From the Desk of Dr. Cotton

November was a busy and exciting month for us! In addition to hosting Hometown Hero and HCPS graduate General Dennis Via, I had the honor of meeting with some of our area legislators on Take Your Legislator to School Day and in participating in Campbell Court Elementary's Flat Stanley project (Senator Bill Stanley, Delegate Les Adams, and Mary Franklin, aide to Delegate Danny Marshall, were happy to join in on a Flat Stanley photo). Through each visit, our guests continued to comment on the exciting nature of our classes and on the student engagement in the classrooms they visited. As always, I was happy to share that what they were seeing is what you do so well every day. Your continued emphasis on the 4Cs is evident and is making an impact on our students and our community!

Are You Reading Creating Innovators?

Administrators in the BHS and MVHS zones recently met to discuss chapter 2 of Creating Innovators. Using the Text Rendering Protocol, members of the group shared sentences, phrases and words that they found important in the chapter entitled "Portrait of the Innovator as a Young Man," about Kirk Phelps "a high school and a college dropout." Phelps' teacher and mentor, Ed Carryer, reminds readers that "Academic content is not very useful in and of itself. It is knowing how to apply it in new situations or to new problems that matters most in the world of innovation." How are you applying content for the innovators in your classroom? Do you see the word or phrase you would choose to summarize chapter two in one of the wordles above? If you haven't read chapter 2 yet, begin with the video ("Chapter 2 page 31") and meet Kirk Phelps.

Be Part of Giving Tuesday

We've enjoyed Thanksgiving, survived Black Friday, shopped locally on Small Business Saturday, and experienced Cyber Monday...but are you ready for Giving Tuesday? Challenge yourself and your students to give on #GivingTuesday and share your story on our website via Twitter (@hcps_va, #hcpspride). Want to learn more about Giving Tuesday? Visit the UWMHC site today.

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This week is Winter Preparedness Week! Are you ready?

Want to share great resources with HCPS colleagues? Send your recommendations to mhatchet@henry.k12.va.us.