In February of 2020, I wrote about my experience visiting with a young man who exemplifies the importance wrestling with failure so that you can experience success.  At MOC-Floyd Valley, we refer to this as “productive struggle,” and we believe it is an essential element in any person’s growth and development!  If you didn’t have the opportunity to read it then, please take the time to read it now.

Anyone fortunate enough to be a parent, knows that one of the most difficult things to do is watch your children struggle.  Our instincts tell us that we need to protect them from pain because we love them.  In some cases, that is true, but in many others, we could be short-circuiting their learning and not allowing them to develop the coping/life skills they need.

Last week, my wife and I were waiting to board a plane in San Diego.  While sitting in the terminal, we noticed a fit, young man sitting across from us in the terminal.  He had an Ironman Triathlon bag and fresh racing numbers on his hand and arm.  He also had a service dog with him.  He was clearly an athlete – and he was clearly vision-impaired.  As fate would have it, when we loaded the plane, I had the good fortune to sit next to this young man – Kyle Coon – and he was able to share his story with me while we flew to Denver. 

When Kyle was 10 months old, he was diagnosed with bilateral sporadic retinoblastoma, a form of cancer in both eyes.  He underwent multiple treatments, but by the time he was 6 years old, both eyes had to be removed.  Since then, he has excelled in many things.  He was a college wrestler, and an avid skier and an accomplished rock climber.  Currently, he is a resident-athlete at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.  He is a world-class athlete who is training hard and has a very good chance of representing the United States in the triathlon at the 2020 Para-Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. 

 Kyle credits his tenacity, drive, and grit to the way his parents raised him.  He said that their constant encouragement and support were amazing.  The greatest gift they gave him was the will to test his limits and persist!  In a nutshell, they were masters of creating productive struggle for Kyle.  He knows they were tempted to make accommodations for him to make his life easier, and he is thankful that they resisted that temptation.  They supported and encouraged him, and just as importantly, they allowed him to fall and fail along the way so that he could overcome short-term setbacks to become the resilient young man that he is. 

This is a lesson that we can all learn as we strive to do what is best for our children and our students.  May we all love them enough to encourage and support them while we let them fall and fail – and eventually get up and succeed!

Gratitude and grace are traits that often come to light around the holidays.  As I was reflecting on these, and on the challenges that surface in our society these days, it drew me back to a newsletter article from a few years ago. I thought the message might be appropriate for us to consider again. . .

As a parent and grandparent, I am truly thankful for the impact the people of MOC-Floyd Valley have had – and continue to have on my family! (Four of our six children (counting in-laws) graduated from MOC-Floyd Valley, and six of our eight grandchildren currently attend MOC-Floyd Valley.)  As the superintendent, I am just as thankful for the impact the people of MOC-Floyd Valley have on all of our students! 

There is no doubt in my mind, that all of our employees are committed to our District Mission of fostering learning, excellence and civic responsibility in all of our students.  One great example of this is demonstrated by our athletic coaches.  Consider their responses when asked to consider the following prompt, “Ten years after graduation, I hope that the student-athletes I had the privilege of coaching would say . . . about their experience as a member of any MOC-FV athletic team . . .”

Below is a summary of their responses:

• “I felt cared for, respected and invested in.”
• “I was challenged.”
• “I was valued.”
• “I learned to be selfless and care about others.”
• “I had tons of fun.”
• “I had to work hard, and it was worth it.”
• “I was encouraged – and encouraged my teammates.”
• “We had great relationships on our team.”
• “I, we all, were accountable to each other.”
• “I learned how to work hard and persist.”
• “I learned life lessons.”
• “Best four years of my life.”
• “We grew in character and learned how to handle adversity.”
• “I developed toughness and grit.”
• “We were a family.”
• “We were a team.”

While our coaches are extremely competitive, memories of wins and losses were not mentioned – perhaps because they are of less importance than the development of character and the sense of belonging – and perhaps because wins and losses tend to work out when a team has the right focus.

