Valley Journal
Valley Journal

This Week’s e-Edition

Current Events

Latest Headlines

What's New?

Send us your news items.

NOTE: All submissions are subject to our Submission Guidelines.

Announcement Forms

Use these forms to send us announcements.

Birth Announcement
Obituary

Polson schools encouraging students to ‘Be Amazing’

Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local. You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.



Subscribe now to stay in the know!

Already a subscriber? Login now

One of the easiest things we can all do is to encourage our youth everyday by making personal connections. Polson High School is emphasizing a personal connection to students by adopting the theme, “Be Amazing.”  

PHS, through the LINK program, welcomed incoming ninth graders with junior and senior students overseeing each student throughout the year. In fact, all district staff are making a deliberate effort to connect to students in our schools.

On the first day of school, Aug. 26, teachers and staff welcomed students and parents personally at bus stops, school entrances and classrooms. Schools are also hosting open houses welcoming parents and children in these first weeks developing those important personal connections. We will continue to watch over our students throughout the year. 

Another avenue in which we can all encourage students is to help students view challenges or new learning as a normal part of learning rather than “I am a failure.” Teachers are assisting students to adopt the power of “not yet” when students need more time to master new learning or learn new skills rather than students concluding that they have failed and then give up. 

Carol Dweck, a well-known psychologist, in her book “Mindset” states that “the view we have of ourselves profoundly affects the way we lead our lives.” This is so true of our youth.  As a district, we are working on developing what Dweck calls a “growth mindset” with our students when they face new learning challenges to — persevere, keep trying and to not give up. Dweck’s research has shown that students become smarter when they put forth effort and learn to welcome challenges or difficulty.

With our focus on establishing a personal connection and a “growth mindset” with students, teachers this year will meet every Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in Professional Learning Communities to coordinate curriculum and instruction to support student learning. These teams of teachers will surround all of our children with carefully aligned curriculum and effective instructional practices to meet the specific needs of students. Finally, we are committed to doing whatever it takes to help each and every child be successful in our schools. We welcome the partnership of parents and the community in this endeavor as well, as we prepare Polson students for the future. 

Sponsored by: