I just LOVE this picture! It’s Birmingham Principal Extraordinaire, Tiffany Doolan, hugging a sweet baby as a parent drops her off and trusts that we will take good care of this precious child. When I was a principal, I spent the first part of my day greeting kids as parents dropped them off to see if they were”kissed out” or “kicked out” of the car, depending on the day.
Imagine that it’s the first day of a new school and you drop your kid off in a car line and watch them as they walk into the building. You are hopeful that they will be greeted warmly by a principal or teacher. You hope they find a club, team or group that will include your student as a member and friend. You hope that someone, anyone is nice to them. You want them to feel hopeful and have a sense of well-being.
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Hope is the belief that tomorrow will be better than today and the ability to make it happen.
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Well-Being is your current condition of existence; a state characterized by health, happiness, prosperity and welfare.
In other words, well-being is how you feel at the moment and hope is your prediction of tomorrow. As a teacher, I knew that getting my kids feel better about today would increase their chances of a brighter tomorrow. The Gallup Organization’s study of the impact of hope would agree. In fact, they claim that hope is a better predictor of student success than IQ or ability. So, if your student walks in that new school and feels welcome, they have a lot better shot at good grades and achievement.
The Gallup Student Poll
Gallup conducts a free annual poll across the United States from grades 5-12 to measure student’s hope and well-being. During the month of October we plan to offer this poll to every student in Wylie ISD. We plan to do this annually and track the effectiveness and measure the impact The Wylie Way, student/teacher relationships, and campus environment have on increasing/decreasing hope and well-being with our kids. We also plan to survey the strengths of all 5th grade students. We encourage every student to participate. In fact, you can take a similar survey yourself. Click on the link below and measure your your own hope.
We really want to make our kids feel loved, cared for and consider school the best part of their day. We also want you to know that you are the parent of our kids, and we understand if you do not want your child to take the survey. If you do not want your child to take the survey, please click on the links below to access a form that we would ask you to provide to your campus principal.
Thanks for sharing your kiddos with us, it’s our goal that every time a student walks in our building, we give them hope! Hope and well-being, it’s the Wylie Way!
