Look for the Helpers

Good Morning Everyone! It feels like it's been a long week for lots of folks...we're certainly in the thick of it, and people are really working hard to stay focused and manage all the stressors that exist.   Recently, I was discussing the idea of perseveration with some folks.  Perseveration is when we focus on things that worry us.  Wikipedia describes it as,   "t hinking  about negative events in the past or in the future (e.g. worry, rumination and brooding, but also mind wandering about negative topics)."  It's really easy to get stuck in perseveration land and important to practice the skill of shifting your focus to things that are going well or that make you happy.  I challenge you today, on this feel-good Friday, to make a list...yes I want you to actually write it out...of anything that went well this week or you felt good about.  It doesn't have to be big or even all that important, but shifting our focus to the good stuff can...

Welcome to a very delayed Thursday Blog Post... If you are starting to swim figure 8's, let someone in.  Tell someone how you are feeling - reach out.  Don't keep trying to tread water on your own!   I love you all today, and want to remind you that you are strong, smart, capable, and amazing!   Don't let your broken-ness get you down because where you are broken today, you will be brilliant tomorrow!   Peace and Love this evening! Mrs Hempey   

Happy Wednesday Everyone, I figured that a Wednesday might be the right day to share this song, which is one of my all-time Jack Johnson favorites.  I've shared some of Jack's music before, and I always think that it speaks right to the heart.  So have a listen.  In middle school, friends are so important, and it's important to celebrate these bonds!  We know it's always better when we're together!   I know it's really hard, at times, when you can't connect with your friends in all the ways you want to...you can't hug them, you can't sit next to them in the hallways, you can't eat lunch together, play sports with them after school, or sing together with them in Chorus.  You can't even see them smile at you during the day.   But keep in mind... So if you find yourself more distant from your best friends than you'd wish, try sharing your kindness and friendship with the peers that you do have around you.  True friendships won't disappea...

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Recently I have come across some thoughts about emotional boundaries, which struck me as personally important.   Conversations with others then reminded me that boundary setting was an important tool to teach to students.  Learning to balance support and kindness for others with our own emotional needs is something that is not always easy to do.  Having strong emotional boundaries is an important component of social-emotional wellbeing.   So let's talk a little bit about what emotional boundaries are... Emotional boundaries are saying no when you don't have time to take on one more thing.  Emotional boundaries are recognizing that you are responsible for you and "they" are responsible for them.   Emotional boundaries are striking the balance between supporting friends, family, and co-workers without personally taking on all of their emotional baggage.   Emotional boundaries are not burning yourself out in ord...

Happy Monday Everyone! I saw this little video clip last week and it made me think about the healthy risk conversation that I have with kids sometimes.  Watch the video first.     I liked this as a reminder that life is full of all kinds of healthy risks.  Sometimes when we talk about "risky" behavior, we're talking about the things you shouldn't do...use substances, fail to wear your seatbelt or bike helmet or hide important things from your caregivers and teachers.  But there are many healthy risks out there, and those are the ones I am focusing on today.   Here are some examples:   You like singing, but have a little stage freight...enter the happening anyway! You want to go to summer camp, but you are a little afraid of being away from home...enroll anyway! You think you know the answer in math class, but you might be wrong...raise your hand anyway!  You want to learn to snowboard, but you've never tried it before...take a lesso...

Happy Friday Everyone!   There is lots of snow out there, and many ways to enjoy it here in Central VT.  I hope you take some time to play in the snow and get fresh air this weekend!   In honor of all the epic skiing that's out there, check out then 11-year-old Kai Jones and his short ski flick from Teton Gravity Research in 2018!   Whatever you do this weekend, I hope you do it to your fullest!  Fly Cougars! Be Well, Mrs. Hempey PS...this one is more recent and needs seeing too!

Happy Thursday Everyone!   Today was a busy day, and though I started my blog, I didn't get it finished before 2:30 dismissal.  So here it is, 4:00 and I am sitting at my dining room table at home finishing today's post.  I wanted to make sure that today's installment got finished because there was so much that happened yesterday that I needed to process it.  I needed to process it for myself and I needed to bring at least some of it back to you too.  If you watched the inauguration yesterday and experienced a moment that you felt was particularly poignant or important, I'd love to hear about what stood out for you.  For me, there were three particularly important moments.   The first moment was the beautiful and inspiring poem written and read by Amanda Gorman, Poet Laureate.  You simply must watch it if you haven't already done so.  In fact, even if you heard it the first time, you should listen to it again because the message is ...

