It is August and that means it is time for our students and staff to head back to school. It is so hard to believe that in just a few days we will be beginning the 2019-2020 school year. 2020—although it seemed so far away –is in sight and promises to be our best year yet. Our theme this year is to Be in the #MOMENT. We believe in building the future of Pampa one MOMENT at a time. Because of this, our staff and students have already been working together to create, design, seize, enjoy, and reflect on #moments together. You may have heard about our students teaching our staff how to do the popular dance, “The Git Up”. This was a moment designed by our students to not only have a memorable and joyful #moment together with the staff to kick of the new school year, but also—and more importantly---it was an opportunity to create #moments of reflection, perspective, compassion, and understanding for both the students and the staff. One teacher stated in his reflection to the staff that “he was very apprehensive and was not excited about doing the dance, but that now he has a better understanding of how some of his students feel when he asks them to do something that they do not feel comfortable or excited about in his classroom.” He went on to add, “I will forever deal with this sort of thing differently after experiencing this today.” A student who served as a teacher of one of the staff groups shared in her reflection that she “now has a greater appreciation for the time and effort teachers spend in planning and teaching students.” Another student shared that he “expected the teachers to get it the first time he showed them, and they didn’t, so he had to figure out another way to teach them.”
These reflections were powerful and there were so many others that illustrate the power of this #moment for both our staff and our students. We then continued our #moments of impact with our Community Outreach, Lunch, and Back to School Bash. This was the first year for us to organize our entire staff to go out into the community and build relationships with them –door-to-door and face-to-face. What powerful #moments! The Back to School Bash has become a tradition not only for our staff, students, parents, and the community to serve one another and build relationships, but also a time to fellowship and celebrate living and learning in Pampa.
Every school year brings unique challenges and expectations, but the #moments we share together will prepare us for the difficult times and equip us to bring #moments of celebration and victory to our students, staff, and ultimately our community. The mission of Pampa ISD is to produce learners who are compassionate, competent, confident and future-ready. We purposefully design #moments for each students and staff to acquire and practice learning the skills and competencies every day that we value in Pampa. Our 2nd annual EXPLORE magazine is out and we have shared this publication with as many parents, businesses, and citizens as possible through our community outreach and Student Ambassadors. The content of the magazine illustrates the Profile of a Graduate and is a personification of our mission to ensure that our students and staff are future-ready! If you have not seen the EXPLORE magazine, they can be found at our district offices, but also at local restaurants and businesses. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read the EXPLORE and for learning more about the amazing students and staff that we are blessed to have in Pampa schools.
Thank you, Pampa for your support and for believing in the Pampa ISD. We are grateful for the #moments we have shared and look forward to many more #moments of joy, learning, growing, sharing, caring, and laughter in the coming months. We pray that everyone has a safe and successful 2019-2020 school year! Now….bring on the students---and let’s BE IN THE #MOMENT Pampa!
Tanya Larkin
Superintendent
Published on 08/19/2019
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