A deeper look at their responses clearly shows alignment with our District Belief Statements of . . .

CARING – We will show genuine interest in and sensitivity towards others.

COOPERATION – We will work together in partnership – school, families and communities.

EFFORT – We will demonstrate diligence and perseverance to achieve our personal best.

RESPONSIBILITY – We will be accountable for our actions and choices both individually and collectively.

RESPECT – We will recognize and honor the intrinsic worth of others as well as ourselves while valuing property and belongings.

EXCELLENCE – We will expect, strive for and encourage the highest level of achievement.

INTEGRITY – We will consistently reflect honesty and high moral character.

CREATIVITY – We will foster a safe learning environment where creative thinking and positive risk-taking are valued and nurtured.

I am confident that the responses would be very similar from our activity sponsors who also pour into our students in the same selfless manner.  The pay for coaching or sponsoring these activities is relatively low, and the investment of time is significant.  Those who serve in these roles, do so because they care deeply about young people and see their sport or activity as a vessel for impacting those very young people!  If you have the opportunity, please encourage them and thank them for all they do!  They truly do deserve our gratitude and our grace!

Go Dutch!

Miriam Webster defines gratitude as, “a feeling of appreciation or thanks; the state of being grateful.”  Zig Ziglar once said, “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” 

It seems we are living in a time when expressing gratitude is becoming a bit rare, but it doesn’t have to be! We really do have much to be thankful for and I would encourage everyone to look for, notice and express gratitude on a regular basis.  A few of the things I am thankful for as we near the end of the first semester are:

• Dedicated, caring staff that pour into our students daily – both academically and personally.
• Supportive, loving parents who pour into our students daily.
• Students who are engaged, stretching, learning and growing.
• Active, booster clubs for athletics, band, music, speech and so on.
• A visionary, supportive, engaged Board of Education that selflessly gives of their time and talents.
• A great fall with weather that, for the most part, cooperated with our building project.
• Talented, committed partners like CMBA, W.A. Klinger, EDA, etc . . .
• The progress made with the health and wellbeing of our students, families, and staff.

As we move into the winter holidays, thank you to everyone for what you contribute to the MOC-Floyd Valley communities!  Let us all take to heart the words of John F. Kennedy, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not just to utter words, but to live by them.”

by Superintendent, Russ Adams

“Oh, I tell him he comes by it naturally – I was never any good at math either.”  This is a phrase I have heard from parents numerous times in my 28 years as a school administrator.  Math is an essential subject for our students, and the thinking and reasoning that are developed through math grow in importance as we navigate our complex, data-saturated, ever-changing world.  Understanding that we aren’t naturally “good” or “bad” at math is important.  As persistent learners, we can become good at things in which we persist – math included.  That is precisely why we continue our journey to provide our students with the best mathematical learning opportunities possible.

Math instructional coach, Dave Pfaffle is leading the district in researching, and eventually adopting an aligned K-12 mathematics curriculum that adheres to the standards for mathematical practice as outlined by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  The standards are:

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. 

In the book, ¹Principles to Actions:  Ensuring Mathematical Success for All, the authors articulate the following classroom-based indicators of success for our students:

• Students are engaged in the tasks and do not give up.  The teacher supports students when they are stuck but does so in a way that keeps the thinking and reasoning at a high level. (Productive Struggle)
• Students explain how they solved a task and provide mathematical justifications for their reasoning.
• Students question and critique the reasoning of their peers and reflect on their own understanding.
• Students can use tools to solve tasks that they cannot solve without them.
• Students explain their thinking about a task to their peers and the teacher.  The teacher asks probing questions based on students’ thinking. 

We are very fortunate to have knowledgeable, dedicated math teachers at all levels, and our students’ math scores are typically very good.  Beyond good scores, we want to ensure that we are producing students who are great math thinkers and problem-solvers who can apply their knowledge to relevant situations throughout their lives.  

