Welcome Back. Your Dreams Are Your Ticket Out

 

 Southeast Coastal Alumni '77

I like to think of myself, and my method of teaching and reaching kids as transformative and innovative.

Every so often, when things don't go as planned in the classroom, I have an "aha moment". Just when I think I am going where no teacher has gone before, I realize that I am getting stuck in a rut and going where every teacher has gone before, traditional teaching and traditional classroom management. I realize at moments like these that I am allowing the locus of control shift to student behavior, and away from meaningful moments.  As educators, we've all done it. Average educators do it more than they realize. Focus becomes so intent on delivering content and instruction to students, that if someone asks us, " What do you teach?" the canned response is fill in the blank for whatever subject you teach. In the public schools, it is easy to make this slip. In the era of " No Child Left Behind" and teacher accountability, and test results being the ultimate measure of a teacher's success or failure, it has become a rat race that ultimately does just what it intended not to do. It leaves children behind.

The day I learned to be a "decent" teacher, back in the early 90s, was the day someone asked me, " So what do you teach?" and I responded, "Children. I teach children." The next milestone for me was becoming a parent myself. Once I had become a parent, and someone would ask me the same question, I would respond, " I teach children. I teach your child." These are fundamental distinctions that make me decent at what I do. I'll never admit that I'm great at what I do. I imagine the board of directors at SOAR reading up to this point are saying, "What is he doing? Admitting he is not great... SOAR is a world class program." While the preceding plug for SOAR is true, admitting personal greatness would suggest that I have nothing further to learn. That couldn't be farther from the truth. The truth is, I learn new things every day, when I take time to reflect. I hope I never stop learning to do it better, whatever "It" might be now, or in the future.

 Desert Southwest Alumni '65

That said, I found myself engaged in a brief stint of mediocrity today in the classroom, but I didn't realize it right away. Imagine if you will, a classroom filled with extremely intelligent students, each with their individual differences and challenges, only one of which include a difficulty to focus and stay on task. You have your kids who think they are cooler than "The Fonz"( I date myself here), the kids who want to be "The Fonz's groupies". Then you have the class clowns, and the class clown wanna bes. You have the rebels both with and without causes, and you have your Charlie Brown's with the attitude, " Why is everybody always pickin' on me." You essentially have a microcosm of a much larger school, with everyone and every personality type represented in one classroom. In essence, you have the Sweathogs on steroids  in that each and every student represented is a distinct and unique individual, but in contrast to the depiction of the Sweathogs in Welcome Back Kotter, at Soar, you have many students who haven't fit in at their previous schools, but students who all have tremendous potential just brimming under the surface, waiting to be discovered and or recognized.

 Definitely  could be a Soar alumni - year unknown

So why the comparison to Sweathogs and a late 70's sitcom? Before anyone gets offended that I called their child a Sweathog, let me prove there is a method to my madness. I haven't seen re-runs of Welcome Back Kotter in many years, but I watched it like clockwork as a kid. That being said, I don't remember any of the plot lines. I also don't remember any academics taking place in Gabe's classroom. At this point, the SOAR directors are sweating because Mike is equating SOAR's academic program to a classroom where there is no memorable academics to speak of. Before I get emails from parents, and a call for a meeting in John Willson's office, I had better make my point. I don't remember anything academic about Gabe Kotter's classroom. What I do remember is the rapport and the relationships that he forged with a rather challenging group of students. Whatever difference Kotter made with his students transcended mere paper and pencil tasks.

