The Future...

Sometimes we forget what it means to look ahead.  We are so worried about the past, the present and what might happen.  We worry about what the future might look like and sometimes we go through our daily lives and work without a plan.  At my high school we try to take the approach of moving forward in a Vision kind of way.  Together as a staff we spent 2 years coming up with our Vision Statement and goals.  We changed, suggested, argued, and agreed on what was best for our staff and our kids. Here is what we came up with:

BLHS Vision Statement:

BLHS, through high expectations and a rigorous and relevant curriculum, will work together with the community to ensure each student will: 

*Become responsible citizens and leaders in family, community and work settings. 

*Maintain a positive lifestyle and accept responsibility for one's actions and successes 

*Develop and use effective communication skills. 

*Be provided with a safe and supportive learning environment through communication and cooperation with the community.

*Incorporate acquired knowledge while continuing to empower themselves to achieve challenging goals.


This past August we decided it was time to review these statements and see if this is still what we wanted for our students. Is this where we want our kids to be in 5 years? We came up with some interesting ideas of where we want to head to. Here is what we want our kids to accomplish in the next 5 years:

*Emphasis on Real-World Experiences for Struggling learners *Career Pathways courses drive curriculum *Further our ability to prepare students for career pathways *Digital Literacy for all students *Continue to be innovative *Students will become self starters and more independent learners *Students understand how to be civil with one another *Helping students learn to communicate digitally  *Service learning projects available for students * BLHS CTE programs lead into career placement, vocational training, professional cert. *Be the premier Career and Tech Ed. school in the KC Metro *Cross Curricular opportunities *Higher level classes *Technology is the tool not the goal *Digital Citizenship for all students*Graduate financially literate students *Increased student accountability *Helping less academic students find their careers *Focus on personal accountability, personal care for others *Integration of technology *Encourage students to be self-motivated and take control of their own education *Peer-counseling and acceptance *Become responsible citizens without losing personal identity *Challenge based learning *Students become critical thinkers *Having lessons built around career possibilities *Let kids take risks without fear of failure

I feel blessed to work with such an awesome staff. To see the vision of the staff moving forward for our kids. It is great to see that our group of teachers do care for them and can envision what each and every kid is going to need to be successful in the future.

The Question is-What is your Vision? What is your Dream? Are you worried about what might happen or are you working together to put some plans in place.

Do you see 2 cardboard boxes or do you see 2 Airplanes 

ready to take off??

-Jarred

@jfuhrman3932