As we proceed with our task of aligning our K-12 curriculum around the research-based teaching and learning, we are seeking to . . .

1. Provide our teachers with the best instructional materials and training possible for teaching mathematical thinking and problem solving.
2. Place a high priority on materials and curriculum that emphasize conceptual understanding that is transferrable.
3. Place a high priority on materials that make our curriculum focus sustainable and effective, even as staff members exit and enter the MOC-Floyd Valley system.

These efforts by Mr. Pfaffle, Mr. Bundt, our principals, and our K-12 Math teachers are timely, and important.  I am very thankful for their willingness to embrace the productive struggle to find, adopt and implement an aligned K-12 math curriculum that creates great math thinkers and problem-solvers, and I appreciate their commitment to fulfilling our mission of fostering learning, excellence, and civic responsibility!

¹ The national Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  (2015).  Principles to actions:  Ensuring mathematical success for all

Last week, Mr. Bundt and I had the opportunity to facilitate a panel discussion at the Future-Ready Iowa Summit.  Our session was entitled, “Iowa’s Tech Workforce:  What Employers Need from K-12 Schools.”  The panelists who shared their insights were: 

• Wendy Batchelder, Chief Data Officer, VMware, Des Moines
• Michelle Bates, Founder and CEO, SkyPrairie Inc., Coralville
• David Collison, Senior Vice President Applications Development, ITS/SHAZAM, Johnston
• Dan Greteman, Chief Information Officer, Ruan Transportation, Des Moines
• Tyler Wyngarden, Vice President of Development, Technology Association of Iowa, Des Moines
• Jessa Erickson, Owner, ThinkSpace IT, Harlan 

We also had the opportunity to attend the other sessions of the summit.  There were several recurring themes throughout the summit, that are important for us to remember as we serve and prepare our students.  While the emphasis was on STEM careers, these themes are transferrable to almost any career.  Below are a few of the most important points:

1. Almost every company is a “tech” company when you consider the global connectedness of our world and our reliance on the internet and all the various technology devices.
2. The speed of change makes it very difficult to prepare students for specific jobs, but there are very clear skills that will serve our students no matter what careers they choose to pursue.
3. The skills most often addressed during the conference were:
   • Collaboration – The ability to work effectively with others – both in person, and virtually.
   • Communication – The ability to express oneself clearly and succinctly, and the ability to listen well, and work with others to develop shared understanding
   • Problem-solving – The ability to process information, consider different perspectives and make decisions that move projects forward.
   • Adaptability – The ability and willingness to adjust quickly and without complete information – to change in a dynamic environment.
   • Empathy – The ability to relate to others and earnestly consider their perspectives, thoughts and feelings and considering these as you pursue the mission of your business.

At MOC-Floyd Valley, we are working hard to provide our students with the skills above.  That is why we emphasize productive struggle – where our students move beyond their comfort zones on a regular basis.  It is also why we are working harder than ever to create and foster authentic relationships with our community business partners that help our students develop these skills in the “real world” and become future-ready!

Last year, at MOC-Floyd Valley, we did an admirable job of teaching and learning in the midst of a global pandemic. We created as much normalcy and continuity as we could for our students, while at times operating in survival mode. While it doesn’t feel as disorienting this year, there is no doubt that we are again entering the year with some uncertainty and trepidation, and we will undoubtedly need to pivot and adapt. Nevertheless, our theme for the year is not surviving, it is striving and thriving – together!

We always have a choice in what we focus on and how we function. By choosing to strive, we are focusing on personal responsibility and commitment to the collective good. We are putting our best effort into whatever we are doing, and we are influencing those around us in a positive, contagious manner. This is what leads to thriving! Maybe not immediately, but by developing resiliency and a growth mindset, we are, indeed fostering learning, excellence, and civic responsibility!

We at MOC-Floyd Valley are honored to serve the students and families that make up our school district and invite you to strive and thrive with us. Let’s make it a great year – “the choice is ours!”