Another Soar alumni from the archives

I finally come full circle. Let me say for all the worried directors and nervous parents at this point, that academics and setting high expectations for academics is of the highest importance to me. I was just reminded today, through my interactions with your children of the answer to that age old question, " So what do you teach?" My answer reawakened in me, "Your kids." I had the perfect lesson plans today. They were real, they were relevant, they were engaging. They were the kind of lessons that if I had to ask a kid, "So why should you care about this?" I believe they would be able to formulate a quality response. I was in a groove of knowing we have a long way to go, and a short time to get there. After all, at SOAR while academics are very important, students are only in a traditional classroom setting 5 days every 3 weeks, and then get their instruction 2 to 3 hours a day on expedition. We have to cover material in a comprehensive and quality way so that students can ethically get credit for their coursework. I was feeling a pressure to be accountable for results. After all, everyone, from the directors to the parents at SOAR have very high expectations, as they should.

So, like I was saying, I was in class with the perfect lesson but the kids weren't fitting into my perfect mold for behavior. One student in particular was having a hard time with her own personal challenges. I had redirected this student for days. We'll call her "Jane" for confidentiality-sake. Although I was patient and I understood the challenges that "Jane" was facing, I was getting a little impatient. While Jane contributed to class, and did her work, she was disrupting class, frustrating other students, and keeping me from my "everything goes as planned agenda", which I should never have because I know better.

It wasn't as if "Jane" wasn't aware and sensitive about her own conduct. She was having a difficult time managing her conduct, and she was getting really down on herself. I decided to follow the advice I had been given by my stepfather years ago, and advice I had given to many teachers in recent years. I did what that students and the others least expected. I stopped teaching. I remembered my own saying, " What do I teach? I teach kids" and decided to throw caution to the wind and throw the remainder of the lesson out the window. For as people wonder, "If a tree falls in the woods but no one hears it, did it make a noise?", so too did I wonder, " If I continue to teach but no one is listening, did learning really take place?" It was a teachable moment and I took it. Jane was incredibly down about herself, feeling that she couldn't do anything right and that she couldn't control  herself. She was feeling sorry for herself. I could relate. I had to let her know.

I shared with Jane and the group more about my daily challenge as a person who stutters. I wanted to let Jane know that I could relate to the way she was feeling, though we both had our own very unique challenges. I told Jane, and the group that last week had been a really terrific speaking week for me. I had rediscovered speech therapy after over 10 years without, and a therapist who was golden at Western Carolina University. I shared with Jane, as others listened in, how last week had been one of the best speaking weeks I had experienced in years, but that due to stress, I wasn't feeling that confident this week. Another student chimed in that I sounded really good today. I thanked him for the vote of confidence. I went on to tell Jane that she needed to shift her focus from the negative feelings about things that probably are less significant than she thinks, to the few small but significant successes she had experienced in the past few days. Since Jane was not accustomed to focusing on her successes, I shared  a success that Jane had experienced with me with the group. Jane indicated that it was an incredible boost and that she hadn't even realized how successful she was. She realized that I was not angry with her, or impatient, but that I legitimately cared.

I spoke to Jane after class, because she owed me a few minutes for her disruptions, but I decided to make the few moments we talked continue to be affirming rather than punitive. I wanted Jane to see my classroom as "an oasis in the desert" rather than a place to be feared or dreaded. We talked in greater detail about the success I had seen in her that day, and how all those things she was convinced she could not do, she had, very effectively accomplished for an entire hour working with me. She was surprised not only that she had been successful, but that she had done so for an entire hour. It was the beginning of perhaps a shift in focus that had been so rewarding for my own life, that perhaps I was passing along to Jane; Celebrating successes no matter how small they seem. We talked about acknowledging challenges but not letting them hang us up because we all have them. We talked about recognizing and celebrating small successes so that they might be fuel for future successes.

So my break from a "rut of mediocrity" that I almost got stuck in, to engage in a teachable moment was not academic in nature at all. Taking the time, to break out of the molds we tend to set for ourselves, if no one sets them for us,  allowed me to make a connection with one particular student, and set and example for the other students. Today, I went where many teacher fear to tread,  away from the mainstream expectations that can be measured by a grade on a test. I reminded myself that some of the greatest gifts a teacher can give a student are immeasurable, in being human, and being approachable.