Happy Wednesday Everyone! I hope that you are doing your job within this democracy today, and watching the transition of power and the inauguration today.  Whether you were happy or unhappy about the results of our November election, Democracy's most important component is that the people get to choose.  Without the people's voices - the differing opinions, the robust exchange of ideas, and the civil discourse - our government can't work.   Though you can't vote now, some of you who are already 14 years old will be able to vote in our next election, and the rest of you will be able to vote in the election after that.  It is your job to educate yourselves now so that you understand (at the very least) the basics of how government and politics work in the US.  When your time to vote arrives, you should be able to make a decision about who you want to lead which is grounded in reason, fact, human decency, and sound judgment.  Part of educating yourself me...

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today we dig in for a long stretch of school leading up to February break. We have five weeks of important learning ahead, and it will be important for us to stay focused and on track with positive attitudes and strong growth mindsets.  This stretch of the year can be hard because it's dark and cold and there isn't really a build-up to any big events like there is during the holiday season.   Tomorrow we have the inauguration to look forward to, and whether or not you support the incoming administration, we should all be rooting for their success, because when our leaders are successful, we are successful.  Since we are all home tomorrow, I hope you'll watch the inauguration.  On January 20th every four years, our country gets to witness a peaceful transition of power from one administration to the other.  This is an essential component of our democracy which ensures that every four years, the people's voices are heard and that we al...

Good Morning Students, It's Monday, and you are not in school, so there may not be many of you reading this post, but regardless of the number of readers today, I felt that it was essential to not miss blogging today.  Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Today, you are not in school, federal office buildings are closed, it's a national "holiday" where many big businesses are closed.  We do this to honor a civil rights leader who gave his life to fight for all people to be included in our democracy.   King was a minister and social justice activist who espoused peaceful protest and was instrumental in events like the Montgomery Bus Boycotts in the '50s and the March on Washington in 1963.  These events helped bring about legislation that would help further equality for people of color in our nation.  Continuing to observe MLK's legacy and honor him each January, is important because we are, still today, struggling to find equality for all people withi...

Happy Friday Cougars, I am going to send you off into the weekend with a movie recommendation (you know how I love movies!).  If you have the Disney+ Channel, you should check out Eddie the Eagle.  (It is rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and because some of the characters drink/smoke so please get permission from your parents).  The movie is based on the true-life story of Eddie Edwards, a British citizen who, from his youngest days, wanted to be an Olympic athlete.  Check out the trailer here... I think the trailer explains it all...don't give up on your dreams, don't let others define you, stay positive and passionate, and be true to yourself!  My family cheered out loud for Eddie while we watched this, and like other great sports movies, it's one that really moves you!  One of the things I liked best about it was that winning wasn't Eddie's objective.  What mattered to him was the taking part.  The movie quotes Pierre Coubertin, who is th...

Happy Thursday Everyone! My question of the day today asked all of you what parts of your body hold tension and what you do to release it?  Every once in a while I run across this reminder below, and every time I read it, I follow the instructions and am so surprised to realize I am holding so much tension in my shoulders and mouth.  Your turn...give it a try... Did you notice the difference when you relaxed these parts of your body?  If I had written this directive, I would have also added take a deep breath to the end of it.  After I drop my shoulders, unclench my jaw, and relax my tongue (yes I know that sounds silly), I try to take two or three deep breaths too.  Just this quick exercise, which you can do literally anywhere and at any time, can be so helpful in producing calm in our bodies.     These are three very simple techniques for releasing tension from your body.  But there are others too!  I explained in my question of the da...

Welcome to Wednesday Folks! I thought I would quickly follow up on the post I made yesterday about inclusion and representation as the following video popped up in my social media feed yesterday evening.  Take a look...  I've also seen this one before too...beware, you're gonna need tissues for this one! Have you stopped welling up yet?   My daughter who is Deaf and wears Cochlear implants has an American Girl Doll with hearing aids, and teddy bears with sewn-on Cochlear Implants.  We also used to draw cochlear implants on her baby dolls that didn't have hair when she was younger.  It's important to remember what the mom in the first video said.  "When kids don't see themselves represented in the toys they play with (or the books they read, or the media they consume), they are receiving a subliminal message that they are not worthy."   This is why inclusion matters...so that everyone knows their worth!   Here's one more for you... O...

Happy Tuesday Everyone, Today's video tidbit is brought to you by Mrs. Williams.  She shared this video with me about a week or so ago.  I loved that it was a great reminder that inclusion matters.   Have a watch... This story is about inclusions where life meets physical differences, but inclusion matters in all areas of life.  Making sure all people in our community feel included is essential.  Whether it's the color of your skin, the way you love, or how you pray, inclusion matters.  Whether it's the way you learn, how you communicate, or how you move about the world, inclusion matters.  Whether it's the size of your body, or how much money you have, where you were born, or what gender you are - inclusion MATTERS!  So what does it mean to be included, to be seen, and to be heard?   It means having an incoming vice president that is a female... It means seeing women and men of all shapes and sizes walking runways and in fashion ad...

