Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope this message finds you well. As all of you are aware, the midterm election
is this Tuesday, and I am certain the partisan rhetoric all of us will be
exposed to in the coming days will ratchet up.
I think it is important for middle schoolers to participate in the
democratic process and develop their own thoughts and opinions about issues
that are important to the school and their local and global communities.
I also think it is equally important for students to learn how to discuss
their opinions and disagree with each other in a respectful manner. I have included here
an article from Psychology Today, which
provides some helpful tips on how adults can teach students civility. Although the article was written prior to the
2016 election, I find many of the author’s tips to be even more useful today
than in 2012 when it was written. I
encourage everyone to join the McCall faculty and staff to teach and model for
our students behaviors such as:
·
Disagree with humor, intelligence, and civil
discourse.
·
Don’t let anger and emotion get in the way of
listening to others.
·
Challenge people’s view but do not attack the
person.
Thank you and here are two reminders for the upcoming week.
Please do not forget that although McCall faculty and staff
will be engaging in professional development activities this coming Tuesday,
there is no school for students that day.
Lastly, I will be holding this month’s Principal Coffee this
Wednesday morning at 9:00 am. The topic
for this month will be School and Home Communication. I invite everyone to come to chat about this
topic or any other matters you may have on your mind.
Thank you and enjoy the upcoming week!
James Lin
Principal
McCall Middle School