With Gratitude and Respect,



Russ Adams
Superintendent of Schools

Anyone fortunate enough to be a parent, knows that one of the most difficult things to do is watch your children struggle.  Our instincts tell us that we need to protect them from pain because we love them.  In some cases, that is true, but in many others, we could be short-circuiting their learning and not allowing them to develop the coping/life skills they need.

Last week, my wife and I were waiting to board a plane in San Diego.  While sitting in the terminal, we noticed a fit, young man sitting across from us in the terminal.  He had an Ironman Triathlon bag and fresh racing numbers on his hand and arm.  He also had a service dog with him.  He was clearly an athlete – and he was clearly vision-impaired.  As fate would have it, when we loaded the plane, I had the good fortune to sit next to this young man – Kyle Coon – and he was able to share his story with me while we flew to Denver.

When Kyle was 10 months old, he was diagnosed with bilateral sporadic retinoblastoma, a form of cancer in both eyes.  He underwent multiple treatments, but by the time he was 6 years old, both eyes had to be removed.  Since then, he has excelled in many things.  He was a college wrestler, and an avid skier and an accomplished rock climber.  Currently, he is a resident-athlete at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.  He is a world-class athlete who is training hard, and has a very good chance of representing the United States in the triathlon at the 2020 Para-Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Kyle credits his tenacity, drive, and grit to the way his parents raised him.  He said that their constant encouragement and support were amazing.  The greatest gift they gave him was the will to test his limits and persist!  In a nutshell, they were masters of creating productive struggle for Kyle.  He knows they were tempted to make accommodations for him to make his life easier, and he is thankful that they resisted that temptation.  They supported and encouraged him, and just as importantly, they allowed him to fall and fail along the way so that he could overcome short-term setbacks to become the resilient young man that he is.

This is a lesson that we can all learn as we strive to do what is best for our children and our students.  May we all love them enough to encourage and support them while we let them fall and fail – and eventually get up and succeed!

Background

MOC-Floyd Valley is extremely fortunate to be a growing district!  Our certified enrollment increased by 28 students for the 2019-2020 school year.  Over the last nine years, we have grown an average of 18 students per year.  This equates to a little over 100 students every six years.   The increase in enrollment corresponds with the growth in the communities that make up the MOC-Floyd Valley District, and certainly reflect the efforts of our communities to be vibrant and healthy.

We have undergone several improvements in our district facilities over the years, with the most recent improvements coming at the middle school, where we repurposed the lower level and created six new classrooms.  We are fortunate that we expanded in this manner.  When the construction began on the middle school project, Grades 6-8 enrollment totaled 304 students.  During the 2018-19 school year, we had 364 students at the middle school!

We have also been reimagining and repurposing spaces in our other buildings to increase our classroom capacity.  In the past four years, we have transformed five computer labs into actual classrooms that help in accommodating our students and staff.  We are very near capacity in every building and need to be prepared for the future!

In February of 2018, the Board of Education hired Jerry McCall, of Education Consulting Services, to conduct a review of our programs and facilities and assist us in our long-range plans.  Jerry met with staff and community leaders.  He also conducted thorough reviews of all of our facilities.  The results of our programming and facilities study underscore the need for more capacity – especially at our elementary levels.  With this in mind, we have been developing plans for a new single-site elementary school.  We are currently working with the City of Orange City to acquire this (City-owned land) between Orange City and Alton.  A part of this transaction will include the City acquiring our current Orange City Elementary property.

On the new site, we will construct a TK-5 elementary school with adequate playground space, parking, and activity space. We are also planning for a middle school practice track and ball fields that will also be available to the communities.  Finally, the new building will be constructed so that grade-levels are housed in “pods” that increase collaboration and opportunities for students and staff.

