Volume 4, Issue 9

Dear Huron Academy Families,

With less than 30 days of school, we are officially in the home stretch of this school year. With field trips, community events, exciting fundraisers like APEX, and house celebrations, this time of year is a fun one for students, staff, and families alike. That being said, we’re also wrapping up testing, studying for final exams, and working hard on end-of-year projects and activities to ensure a strong report card at the end of the year.

I often write about perseverance in this newsletter, and talk to students about it every day – it is one of our Positivity Project character strengths after all. It bears repeating that this time of year is more important than ever for our kids to display that character strength. Whether your student is a middle schooler preparing for high school and they need a certain GPA to get in, or your student is in Kindergarten and you simply want a strong report card to hang on the fridge for the summer, finishing the year on a strong note is one of the best ways to start strong the following year, ensuring further success.

Speaking of student success, one of the best ways to keep students strong for the following school year is to develop a summer learning plan for your child or children over the summer. Many of you have signed up for our Summer Academy program, or for other community-based summer programs that are around the Metro Detroit area. If you don’t do that as a family, you can still do everything from weekly library visits, online learning games, or scheduling your own field trips to many of the awesome museums and parks our state has to offer. Every little bit of learning over the summer will help ensure that they don’t fall behind in the summer – the “summer slide” is real, and we want to avoid it!

Another thing to avoid? Cell phones. The topic is sometimes controversial, but it really shouldn’t be. The data is readily available – students with phones score 23% lower on assessments, perform an average of one letter grade below those who don’t, 62% less retention in terms of note-taking, etc. Even outside of academic performance – 50% of kids with phones experience harassment, 32% of them report having been involved in “sexting,” with half of those being involved with extortion. On top of that, throw in the empathy gap that this has created – the trend of students with phones not making eye contact or being able to exhibit emotions in a normal and healthy fashion.

Even if your child doesn’t perform poorly, if they have a phone, the odds are that they’d be better without it. Even if your child isn’t being harassed or accessing inappropriate sites, the odds are staggeringly high that they are being exposed to such things regardless. I’ve spent the better part of this past year in Lansing with the Michigan Department of Education, lawmakers, and other educational leaders, and it might be the only thing that we all agree on – cell phones and kids are a terrible combination.

In short? As we wrap up this school year and get ready to relax and recharge for the next one, avoid technology and screentime as much as possible, and get the kids out and about – it is more beneficial than not, I promise!

Besides that, keep the momentum going with your kids, and continue to strive for greatness.

Sincerely,

Joshua Sobczak,
Superintendent