Dale St. School Career Day and Continuous Growth assembly!

Dale Street School CORE VALUES:

* Respect * Compassion * Collaboration * Continuous Growth *

The entire Dale Street School gathered in the gymnasium on Friday morning to take part in a 4th/5th Grade Assembly. This assembly was the 2nd assembly of 4 scheduled in this school year, all focused on Dale Street School's CORE VALUES.

Over the past few weeks Dale Street School students in the classes of Grade 4 teacher, Leanne DiPesa and Grade 5 teachers, Kelsey McKenzie and Maura Condon wrote letters of invitation to numerous community members. There was a tremendous number of participant responses to the invitations . Six guests attended the assembly and along with Principal Steve Grenham they were interviewed and asked "What does continuous growth mean to you?"

Principal Steve Grenham told the students about a failed lesson he had worked on with Mrs. Flynn's class but he realized that this failure actually helped him to be better the next time. "Thinking about everything I do with students and parents, I try to be the best person I can be", stated Grenham.

Safety Resource Officer Shelly Manganello explained her role as the Medfield Public School's SRO stating she works hard to be a presence at each of the 5 school buildings and works with students, teachers and administration. Her goal is to teach safety and she took this assembly opportunity to encourage all the Dale Street students to be safe on Early Release days. She reminded them to always be respectful to the crossing guards, careful while walking and to be safe.

Dale St. Teacher Elizabeth Burnham, who is also in the Armed Forces gave a bit of background as to how and why she joined the military. She joined the Army as a way to help pay off her college debt and admitted that in 1999 she wasn't joining for patriotic reasons. She was deployed to Iraq and is now an Army Captain in Military Intelligence. Her goal is to become the rank of Major and to always become a better officer to serve her country.

Jim James, Owner of Park Street Books started his business a number of years ago, and at that time was also a part-time teacher. He told the students that he makes mistakes every day. "Don't be afraid to make mistakes because you can't grow if you don't make mistakes." He learned a hard lesson as a business owner, when he had employed a man who wasn't fully honest with him and his business lost money. "I had trusted him, but I made a mistake." It was a learning experience.

Natick Police Officer Scott Wade, parent of a Dale Street student, always wanted to join the Marines and to play sports. Right out of high school he joined the Marines and went to boot camp but only 3 months in, he suffered a serious knee injury and was unable to fulfill that dream. He returned home after his injury and wasn’t certain of what he wanted to do. After 2 years, he worked his way back, again joined up and finished boot camp then served for 4 years. Wade is now on the Natick Police force and he told the students that he is always learning and getting training in his job. Continuous education helps him to better serve the community.

Wheelock Teacher Jim Kuehl is well known to the Dale Street Students, especially those who had him as their 3rd grade teacher. He revealed that he has been in school for 42 years (as a student and a teacher), and said he is always learning “to teach you better”. He asked the assembly of students what his class motto is and the crowd recited, “Persistence leads to Success!”. Kuehl encouraged students to always search, practice what you love every day, and keep trying.

Kristine Lilly, retired Professional Soccer Player, 2 time World Cup Champion, 2 time Gold Medalist was asked how long she's been playing soccer and she replied,“Forever!” She grew up in Connecticut and was a NY Yankees fan (which was followed by a few boos from the students). She also played baseball as a kid . She told students she worked hard and was persistent; that was how she made it on a National team and in the Olympics. “Be You!” was her advice to the students, “Keep trying different things, not just one thing, because you can do many great things.”

Other school staff and community members were interviewed and their responses were videotaped. Make sure you view the video submissions (below) from Dale St. School nurse Kathy Thompson, Dale St. School secretaries Megan Infantino and Christen Gobin, Harvard basketball player and former Medfield student Maggie McCarthy, Franklin the Dog, Superintendent Jeffrey Marsden and Boston Celtics President Rich Gotham. In addition, Medfield School staff, Maureen Barrett, Michael LaFrancesca, Kerry Cowell, Christine Power, Julie Skipper and Krystal Ortiz were also interviewed by the students.

Friday was also "Career Day" at Dale Street School, and many of the students and staff wore items of clothing depicting a different job or career. Principal Grenham wore a police uniform, Mr. Mason wore a Dunkin' Donut apron and hat, and other staff members were in medical
scrubs, chefs hats and more!

At the conclusion of each interview, the guests received a framed letter of thanks and a rose from the Dale Street School students.