Upcoming Events:
Monday Nov 23 and Tuesday Nov 24 - Professional work days. Use this gift of time to catch up, plan ahead, and focus on whatever professional learning or planning/grading tasks that you need to do so you can enjoy a work free Thanksgiving break! I do have several meetings on both days, but if you need to meet with me about anything, please go here to schedule a time: https://calendly.com/dodgejohnson/15min
As you are planning for classes after Thanksgiving, remember that after a week, students often need a review of procedures/routines/expectations. Be ready to welcome them back!
Relax and Rejuvenate over the Thanksgiving holiday!
I want each and everyone of you to know how thankful I am for you. Our students and your colleagues are lucky to have you here at Dodgeland.
Thank you for...
Abby P - for getting students involved in hands-on science fun when we’re in person and keeping them
actively engaged when virtual.
Alyssa S - for jumping right into a new position here at Dodgeland and learning on the spot. It feels like
you’ve always been here!
Amanda B - for taking the lead on the ACP/advisory plans at the high school and inspiring us to keep
students focused on their future.
Andrea S - for always finding resources to help support teachers’ professional learning and supporting some of our students who are struggling with extra support.
Andrea W - for having firm expectations with the love of a mom for students who need it the most!
Anna V - for advocating for students who need extra support, even though you’re not a special education
teacher anymore!
Annette N - for translating documents for me at the last minute, when I should have asked you like a week
ago!
Austin C - your sense of humor and creative ideas to engage students, along with inviting me to test out my failing memory skills!
Austin F - your engaging history lectures and activities to make history come alive. Additionally, your ability to get an entire classroom of high schoolers to watch a cartoon throughout the lunch period!
Bill O - for maintaining a positive attitude throughout the COVID chaos and making sure to keep a
consistent routine for students.
Brad Ma - for holding students accountable to high expectations to prepare them for life beyond high school.
Brad Mo - for the 8,000 tech related tasks you accomplish each day to keep everything we need running
smoothly.
Brenda C - for your utmost kindness to all and always stepping in to help when it’s needed. And you kept your cool when Ben Dover and Jack Meoff made it to your bluejeans class. LOL
Bryce M - for balancing all the extra student activities of musical, dance and forensics!
Cathy and crew - for pivoting the lunch program to meals on wheels and finding time to bake the delicious cookies for staff!
Christina R - for making quick and helpful videos to make sure kids know how to do things they need to on their iPads.
Colleen G - for never giving up on students, even when they can be so frustrating at times!
Courtney M - for bringing your creativity to our students and making sure that our students stuck at home
have art materials.
Debbie C - for your compassion and willingness to keep on learning whatever tricks will work for the
students you support.
Dixie K - for keeping the LEA spreadsheet to make sure all the meetings are covered and for your
awesome data collection.
Erich L - for stepping into a new position this year to support our students who need support the most.
Erin S - for the great relationships you’ve established with students and your ability to keep a room of
freshmen focused and on-task!
Gerri W - for reaching out to students who have been struggling or disengaged and finding ways to pull
them back in.
Janis G - for sharing your teaching wisdom with a student teacher this year, while adding on the new role
of adaptive PE.
Jason M - for taking on the lead teaching role when necessary. If you can student teach through COVID,
you will be just fine in your teaching career!
Jeff S - for your ongoing resilience and creating a workspace that many of our students thrive in.
Jerry - for finding weird ceiling leaks and making sure we stil have heat each day with a failing HVAC.
Jonathan R - for figuring out how to make band work, despite masks and masks for the instruments. And
for always lending a helping hand when it’s needed!
Josh K - for all of your great PR work on our Facebook page and behind the scenes work on tech.
Josh Ku - for always starting out IEP meetings identifying a student’s strengths. And of course, reminding
us staff lounge “issues” to be addressed. LOL
Kaitlyn Z - for keeping the daily math routine no matter what and sharing bluejeans recordings for students that had connectivity issues so they wouldn’t miss out.
Kari G - for responding the radio calls of disgusting needs that everyone else hears and thinks, “Thank goodness that’s not for me!”
Kay L - for your tech resource emails to teach on us new tips and tools.
Kevin K - for stepping into a new grade level and rocking it with your new team!
Lance - for making sure our classrooms are cleaned and sanitized every night with a smile under that mask!
Laura H - This year could have been boring with all the COVID protocols, but you made them all way more interesting with your pirate theme and gamification!
Laura S - for completing tasks faster than I even know they are needed, while keeping track of the attendance mess that is this year!
Lauren L - even though you’re a math teacher, you promote a love for reading by displaying what books you’ve read for students to see.
Linda - for not letting an angry parent phone call wreck the day and keeping track of all things athletics.
Lisa B - for sending us words of inspiration and calm to keep our spirits up, while making a million phone calls to find outside resources for our students.
Lisa K - for always remaining calm, despite the storms a student may bring your way.
Lisa E - for continuing to support students virtually with the extra help they need.
Lori H - for tapping into students strengths and creativity to let them shine! And for always sharing resources with me to keep calm through art!
Lucas V - for finding ways for our students in FFA to still serve in the community while following COVID protocols.
Lynn B - for keeping up with so many powerschool/Wisedata/SEEDS tasks behind the scenes with a smile.
Marcia - for managing the 8 million changes that have come with sports this year. And we thought weather
related event changes were a pain?
Matthew D - for meeting with our juniors and seniors to plan for their post-high school lives.
Mechelle L - for being the school mom for so many of our students who need a mom to love them!
Megan D - for being so flexible to change schedules, whether in person or virtual, to support student needs.
Michael S - for balancing a new position teaching elementary classes while still teaching middle school PE.
Michelle B - for reaching out to check on students who weren’t in class or had poor internet connection.
Nicole L - for always advocating for your students so they can experience academic success.
Nicole S - always being in the hallway and livening it up with fun music. Additionally, advocating for students needs.
Patrick B - for all your help making sure that classrooms have microfiber towels throughout the days, while teaching functional skills at the same time.
Paul Q - for the quick connections you have made with students, building relationships and engaging them in school.
Paul S - for believing in students and having patience with them every day.
Paula - for always being the model of calm and being able to articulate concerns so well when I rely on my mask to hide what I want to say.
Ron M - for making sure that the pandemic doesn’t stop our students from getting their driving hours - something we know is very important to them!
Roni K - for making sure everyone is well caffeinated with the morning coffee preparation, and for helping our student council still plan ways to celebrate Homecoming despite COVID.
Sarah P - for joining us in the middle school this year and being flexible to go wherever support is needed.
Scott J - for supporting some of our most at-risk students to be successful, including many of our students out of the building on APEX.
Stephanie N - coming back home, asking questions and for finding creative ways to keep science active for kids even through BlueJeans (and soggy graham crackers!)
Steve - for keeping our grounds in shape, along with the added task of dismissal traffic control.
Sue R - for your utmost patience and calm in dealing with some challenging situations.
Sydney W - for always finding engaging literature to make reading meaningful for kids and continuing to provide your students with “new episodes of Mrs. Westphal” when you had to stay home!
Terry B - for the strong connections you have with students and your life planning conversations to impact
their futures.
Theresa P - for joining us new to Dodgeland, yet as the veteran science teacher and jumping right on board to a renovation workgroup to share your wisdom!
Troy B - always being so positive and flexible no matter what happens!
Happy Thanksgiving! Be Safe! Eat Lots! Rest More!