Happy Monday Everyone!   Boy was I happy to get out of my house and come to work today.  I ended my weekend on somewhat of a low note (first world problem for sure, but bummed regardless).  I prepped at the start of the weekend to be able to go skiing yesterday.  We ski on Sundays and therefore have to do other necessary day-off tasks early in the weekend.  The grocery shopping got done Friday after school, and I started the laundry line-up then too.  My kids played basketball for an hour on Saturday, and I had some school work to do so that got done Saturday evening.  I cleaned and pick-up the house early Saturday as well.   When Sunday rolled around, we were all packed and ready to head up to the mountain annnnnnnnnd...the car wouldn't start!!  Bummer.  My mechanically inclined husband and I spent all day trying to troubleshoot.  We tried jumpstarting it - that didn't work.  We checked out all the fuses - they didn'...

Happy Friday Everyone!   Mr. Drake shared a news article with me earlier in the week, and embedded in that article, which was about making school more "human," during this time of the pandemic, was this little gem about making the world better.  I thought it was a good share for a Friday!   Here is a little background on the video which was reported in the New York Times Article, by Jal Mehta.   " Charlotte Bowder, a student at Casco Bay High School in Maine, had the idea of writing a song that would celebrate community amid social isolation. She recruited her friend Luthando Mngqibisa to sing co-lead, and with the help of the EL Education network of which the school is part, recruited 34 other musicians — from high school string players to elementary schoolers on pots and pans — across 11 schools in seven states to play the song together virtually." (2020) I hope that you can have a, "make the world better," moment this weekend as we all go off to our...

Good Afternoon Folks, One of my favorite teachers of all time was my US History teacher in high school.  His name was Mr. Hulburd.  I had him my junior year (11th) grade of high school, and I oft remember him saying, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."  This quote was not his own.  It can be attributed to a few different historical figures - Winston Churchill, a British Prime Minister, George Santayana, a Spanish-American poet, and Irish statesman Edmund Burk- to name a few.  They all can lay claim to some form of this same sentiment.   When my history teacher in 11th grade said it, he was encouraging us to learn, but I think he was also warning us to not become complacent - to always keep learning no matter how far removed we were from his classroom.  I was in 11th grade almost 30 years ago, but I reflect on this sentiment often.  I was thinking about it yesterday as I watched the terrible events unfold in our nati...

Good Wednesday morning to you all, Today's blog post is once again being brought to you from my little home office in the woods!  But...I've changed things up!  I moved my desk.  It was a minor change, just to the other side of the TV and in front of the other window in our living room, but it felt great to switch things up!   I know that some people hate change, but I love it! I think it's a great way to practice some good organization skills.  The switch gave me a chance to do a deep clean.  I purged junk that had collected on or around my desk, reorganized items of importance and, created a space from which to work where my mind could stay organized.  I find that if my workspace is organized, I can be better focused and more prepared to tackle the day.   Additionally, this change gives me a fresh perspective from which to look at the world.  Instead of looking at my porch and our water-well cap, which is ugly and sticks out like ...

Happy Tuesday, Today I simply want to remind you to be kind...be kind to yourself, be kind to others!  The Dali Lama - This highest spiritual leader of Tibet says... " The ultimate source of a happy life is warm-heartedness. This means extending to others the kind of concern we have for ourselves. On a simple level, we find that if we have a compassionate heart we naturally have more friends. And scientists today are discovering that while anger and hatred eat into our immune system, warm-heartedness and compassion are good for our health." Remember that each new day, even a simple run of the mill Tuesday, is an opportunity to start again, try over, practice kindness, give yourself kindness, appreciate the moment, and plan for bright tomorrows (or bright right nows!).   I will leave you with words from another famous individual... Focus on today...be your best self, care for others too!   You've got this Cougars! Mrs. Hempey  

Welcome Back to School Students and Staff! With so much unfilled time over the break, I collected lots of little gems that gave me good ideas for blog topics.  I have considered many different directions for today, but I think I want to talk a little about resolutions or goals for the new year.   I read a quick post about how each year we make New Year's resolutions, but because we are in a pandemic we shouldn't worry about any resolutions beyond simply surviving (the boredom, the quarantine restrictions, the hybrid learning - I could go on...).  While I do agree that this isn't the year to be making extreme resolutions that put lots of pressure on oneself during an already pressure-filled time, I don't agree with forgetting resolutions altogether.  The start of a new year is a great time to evaluate how we are doing and whether or not we want to make changes to the course we are on.  Each year it's a chance to do a little goal setting, a little envisioning...