Bullying, it’s a word that makes people cringe. Hearing this word conjures memories of a hurtful past or fearful present. Bullying promotes both negativity and hopelessness from those who fall in its prey. As an educator, my job is to protect your kids from bullying.
My son Cal is a an offensive lineman for the WHS football team. Kids are the blessing of a lifetime. He is big, strong, and can move other giant people around in a pretty aggressive way. I love that Cal enjoys football.
I am most proud of him for the kindness he shows others and desire to protect them. I grateful for his coaches that reinforce this message from home.
From my experience as an educator, we permit what we promote.
Cal has been raised by parents who value kindness and want to him protect others, not marginalize or hate them.
When I started this job nine years ago, trustees explained that one of their biggest priorities included raising kids with strong ethical values, the Wylie Way. Wylie ISD began promoting values and focused on growth that socially and emotionally prepared students to be the kind of citizens we would be proud to call graduates.
Since this became a board goal in 2011, student office referrals have dropped, even though we have grown more than 5,000 students. SAT scores have increased by 112 points, despite requiring every student to take the test. The number of students who enroll in college has increased from 50 to 81%. These kinds of results Hollywood makes movies about, and we are talking about YOUR KIDS!
When we address bullying in Wylie ISD by promoting unity, unity means being united or joined as a whole. The National Day of Unity is Wednesday, October 23, and we are wearing orange as a statement of hope and support our kids to be kind to each other. We hope that this kindness, caring, and giving are the focus of our schools. If you see a lot of orange shirts around and you are not at Tibbals Elementary, you will know why.
It all begins with our own social and emotional behavior that our kids learn from us and incorporate into their thoughts and actions. Our latest “Achieving Kids Podcast” welcome’s Child Psychologist, Dr. Kelly Jameson, to provide some useful parenting tips to help students grow socially and emotionally, beginning with Self Awareness.
The level of academic success we expect in Wylie requires students to feel safe, secure, and engaged in class. Social/Emotional wellness begins with students having solid relationships with adults, engaged with their classmates and the ability to know what to do when they encounter bullying.
We encourage you to talk with your kids about school and their relationships with staff and students. If you believe your child may be experiencing bullying, please report this to your teacher and/or campus administrator(s). We also offer an online bully form to complete that will begin a formal investigation into the matter. We take these reports extremely seriously.
To initiate a bully complaint form, click on the following link to find and complete our district bully form.
https://www.wylieisd.net/Page/1487
We believe that achieving kids are engaged at school, have fantastic relationships with kids and educators and believe we have their best interest at heart. We also think that good schools include students and educators that are self-aware of their actions and the impact they have on themselves and others. Thanks for helping us grow positive, hopeful, and achieving kids, the Wylie Way!
HAPPY UNITY DAY!