April 29, 2021 rustlernews.com
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CHANGES FOR THE FALL: WHAT’S IN STORE?
by Ava Donahue, staff writer
This past year has been complicated and uncertain. Our world changed completely, and we had to learn to adapt to the changes. Now, we are slowly going back to the way things were before the pandemic. This is going to be a difficult process, but next year’s principal, Jamie McGraw, has revealed three goals that will make the process more smooth. “Our superintendent puts together a list of goals, and in his goals he highlights basically three priorities. He has given us a re-engagement, reintegration, and a remediation priority for the school year. So he wants us to frame our building goals on those tenants,” she said. Re-engagement, reintegration, and remediation specifically focuses on the students who did online learning this year and might have a hard time returning to in-person learning. “How are we going to re-engage kids into face-to-face learning? That’s really important in our road to recovery, if you will. And then how do we re-integrate students into face-to-face learning? Then, how are we going to address remediation,” McGraw said. “Remediation just means filling gaps, so we’ve got students who have some gaps based on, possibly, where they were learning, different experiences they have in their home, or traumas they’ve experienced because of the pandemic.”
One of the ways CMR is going to go about completing the three goals is through the summer school programs. Before, there was only one summer school program district-wide. This year, CMR is holding its own program, which will allow students to recover credits in classes they failed this year. “Each building gets to have their own summer school program,” she said. Some other criterias McGraw hopes to focus on for next year is relationship building and providing rigorous, engaging academics for students. “I am hopeful that we can focus on those two things that I mentioned: building relationships, student to student, student to staff, staff to staff. That we can commit to that and we can focus on that. And then also: engagement and rigorous learning without having to worry about so many of these extra things that have created a lot of stress and trauma and taken our focus away from engaging and learning,” McGraw said. “We’re having to, rightfully so, manage these other issues, but I’m just hoping we can get back to building relationships with kids and delivering rigorous and engaging academic extracurricular programs. I will be overjoyed if we could really capitalize on those two things.” Still, McGraw worries that students who
completed distance learning this year will have some troubles returning to CMR. “I’m worried that some of our students are going to struggle with anxiety about returning. I think that when you’ve been gone from something for such a long time, that your anxiety only increases when you need to engage in it. It’s like having a really long list of things to do, and the longer you wait to start the list, the more anxiety a lot of people will have about tackling the list because it feels overwhelming.” McGraw hopes to make CMR a place where everyone lives the school’s motto “CMR: a better place to learn and teach where relationships lead to success”. She hopes that next year, teachers will spend time building relationships with their students in the classroom. “We’ll get to the content, and I think you’ll make up the time in the content later, but if you don’t take the time to build the relationship first, it’s going to be harder for you to provide rigorous content later,” McGraw said. “So I think that giving people permission to set content aside for a few minutes to focus on relationship building, that’s a really important place to start. Relationship building takes time, but I know that if time is what you’re worried about, I know you’re going to get that back tenfold later if the kids believe in you and you believe in them.”
EDITORIAL: DEMOCRACY HAS PREVAILED; THE NATION NEEDS UNITY TO PROGRESS January 6, 2021 will forever be on the list of America’s most tragic events, and a scar on the executive legacy of President Donald J. Trump. The Trump administration’s policy accomplishments have been tarnished by the events that occurred at the capitol. Trump did have one major accomplishment, though it wasn’t intentional. He revealed the truth about this nation. Millions of Americans are willing to ignore the truth and risk threatening the foundation of this country. They are willing to follow lies and attack those who dare to tell the truth. Trump didn’t create that truth, he merely revealed it. However, today marks a pivotal point. With the inauguration of President Joe Biden, America prevailed. The overwhelming majority of Americans, Republicans and Democrats alike, want this experiment of democracy to succeed. This country sent a message that we will not stand for the obstruction of a peaceful transfer of power. In the days, months, and elections ahead, we will hold those responsible for desecrating the United States Capitol accountable. In his inaugural address, President Joe Biden declared “democracy has prevailed” as he pleaded for unity. “This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day,” Mr. Biden said. The Stampede staff at C. M. Russell is a remarkably diverse group of students made up of people from all walks of life. In a country that is just as diverse, it is going to take a sense of unity to move forward. The last four years have strained the ties that bring us together, but we are ready to unite behind the idea of America. The Covid-19 pandemic alone will be an uphill battle for the incoming administration, and it will take the support
of every American to end it. We all want to return to a sense of normalcy. For the sake of this nation, we’re going to give President Joe Biden a chance to bring us together. Will you?
President Joseph R. Biden, whitehouse.gov.
