Dear Parents,
Developing Community and a stronger sense of belonging for students will be one of our highest priorities in 2021-2022. Based on our experience from this past year and coupled with what we’ve heard in recent surveys from students, faculty, staff and parents, the circumstances that were associated with responding to Covid-19 has taken a toll on our community. From students not being able to attend all games, dances, and large group gatherings, having to wear masks all year, and with the constant focus on social distancing, it was a difficult year for community and relationship building. We are looking forward to a new year and a new focus on Community and ensuring that everyone feels a strong sense of belonging.
One of our key initiatives for the new school year is to successfully implement “Community Time”, which will occur twice a week, prior to lunch for 45 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Community time has three main objectives:
- Develop and Strengthen a Strong BK Community and Culture
- Enrich the BK Faith and Catholic Identity
- Create Space and Time for Students Social, Emotional and Physical Well Being
In addition to using community time for monthly all school Masses and quarterly all school assemblies, small communities will be formed based on student interests. We will then focus community time on activities associated with those common interests. Students will be given a long list of interest areas that they will choose from (see sample list below). At the beginning of the school year, students will choose their top 5 areas of interest from the list provided and then each quarter, students (across all classes) will be assigned to a different community group. This community group will meet twice a week with a focus on developing relationships through common interest and activities. While each of these communities will have an adult mentor, the community activities will be driven and led primarily by students and guided by the adult mentor.
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Draft List of Community Interests
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Animal Lovers- Horses, Dogs, Cats
Art
Backyard Games- Spikeball, Cornhole, Frisbee
Bible Study
Board Games
Books/Reading
Business/
Entrepreneurship
Card Games
Chess
Computers/
Computer Science
Cooking
Crafting
Creative Writing/Poetry
Cycling/Mountain Biking
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Dance/Just Dance
E-sports
Environmental/ Sustainability/Climate
Film/Movies
Foreign Language
History
Human Rights/Diversity and Inclusion
Improv/Acting
Intramural Sports- Basketball, Volleyball, Softball
Investing/Finance
Math
Outdoors- Fishing
Outdoors- Hiking/ Backpacking
Outdoors- Hunting
Photography
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Politics/Government
Pottery
Puzzles and Problem Solving
Quiet/ Meditation
Quiz Bowl
Robotics
Rodeo
Running/Fitness
School Spirit/Pep
Science/STEM
Singing/Choir
Speech/Debate
Stretching/Yoga
Student Leadership
Video Games
Volunteer/Service
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Top 10 List - How to Make Your BK Experience Incredible
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While the implementation of community time will be just one of many efforts around strengthening community and belonging, there are several things each and every student could do independently this year to strengthen their own sense of belonging at Bishop Kelly and to strengthen a sense of belonging for others. Below is a top 10 list of ideas for each student to embrace and to put into action.
- Be respectful and kind toward others... always.
- Ensure that you help others feel included by actively reaching out to others beyond your friend groups. Be an active includer as opposed to a passive excluder.
- Practice using words of encouragement and affirmation toward others and express gratitude toward others often.
- Be an upstander. If you see someone mistreated by words or actions, don’t be an idle bystander. If you see something, say something.
- Be a student leader, even if you don’t have a leadership title. Be a positive voice for change.
- Get involved beyond the classroom with clubs, organizations and extracurricular activities.
- Attend events and support your peers in their activities.
- Get to know the names of other students in your classes, in your grade level and beyond.
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Look up and detach from your cell phone during the school day. Just because you can use it during breaks and lunchtime, doesn’t mean you should. Every second looking down is a lost opportunity for developing authentic relationships. Here’s a great video to capture the essence of this message.
- Get to know your teachers, your counselors, your administrators and other faculty and staff. We are here to help and support you on your journey.
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Who's Who in the Class of 2025 - Action Item for Freshmen Parents
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In terms of belonging, one thing that we try to do every year is to create a google slide deck introducing all of our incoming freshmen. This has been extremely valuable for us as a school to quickly get to know names, interests, etc. of our incoming freshmen. If you are a freshmen student or a parent of an incoming freshmen, please send an email to counselor@bk.org with the following:
- A Picture of your child.
- Make sure the face is recognizable
- Preferably the picture is of the student doing something that they enjoy doing (see sample above)
- In the body of the email, include the following information in this order:
- Last Name, First Name (plus nickname if applicable)
- Parents first/ last names
- At least one unique/ interesting thing about student (the more unique the better)
- Top 3-4 Hobbies/ Activities
- School/ City/State the student is coming from
- Any other bonus information that you would like to include or share.
Again, please begin sending this information to counselor@bk.org as soon as possible. We look forward to getting to know each and every student at BK.
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Mike Caldwell
Principal
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- Front Office: 375-6010
- Fax: 375-3626
- Business Office Manager: 947-1209
- BK Development Office: 947-1325
- BK Foundation Office: 323-4789
To add, remove, or change your email address, or to remove your name from our regular mailing lists, please contact Chrissy at cbeckner@bk.org.
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