Updated Timeline:

• We have met with representatives from the City of Orange City, the City of Alton, Orange City Area Health System, Northwestern College, Unity Christian and Orange City Christian School.  Each of these entities is planning facilities improvements and we are seeking to create collaborative partnerships wherever possible.
• The City of Orange City has committed to working with us as we work to purchase approximately 40 acres of City-owned land between Alton and Orange City. Part of our planning includes selling the Orange City Elementary property to the City as equity in the land purchase.
• This project will likely serve as a catalyst for residential growth for the cities of Alton and Orange City.
• We have contracted with Piper-Jaffray as our fiscal agent for this project. Their services come in two phases.  The first is to assist us in pre-planning where they will provide us with scenarios and information leading up to a bond referendum.  The second will occur if/when the bond referendum is successful.  At that time, Piper Jaffray will facilitate the bond sales and advise along the way.
• We have met with representatives from Hospers to consider second-life possibilities for the Hospers Elementary property.  We will continue to explore possibilities.
• We have collected a second round of input from faculty and staff regarding the new facilities (over fifteen pages of suggestions) that are being used in site/program planning. This level of input and the work generated from it will be extremely beneficial as this project moves forward.
• Part of the planning process will be to design the TK-5 building and site to allow for future expansion if needed.
• If the project allows, a small part of will be utilized to create needed expansion of the high school facilities to create additional instructional space and improve the security and student services areas.
• CMBA Architects out of Sioux City is leading us through the pre-bond planning and preparation. If/When the bond referendum is successful, they will take us through the actual planning and construction project.
• Our facilities planning team (including Jerry McCall & the CMBA team) has continued joint planning with the Cities of Alton and Orange City to figure out the most beneficial site mix for the purposes of the TK-5 School building and grounds, residential property, and recreational amenities.
• We have worked with Bryan Wells of DGR to determine the best use of the site and have developed a tentative conceptual site plan.
• School Board members and a staff team visited several new elementary buildings in Minneapolis in October, to gather ideas.
• We have assembled a small group of community members to help plan and assist in getting the message out prior to our March 3, 2020, bond referendum.
• We have contracted with W.A. Klinger to serve as our Construction Management team.
• We will be acquiring signatures for the bond petition prior to January 13, 2020.
• We will work with our community team to communicate inform the public regarding the project throughout January and February 2020.
• The bond referendum will be held on March 3, 2020.
• Immediately following a successful vote, detailed site and building plans will be developed. Ideally, site work will begin in the Fall of 2020.
• Our plan is to occupy the new school building by August of 2023 at the very latest. We will work for a faster timeline if possible.

There is no doubt that this football season has been a trying one for our players, coaches and fans.  When the outcome of the game doesn’t match our hopes, there is always a bit of disappointment.  When faced with the disappointment, however, we need to remember the old adage – “it isn’t the destination, it’s the journey!”

The gentlemen guiding our football program are hard-working, respectful, positive people who pour their hearts into preparing our young men.  I know they care about each player, and they consistently teach, encourage, support and build.  They demonstrate humility, hard work and commitment.  I am proud of and thankful for them!

We as parents and grandparents always want what is best for our children.  How we help them handle adversity and grow is one of our greatest challenges – and opportunities!  Whether it is football, volleyball, cross country, or any other activity, the reality is the same.  With that in mind, I offer the following editorial from Karissa Niehoff, the executive director of the National Federation of High Schools; and Tom Keating, the executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, taken from the 2019 IHSAA Fall Bulletin:

Inappropriate adult behaviors at high school athletic events across the country have reached epidemic proportion. 

When more than 2,000 high school athletic directors were asked in a recent national survey what they like least about their job, 62.3 percent said it was, “dealing with aggressive parents and adult fans.” 

And the men and women who referee or umpire those contests agree.  In fact, almost 60% of new officials registered in Iowa in 2016-17 did not return to officiate in 2017-18, and unruly parents are often cited as a major reason why.  As a result, there is a growing shortage of high school officials here in Iowa, and in baseball, football, track and field, and wrestling, the IHSAA is seeing record lows.  No officials means no games. 

