening, our very own Shari Patterson, was named Solano County Teacher of the Year. Shari now holds the following titles: 2015 Fairfield High Teacher of the Year, 2015 Fairfield-Suisun Unified District Teacher of the Year, and 2015 Solano County Teacher of the Year. Shari now goes on to compete to potentially be named as California State Teacher of the Year. Shari is an exceptional educator and continues to make huge impacts on both our students and staff. Congratulations, Shari!!
Thursday at lunch marked day one of the First Annual 3 vs. 3 intramural soccer tournament. Teacher, Steve Duncan, worked hard to create the roster and mark off the soccer field on our quad. The quad was packed at lunch with students cheering their friends on. This tournament continues at lunch for the next few weeks.
Thursday afternoon was our Third Annual Let's Make a Deal Assembly. Over 700 students were recognized and rewarded for the academic and character traits. Students received prizes that had been donated by staff and local businesses. This is one more step in reinforcing the academic and character traits as we continue to build our Culture of Universal Achievement, a fundamental pillar of what it means to be a No Excuses University school.
The week ended in elegance with our JROTC Ball on Friday evening and our 2015 Oasis Prom on Treasure Island Saturday Night!!
JROTC Ball
JROTC Ball
JROTC Ball
JROTC Ball
MOMENTS FROM PROM 2015!!
Our ONE goal: To graduate every Fairfield High Student and to ensure that they leave FHS college and career ready!!!
The ancient African proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child," couldn't be more relevant today. Not only does it take a village to raise a child, it takes community involvement to create a society that flourishes. I was able to take part in an outreach event this Saturday at Grande Circle. The event was a coordination of efforts spearheaded by Neighborhood Empowerment. There was support and participation by the following groups: City of Fairfield, Fairfield Police Department, Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, City Church, Liberty Church, Safe Quest Solano, Real Life Church, Bayworth Church of Christ, The Leaven, Kaiser Permanente, St. Marks Lutheran Church, HOPE Christian Church, Northbay Church of God, Neighborhood HOPE Dealer, Fairfield Community SDA Church, and Alpha Pregnancy Center. The mantra of the day, "Helping to transform neighborhoods, one block at a time."
Our youth need to see us in the community and need to see us as role models and mentors. This event on Saturday was a great example of this. The Fairfield Police Department was in full force to answer questions and provide guidance and support. I saw many adults taking the opportunity to reach out to the officers and find out ways of helping to make their neighborhood safer. The officers were serving snow cones and cotton candy to the kids and engaging in great honest positive communication. This is the beginning of the change. But, it can't be the end. We all need to continue to take part in what we can to continue to foster growth in our youth and our community. If we can build a strong foundation in our city then we as educators will not only be providing a strong academic foundation, but we will be helping to provide a safe society for our students to be successful and prosper.
Whether you are a spiritual individual or not, one could not help but notice the strong message of faith at this weekend's event. The speakers and musical performers all expressed their trials and tribulations in life but attested that the turning point was when they let God into their lives. The fundamental concept of faith has a uniting effect. Faith based organizations from all denominations joined together on Saturday! The guiding principle here is that we all need to join together to support one another and help each other out of the tough times. We can do this!
Here are two different video compilations from the event.
Our ONE goal: To graduate every Fairfield High Student and to ensure that they leave FHS college and career ready!!!
I have been a part of FSUSD since 1998 and I had never before heard of Almost Anything Goes or AAG until joining the Fairfield High team this year. This "secret" has been alive and strong for 36 years and is at the heart of what makes Fairfield High an amazing high school. Staff members and graduates from years ago return to take part in and watch the AAG events. AAG is composed of two days after school where teams compete in friendly competitions. The amazing part of it is that teams are competing to win but at the same time are cheering everyone else on. There is such a strong feeling of camaraderie. This year (and apparently every year) there was a team from Armijo High school that participated. When the Armijo team showed up Tuesday afternoon in the gym the crowd erupted in cheers and support. It was something I have never seen or experienced before. We had 15 teams compete this year including a staff team. Events included such things as Pass the Person, Jump Rope, Swim Relay, Soda Chug, and Tug of War. The culminating activity Thursday was a BBQ for everyone to enjoy. Those that participated in AAG created friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.
There is so much more to school than just what lies within the walls of the classroom. Outside the classroom environment learning takes place in a different way. When we join together: staff, students, family, and community we learn by experiences. We learn about team work, collaboration, tenacity, failure, perseverance, grit, resiliency, and triumph. AAG encompassed all of this. I was so happy to take part in AAG and be able to share the experience with the students and staff that were there. It changed me for the better! Each day our Fairfield High family becomes stronger and stronger. We (staff and students) are each others support, guidance, allies, advocates, and foundation to a more successful life.
The First Place Team, Senorita Bread, has been a team since their Freshman year. Each year they have participated together in AAG. This year as a senior team they were able to pull off First Place!!
The Armijo Team "Vicious and Delicious"
Here is a video compilation thanks to Shannon Balthazor!!
Our ONE goal: To graduate every Fairfield High Student and to ensure that they leave FHS college and career ready!!!
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