Urban Science Times

Comments from the Administrators of a terrific South Bronx Public Middle School

22 July 2008

Mascots and Mottoes

Three years ago, I proposed that the Mission Statement of our school be "Moving all students towards proficiency."



We are not today the same school we were then.


  • Our student body is entirely changed

  • Our staff has grown and changed

  • Our students' achievements and growth are objective and significant

So I'd like to start this blog -- my first endeavor in this sphere -- by inviting you to discuss and propose changes to our motto.


And then, we can discuss a mascot.




posted by P. F. Kelly @ 12:24 PM  

4 Comments:

  • At July 22, 2008 at 6:32 PM , Blogger Elena and Matt said...

    I am so excited about revising our motto! Personally, I think we can think of a more inspiring goal than proficiency, or at least we should be moving students beyond proficiency rather than just towards proficiency. What about excellence?

     

  • At July 23, 2008 at 1:21 PM , Blogger Ms. L said...

    Yes! We need to revise our motto. I like Elena's idea of excellence. I also think we need to have a character component. We need to teach our students to be good people as well as academically smart. I want my students to have pride, to feel powerful and to achieve academic excellence!
    There's this whole thing about building Emotional Intelligence as well as IQ.

    And for later, I think our mascot should be decided by the student body through a vote school-wide. That would make our students feel pride and power. Can 8th grade leadership teams organize a student contest and vote?

     

  • At July 30, 2008 at 10:40 AM , Blogger dns said...

    I agree that the motto is problematic. To expect our students to be only proficient is to have low expectations.

    I like Elena's idea about changing proficiency to excellence (or maybe success) and Pema's idea about adding something about character to our motto. Perhaps, integrity could be the character trait.

    Having our students choose their mascot is a great idea too, as it gives them a sense of ownership and builds community.

     

  • At September 13, 2008 at 4:28 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

    What exactly is the purpose of a mascot? Philip CH

     

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