Building Leaders

Programs at St. Paul’s designed to give children opportunities for leadership are intentionally woven into the curriculum. Assigning little buddies to older children, setting up cooperative learning lessons within the classroom, creating student committees and service learning projects, and providing leadership retreats are all ways we give children opportunities to practice making decisions for groups of people. Learning to make decisions for the good of the whole is different than learning to make decisions for one’s own self. And first, one needs to know how to make decisions for oneself.  Interaction between people is always messy - it’s louder, contains more movement, involves suspension of control, and is not always predictable.  But in a school, opportunities for interaction have to be provided.  Postponing interaction teaches nothing to children. We have to be in the middle of it all the time.  Every situation is an opportunity to teach ethics and integrity. “Leaders are raised up one day at a time, through life-on-life mentoring,” says Dr. Tim Elmore in his book, Nurturing the Leader Within Your Child. Here are ways he states that parents can help at home when your child is in the midst of opportunities to problem solve in their relations with others:

1. Paint pictures. Young children think in concrete ways.  Abstract thinking is more firmly in place in early adolescence. Provide visual images to your young child in stories which are personal favorites which model difficult situations made more manageable.
2. Provide handles. Handles are things we can grab on to and make something happen. Give children phrases or lessons which help explain leadership principles.
3. Supply Road Maps. Road maps give direction on an intended journey. They also show alternative routes which should be avoided.  Sometimes getting too far down one path makes navigation back to the right path difficult. Road maps make it easy to see the big picture.
4. Furnish laboratories. Watch for opportunities to teach life skills. Children generally don’t learn until they do something. They need to take risks and experiment while the cost is low.
5. Give roots. Roots are crucial to nearly anything that grows. They represent the heritage and basic worldview that helps them construct a character-based life.
6. Offer wings. Children have their own dreams, their own abilities, and their own style. A parent’s job is empowerment and not control.

Rich Webb

Source: Elmore, T. Nurturing the Leader Within Your Child, What Every Parent Needs to Know. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc., 2001.

Hot Lunch Menu & Servers

Monday ~ Steakfingers ~ Susan Recks
Tuesday ~ Fazoli's Trio Sampler ~ Len Brown
Wednesday ~ Double Dave's Pizza ~ Julie Koelsch
Thursday ~ Hot Dogs ~ Melinda Suchecki
Friday ~ Chick-Fil-A Sandwich ~ Scott Connell

This Week at St. Paul's

January 16 ~ End of 2nd Nine Week Grading Period
January 18 ~ St. Paul's T-Shirt Day (except 3rd-6th)
January 18 ~ 3rd-6th to Hippodrome ~ dress uniform day

Basketball Games This Week

January 14 ~ 6:30 p.m. ~ 6th Grade Girls vs. Waco Baptist @ Waco Baptist
January 14 ~ 5:30 p.m. ~ 4th Grade Boys vs. TCA @ St. Paul's
January 14 ~ 6:30 p.m. ~ 5th Grade Boys vs. Waco Montessori @ St. Paul's
January 14 ~ 7:30 p.m. ~ 6th Grade Boys vs. Waco Montessori @ St. Paul's
January 17 ~ 6:30 p.m. ~ 6th Grade Girls vs. St. Louis Blue @ St. Paul's

IB in Action

Attitude of the Week: Each week for the next 12 weeks, we will have an attitude of the week. Students will discuss this attitude in town meeting, be on the lookout for their friends demonstrating the attitude, make up or watch a skit demonstrating the attitude and hear a book in the library about that attitude. This week's attitude is appreciation. Appreciation means "to value the world and the people in it." Students are encouraged to recognize the efforts of others and be grateful for the world in which they live and the people with whom they get to interact. Encourage your child show appreciation to someone special this week.

Some exciting topics are being explored in our classrooms. Over the next few weeks, you'll get a picture of what's happening in a few classrooms.

1st Grade ~ The first graders have begun an exciting look into leaders in our community, in our country, and in our world. They are looking at various categories of leaders, such as those in sports, politics, entertainment, and religion. They will be having several guest speakers come talk to their class about how they serve as a leader in their professions. Scott Baker, executive director of the Hippodrome, will begin that series of interviews this Thursday afternoon.

5th Grade ~ Is there a doctor in the house? In fifth grade, students are learning about the systems of the body - circulatory, respiratory, digestive, skeletal, and nervous. They had an exciting trip to the special exhibit at the Mayborn last week (see pictures below). They are working to make three dimensional and two dimensional models of specific body systems. Students will become expert physicians, take board examinations, and then be asked to diagnose a patient and how that patient's body systems are being affected.

Re-Enrollment Contracts

Re-enrollment contracts were mailed Friday. We have waiting lists for Two Year Olds, Three Year Olds, PreK, Kinder, and Second Grade. We would like to give preferential treatment to current families. Please return your contract by February 8 to ensure your child's place at St. Paul's for next year.