A Great Semi-Formal Dance: On Saturday night I was talking with the DJ at the high school semi-formal. He has twenty-two years in his business, and I have twenty-two years in mine. We were swapping stories about dances and how songs have changed over the years; but how kids have largely remained the same. I showed him a song that Nick Sgroi, a graduate from three years ago, produced and performed with some of his friends. Through my ears, and then his, the song, "Her" was radio quality, and fit in the Justin Bieber/Coldplay/Rhianna space.
We decided to experiment and see how the crowd would react to the song. We fit it in at the right time, and as the first three words of the song boomed through the gym, the kids went NUTS and began dancing and singing every word. How cool is that? Watching current students get that into something that a graduate created is just another one of those reasons why my job is like no other! Needless to say, all had a great night and best of luck to Nick!
De-Escalation Training: This week I am going back to school to become a certified trainer for the Crisis Prevention Institute. We have been looking for a consistent way to educate our employees and parents about ways to work with children who have escalating behaviors, including physical behaviors, talking back, etc.
The training includes how to arrange spaces, how to read body language in the classroom and home environment, and how to de-escalate a potentially violent student situation before it becomes violent. All of us have received a variety of training over the years, but it is important to standardize our vocabulary and processes. I want to roll up my sleeves and get the training myself so I can share information with you that may help at home.
Thanks for your support and enjoy the week!
Chris