If you are a parent attending a high school athletic event this fall, you can help by following these six guidelines:

• Act your age. You are, after all, an adult.  Act in a way that makes your family and school proud.
• Don’t live vicariously through your children. High school sports are for them, not you.  Your family’s reputation is not determined by how well your children perform on the field of play. 
• Let your children talk to the coach instead of doing it for them. High school athletes learn how to become more confident, independent and capable – but only when their parents don’t jump in and solve their problems for them. 
• Stay in your own lane. No coaching or officiating from the sidelines.  Your role is to be a responsible, supportive parent, not a coach or official.
• Remember: Participating in a high school sport is not about a college scholarship.  According to the NCAA, only about 2% of all high school athletes are awarded a sports scholarship, and the average total value of that scholarship is only around $18,000. 
• Make sure your children know you love watching them play. Do not critique your child’s performance on the car ride home.  Participating in high school sports is about character development, learning and having fun – not winning and losing. 

Purchasing a ticket to a high school sporting event does not give you the right to be rude, disrespectful, or verbally abusive.  Cheer loud and be proud, but please also be responsible and considerate as a spectator.

The future of high school sports in Iowa is dependent on you.

While I may not have been as pointed in my words, I definitely believe we, as adults, have a great opportunity to help our young people learn and grow through their activities and their experiences.  How we encourage and support, how we express our thoughts, and how we help our young people process their thoughts and feelings makes a huge difference for these young people moving forward.

Thank you in advance for partnering in a positive, proactive manner moving forward.

Below are two of this year’s MOC-Floyd Valley District Foci:

• Social & Emotional Well-Being to Support Learning
  • We will strive to address the social and emotional needs of students and staff so that everyone feels a sense of belonging at MOC-FV, and is able to learn and grow in a safe, supportive environment.

• Communication to Support Learning
  • We will communicate with parents and others in a mission-focused, positive, productive manner.

In an effort to address these foci and better serve our students and their families, we recently invited two speakers to share with parents and community members.  On Tuesday, September 17, Jeff Herzberg, Chief Administrator at Prairie Lakes AEA, Superintendent at Gilmore City-Bradgate, and strong advocate around mental health, shared an important message with MOC-Floyd Valley parents.  Mr. Herzberg’s message centered around helping parents navigate the challenging waters of trauma and mental health.   He shared research around the impact of trauma, truths about mental health, strategies for self-care and resources for parents.

The following evening, Wednesday, September 18, Mike Donahue, co-founder of Value Up, shared another important message with parents.  According to Mr. Donahue, parents try to understand the pressures our kids face, but struggle to relate because they did not grow up in the digital age. Students have a hard time “shutting down” and the drama that occurs at 11:00 in the morning may follow them until they go to bed at night. Mr. Donahue notes that one of best ways we can help our children is by listening to them, not lecturing, and patiently working to get to their deeper feelings.  Mr. Donahue’s closing message was, “Love your kids when they are home. Make sure it is a place where they feel safe, feel loved, and can decompress from the stresses of life.”

Prior to meeting with parents, Mr. Donahue spent the day working with MOC-Floyd Valley Middle and High School students.  First, he shared a message with all of our 6-8 students, followed by all of our 9-12 students.  During the assemblies he emphasized “walking a mile” in someone else’s shoes and understanding that every person has value. He states, “When students understand their innate value and the innate value of others, they are more likely to thrive.”  The message touched on topics of value, respect, and building a school culture that promotes positive and respectful interactions.  In addition to the assembly programs, Mike led a leadership seminar with 75 students from the high school and middle school. The focus of this leadership seminar was to equip students with ways that they can serve as positive leaders in the school and promote the positive and respectful school culture that they want.

Both speakers agreed to let us record their presentations and make them available to parents and community members who were unable to attend.  We will be making these available on the MOC-Floyd Valley School District website in the very near future.