I recaptured even more of the idealism that I've regained since coming to SOAR, that education can truly be about the students and for the students without exception. I was reminded of what a former student of mine from 20 years ago wrote to me on Facebook just last week:

Brian wrote:

... you made a lasting impression. If every teacher I had would have been as dedicated and as caring as you school would have been a whole lot easier. You proved that it was possible to be a teacher and a friend...."

I taught Brian when I had been teaching for 2 years and in retrospect knew nothing about teaching and learning as pedagogy. So perhaps the art to teaching is much more simple than "The Academics" would make it out to be. Perhaps I'm not just an average educator after all.

Mike Lefko
Academic Director
The Academy At Soar

Your Child, A Soar student, could claim this desk and chair one day

What Makes SOAR So Special?

What Makes SOAR So Special?

A year ago, I had never heard of SOAR. I had lived in North Carolina for almost 20 years and I had never heard of Balsam. The first time I visited SOAR, I kind of wondered what I had got myself into, as I left the highway and began climbing the mountain… and climbing… and climbing. As the road got thinner and more windy and guard rails were nowhere to be found, I thought, as one of my new students stated to me on his first day on base, “I’m in the middle of nowhere.” Soar was about as far from the trappings of suburbia as I had ever been.  My first impression: What beautiful countryside, but people work and go to school up here? I soon came to learn, they do much much more.

I met Logan Walters, the Director of the Academy, and was impressed very quickly by the visionary he was. Having been in the public schools as a teacher and administrator for almost 20 years, where “what we can’t do and what we are mandated to do” was the ill that plagued us, Logan  Walters was the just what the doctor ordered.  There was a steady calm about him, as he shared his experiences at SOAR and his aspirations, his dreams of what the Academy at SOAR, might become. I would soon learn that Logan’s belief in what we “can do” for kids, and his determination to make things happen at SOAR for the students here was enough to bring back anyone’s lost idealism about what education can be, and can do.

Logan told me how SOAR had been around for over 30 years, and was renowned for its expedition programs, but that its academic program had until very recently been secondary in many people’s minds. A good majority of people, in SOAR’s history, just hadn’t looked to SOAR for the strength of its academics. Coming from the traditional public schools, I couldn't imagine that parents wouldn't specifically look to a program for its academics. Soar was so much more than that. It wasn’t until quite recently that a solid focus was placed on the academic side of the program. Logan had been charged, as the Director for the Academy, with making the dream of an academic program that rivals the expedition program and any other program of its kind, into a reality.

Still, it seemed so different than anything I had experienced in two decades in the public schools. I wondered if it was for me, if I could step in, make myself at home at SOAR, and steer this ship in the direction that Logan, John Willson and the directors were looking toward. I knew, and expressed at the time I was thinking about joining, that I couldn't do it alone. I believed the team approach was necessary to make anything happen of any significance in the lives of children. I didn't even address the fact that I was not exactly Mr. "Outdoorsman".  I, with my wife’s blessing, took a leap of faith, and accepted the offer, when it was made to me, to join SOAR’s team, as the new academic director. I’ve  looked back, but not with an ounce of regret.

You know how they say, sometimes you’ve got to go with your gut? That’s what friends, family and former colleagues told me just before I went with my gut, and joined SOAR. My gut was right.

So what does make SOAR a special place, one of a kind, you may ask? I’m still getting to know SOAR right now, so I can’t tell you about all aspects of this place, this thing called SOAR. I will tell you about what I have experienced so far.

The People

Wherever I work,  the relationships I have with the people I work with has always been important to me. Never have I worked in a place where the staff care as much about each other and kids as I have felt and seen here at SOAR.  The folks at SOAR are professional, but they are genuine. Absent are the agendas and the politics that so often get in the way of people knowing people, and liking the people they work with, that is so evident in  most places you work. First off, being a non- profit, people are not here about the money. Not that that's so different than other areas in education, it's just that the people I have met here at SOAR, without exception, are passionate about what they do first. I can't really describe it better that that. It's just something that you feel, in your day to day interactions with the people here at SOAR. They love and take pride in what they do, and seem to be 110% present in the lives of each other and the kids here at SOAR.

