The 2018 Educator in Residence (EIR) program started last Tuesday, and it is our biggest year yet with 15 schools participating!
18 of our Leadership School Educators will be in schools this winter, working on spreading our message of kindness and respect to students until mid-March. While there is some overlap, every educator and school participates in the program a little differently. For example, Kelci will be working at Wood Hill school in Andover, Massachusetts (our first out of state school!), where one of her tasks will be working with 8th grade students on goal settings and skills to prepare for high school. Kelsey will be at Bristol Consolidated School, with one of her tasks being leading exercise breaks every morning for classes participating in a Dashing to Denmark program.
Each week during the program, we will be featuring a different set of EIRs on the blog talking about their experiences. Noah and Nelson are both EIRs at Nobleboro Central School, and will be sharing their experiences this week.
Nelson:
Nobleboro Central School is just over five miles from our Kieve campus and is home to about 150 students in grades K-8. This wonderful little school does an outstanding job of teaching and demonstrating the community values that define a small town community. The school works under the philosophy of “warm demanders.”
“Warm demanders first establish a caring relationship that convinces students that the teacher believes in them and has their best interests at heart… on the basis of this relationship warm demanders relentlessly insist that all students perform the required academic work and treat the teachers and their peers with respect”
The Teacher as Warm Demanders
Abstract of Bondy, E and D. D. Ross
In practice this builds kind and caring relations between adults and students while still demanding the personal best out of each and every student. The students are challenged and cared for, disciplined and supported, all in a fair and encouraging manner. NCS Principal Ann Hassett said, “We believe that the Kieve Educators in Residence are a perfect compliment to our philosophy of ‘warm demanding’ and we are so happy to see them arrive in January to help further our efforts.”
The EIR position at Nobleboro Central School is in essence a mentorship program. As EIRs, we are able to act as both friend and mentor to the students in a more relaxed and non-formal fashion. That being said, the environment that the staff of Nobleboro Central School has worked so hard to create has been helpful in acclimating the students to interacting with adults in this way. The students already see the members of the NCS community as more than just a teacher or staff member, which has made it very easy for us to step in as mentors and confidantes.
A typical day at Nobleboro Central School as an EIR starts when we check in at the office and get filled in on anything that has happened in the day so far by Nancy Courville. Occasionally we are asked to fill in and sub for Michelle York’s PE class, although most of the time we can be found there anyway. In the morning we can be found in our office in the library, planning activities for the day’s after school program. Beyond the mentorship aspect of working at Nobleboro Central School, the after school program is the meat of this EIR position. It is held Monday through Thursday from 2:30-3:30 PM and is a great platform to meet informally with kids from all different grades, provide a healthy snack, and give them time and space to be active.
Noah:
My name is Noah and this is my second year as an EIR at Nobleboro Central School. I had such a fantastic and positive experience last year both in terms of my contributions to the school and my personal growth that I knew a second year would provide more of the same, perhaps even exponentially more. I love being back because the relationships I developed over the ten weeks last winter have continued to grow allowing the students to trust me and allowing me to demand more out of the students we work with. Whether we are hanging out during lunch or during the after school program students often come to me for advice or for a listening ear. I am able to interact with them without the burden of classes or grades but as a role model who is always willing to listen and advocate for and help the students become their best selves. Much of my day is spent in informal settings as a mentor. Often I walk the halls checking in on kids and getting updates about their days or weeks. I love spending time at lunch and recess joking around with the older kids and giving the younger kids a buddy to sit with or just helping them learn how to eat lunch appropriately.
On Tuesday Nelson and I went ice skating with the entire third grade class as part of a program with the Midcoast Recreation Center. It was an incredible experience to see the third graders having a blast on the ice. Many lessons were learned especially the courage to step out onto the ice and the perseverance necessary to keep getting up no matter how many times you fall. The kids were incredibly supportive of each other and we all had a blast!
I am looking forward to continuing my work in the school and becoming even more ingrained in this wonderful community. Nelson and are just finding our rhythm and are looking forward to making such a positive difference at Nobleboro Central School.