Salmen High 9th Grade Academy

The month of October flew by so quickly.  We have been concerned about the students who are not progressing as much as we think they should at this point in the semester.  I have had many discussions and meetings with the administration, teachers, students, and parents to brainstorm new ways to combat the problem.  We will be visiting St. Tammany Jr. High very soon to help out their new FBLA organization and provide peer to peer mentoring.  St. Tammany advisers will join our FBLA members on a trip to the FBLA National Fall Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida this November.  Later in November, Boyet Jr. and St. Tammany Jr. will send some of their teachers with ours to the International Reading Association Fall Conference in New Orleans.  Hopefully they will all come back rejuvenated with new ideas to improve literacy at their schools. 

During the last few weeks, I have been extremely busy working on some new academy activities.  Preparing for the first meeting with the transition leadership teams from each of our feeder schools took a lot of time but it turned out awesome!  The people serving on each of the teams were so open and shared information about themselves and their schools with each of us.  I really think we bonded during that morning, and I am more than ecstatic about visiting with them at their schools during a shadow activity.  I am also mentoring two new FBLA advisers at St. Tammany Jr. High who have agreed to sponsor a Future Business Leaders of America middle level chapter.  We attended the Fall Advisers' Meeting in Baton Rouge last week and met during lunch to plan our first leadership conference in Orlando this November.  The Academy teachers have been attending professional development meetings for the past few weeks to keep up-to-date and learn some new strategies to try in their classrooms.  They are also coordinating a community service project, homecoming decorations, and an incentive field trip for the students.  And finally, the big 8th Grade Fright Night event!  I spent Friday visiting middle and jr. high schools in Slidell to invite 8th graders to a Spooky Ice cream Reception and Football Game on October 30th from 5:30-9:30 p.m.  There is a $10 cost to pay for a souvenir t-shirt, wristband, and game ticket so they can watch the football game in a special section reserved for them.  I am so excited about meeting potential students and sharing some information to all of them about high school life.  They should go back to their schools highly motivated to do their best so they can go to high school next year.