In a world so bombarded by the technologies we have come to rely on such as email, and texting and FaceBook, that make our lives so impersonal, there is a comfort here, and a climate where the doors are always open, and people, thought they don't say it in so many words, give off the vibe, " Lets talk face to face," which not only brings us closer as a team, and more united in our vision, but provides role models for the children and young adults at SOAR, who see that by getting back to basics, that genuine social skills are alive and well, and actually make you feel good and connected to one another.

Many people may not know this, but in coming to SOAR, my family and I made the decision that I would live away from them during the week, and see them on weekends, in order to take this job, at least for now. Soar is in Balsam, North Carolina, and my family is outside of Charlotte. While a very scenic commute, 2.5 hours in the car twice a day just wasn't realistic for any job. So I can relate to the students here at Soar in a way who have to be away from their families for a much more extended period of time. I mention this, because, so different than other potential employers who have actually said to me, " I don't care where you live, as long as you're at work on time," SOAR has shown a caring and a concern for my well-being and that of my family. Logan and John Willson have gone beyond what is required to make me know that they care that my family is important, and to make sure that I am happy and have what I need to do the job to the best of my ability. But enough about me.

The Field Staff &The Base Staff

These folks work 24 hours a day with few days off, for your kids. I honestly haven't memorized their schedules but I know that they sleep, eat and breathe SOAR. I can't speak directly to what the field staff do on a daily basis. I haven't had the opportunity to go out on expedition and spend a day "in their shoes" yet, though I hope to try it, so it will give me greater perspective when designing lessons which they implement and present to the students, while out "in the field". I will tell you that from talking to our field staff, we have some of the most talented and dedicated people you will ever want to meet. They are skilled in outdoor activities and survival, but possess a desire to take a lesson plan, add a healthy dose of their own experiences, and work to bring education to life, by making it real and making it relevant, and connecting it to the places the students visit. I thought a traditional teacher had a long day. I had no idea.

The SOAR base staff are our forgotten heroes, if we're not careful. They aren't out on the fantastic expeditions, but they are surrogate parents, mentors, teachers, counselors, role- models and friends to our students while they adjust to base life away from their families, and start to tackle head on, some of the issues that brought them to SOAR. So often, in the school systems I have seen that traditional educators aren't given the time, or or they don't have the patience, with the demands of the system, even if they have the desire, to address the issues, the "baggage" if you will, that students carry with them to school each day, that gets in the way of their learning, and their growing. In our base staff, I have seen a patience, a nurturing, and a desire to know  and grow the whole child, that would make you glad as a parent if you saw it, to know that your children are truly in the best of hands.

The Folks in The Office & The Other Directors:  Along with Logan Walters, Julie Dixon, and Romona Parsons, the office folks and administrative team are my family away from home. These folks, each in their individual way run a tight ship, yet they never seem to lose sight of SOAR's vision, in the things that they do. I have personally, never felt so supported as a professional and an educator as I have at SOAR. I know that the Directors and office folks all know and understand what we are doing with students at The Academy at SOAR. They do everything they can daily, to make sure we have the things we need as a school, to provide your children with the best, highest quality education.

The Physical Plant: The oil that greases the wheels that make Balsam Base run. A lesson I learned early on in my career as an educator: respect the custodian and make a friend of he or she, and they will be your greatest gift. The folks in our physical plant, Richard and Joe, are so much more than custodians, they are craftsmen. These two guys wear many hats and when they are not fixing and building a better SOAR, they are working with students. Again, I am the newbie at SOAR so it would be presumtuous to assume I know all that these guys do for SOAR. All I do know, is that whatever I need, whenever I need it, Joe and Richard make it happen. The end result, is a well-oiled machine that is Balsam Base, and home to your children for much of the year.

I would be remiss if I were to talk about " What Makes SOAR a special place?" if I did not mention, you, the parents. Yes, I am talking to you parents. You, too, are a huge part of what makes SOAR a special place. Though I've only been with SOAR for about 8 months, my interactions with you have been huge, and powerful. As a parent myself, I know how important my children are to my life, so I know how you feel. You parents have made a tremendous sacrifice, and I am not talking about the finances that it takes to send your child to SOAR. You have recognized what your child needs, and sacrificed having them with you every day in their best interest. You have entrusted the folks at SOAR with your babies (no matter how old they are) because you believe it is the best thing for them at this point in their lives. I believe I can speak for the others at  SOAR when I say that we respond to your trust with a feeling of tremendous responsibility to serve you, and to serve your children well. You parents are a tremendous part of what makes SOAR a special place.

So with so many special people involved in this thing called SOAR, and I didn't even mention your children as special, how could SOAR not be a special place?

A New Year At the Academy At SOAR- Mike Lefko, Academic Director

Hello parents, family members and family friends,

This is the first issue of  "AView From The Teacher's Desk", a new component to the SOAR blogs this year. The idea behind " A View From the Teacher's Desk" is to help keep you connected to things happening in the classrooms of the SOAR Academy, in much the same way your children blog to you, to keep you up on what is new and exciting in the world of SOAR, from your child's perspective.

As I eagerly await feedback from our field staff on the expeditions with Appalachian Trail Team One and Yellowstone team one, and prepare for their arrival for their first base phase, we are in the middle of Appalachian Trail Team Two's first base phase. I am excited as I get to know each of your kids, and their strengths and needs academically. I have been particularly impressed with the level of maturity shown by all members of this team, and how committed they seem to be to their academics.

As you are aware, this is our first year trying Dragon Naturally Speaking, a piece of voice recognition software that allows students to dictate to the computer, and have the computer do the writing/ typing for them. This is something I have been looking for and waiting for, for years; something to help students who struggled with written output.

Before I go any further, I think it is essential that I inform you that I cannot take credit for the idea of using Dragon in the classrooms at SOAR. The idea belongs to none other than our own John Willson, who had seen the program in action at other schools, and suggested to me that he would like to try it at the Academy At SOAR. Thanks John for a brilliant idea. All the students thank you as well.

We didn't have the students trained at the first day of class for obvious reasons, but many students had played with the program at home. For this reason,  I was going to delay using the program until later in the week. When I told the students they would be doing their first blog by hand, I was greeted by sighs and moans, to which I replied, " Ok, you can use the Dragon software."

We've completed 1/2 the training, and will complete the overall initial training on Friday, but students on this team, who have confessed that they hate writing, have blossomed on only day two, demonstrating to me the talents they have for writing, and the plethora of creative ideas they have, just dying to get out. When I asked each student if they prefer using Dragon, over handwriting, and even typing, I got a resounding, "Yes!"  I even had one student, who said he didn't need Dragon, and preferred to type himself, change his mind, after catching some of the training and seeing all that the software could do.

Do I believe that dictation software is the only answer for students struggling with writing? No. I have, however, been amazed with the quality and content of student's writing, when they are given the opportunity to use the software. Hopefully, it will serve as a tool, in this technological age, to allow students to compensate for their challenges in writing, while at the same time improving their writing skills, as well as the pre-requisite skills students need to be effective writers.

So, thank you John Willson, for providing me with such a great idea. Thank you to all the parents who purchased the software for your child, and made another investment, that I believe will make a significant difference in your child's academic lives and their success.

Until next time, when I have more exciting news to report from the teacher's desk, thanks for reading. Please respond to this blog if you wish, or call me at any time. Again my numbers are C: 704-534-1736, W: 828-456-3315 and my email address is michael@soarnc.org. I will be in touch, but you also do the same, if you need me for anything.

Sincerely,

Mike

Academic Director
The Academy At Soar