• Planning Your Future Day

    Planning Your Future Day is an opportunity for 4th grade students to begin thinking about what it means to be successful. Students are exposed to a variety of guest speakers in hopes that they will be inspired to set personal goals and then put in the hard work needed to achieve those goals. The transition from elementary school to middle school is a perfect time to help our students to begin thinking about taking personal responsibility for the future and the successes they are capable of achieving. Guest speakers typically include:

    1. 1-2 South Lewis graduates

    2. High School student panel (High School Counselors: Mrs. Burmingham and Mrs. Green)

    3. College representatives

     

     

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    Planning Your Future Day 2012
    This year we had three individual events for fourth and fifth grade students at each of the three elementary schools: Constableville, Port Leyden, and Glenfield. We had many wonderful guest speakers, including a panel of very talented and hard working South Lewis Seniors, to help our elementary students begin thinking about working towards a positive and successful future. 
     
    Ryan Sharpsteine joined the students at each buillding and talked about his time working with the Vice President, Joe Biden, and his staff during an internship experience in Washington, DC. Ryan talked about how dreaming big and going after what you want in life is important for future success. Ryan was a great example of how hard work, dedication, and persistance helps you achieve great things. 
     
     

    Planning Your Future Day 2013 

    This year, fourth grade students from both elementary schools joined together at South Lewis High School for an afternoon full of great speakers and activities.

    Our keynote speaker, Miss Abby Black, was a former South Lewis student who enjoyed many successes and earned many academic and athletic accolades during her time at South Lewis and in college. She shared her personal journey to success, and left our students with the message that they are capable of making their own dreams come true if they are willing and determined to make it happen.

    Even in retirement, Mr. Bob Newberry came back for PYFD 2013 to inspire our students. He discussed the importance of maintaining a positive attitude, working hard, and not allowing obstacles to get in the way of a successful future. He said "If you think you can't, you can't. But if you think you can... you can."

    Mr. Jeremiah Papineau, a newspaper editor for two local newspapers, also came to talk with our students about his profession, and about his personal journey to success. He talked with the students about the importance of working hard and choosing a career path that speaks to one's interests and abilities.

    Mrs. Green, Mrs. Burmingham, Mr. Villiere, and our wonderful SL High School panel presented to the students about the importance of planning for the future now. Students talked about building a successful future through hard work, determination, and never giving up on dreams.
     
    Planning Your Future Day 2014
    We had another great year of speakers this year including, Jenna Kraeger, South Lewis Alumna (2011), Doreen Garrett, Owner/Founder of Otis Technology, and another great round of students for our High School Panel. 
     
    Jenna Kraeger was our keynote speaker and came back to send a message of inspiration to our students about how life is what you make of it. She gave great advice about how to make good choices that will lead to future success. 
     
    Mrs. Doreen Garrett came in and talked with students about how she built a nationally recognized gun cleaning kit company (Otis Technology), founded in her kitchen when she was a teenager. She talked about obstacles she faced, how she overcame them, and what her role is today in running a very successful company.
     
    St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY sent a team of aspiring teachers through the Outreach to Education Program, to teach an interactive lesson about the many paths one could take after high school. The world of work, the military, and college/career paths were discussed using a constructivist approach to teaching/learning. The kids enjoyed being able to share personal dreams and goals with the college students and their peers. 
     
    Mrs. Burmingham and Mrs. Green brought some of their most outgoing, goal-oriented, and ambitious Seniors to share their talents, dreams, and goals with our 4th grade students. The focus of the session was Multiple Intelligences, and how we can all cultivate our particular kind of "smarts" to build a promising future. 
     
    Planning Your Future Day 2015
     
    As always, we had some inspiring speakers come back to South Lewis to talk with our fourth graders about their personal journey and give them pointers to building their own successes.
     
    Alexandra Doney, South Lewis alum from 2011, and aspiring lawyer, came back to offer our students some solid words of advice about how one achieves success. Themes like overcoming obstacles, never giving up, and always doing your best were present in her presentation. 
     
    For the second year in a row, the Outreach to Education Program from St. Lawrence University came back to share a lesson about the many choices that await after one graduates from high school. The college students did a great job connecting with the students and helped them to learn about how they have many opportunities in life if they work hard and do his/her best each day. 
     
    Mrs. Burmingham and Mrs. Green presented a panel of very accomplished high school students to help younger students think about how the social and academic choices they are currently making, and will continue to make through Middle and High School, will impact the choices available in the future. As always, the message is DREAM BIG! 
     
    Planning Your Future Day 2016
    The day began with an inspiring lesson from Miss Nancy Newell. Currently working as an athletic trainer in the Boston area, Nancy talked with students about the basic principles about life, learning, and success that helped her to reach her goals. Nancy joined us via Skype between clients at her office. It was such a neat experience for our kids to hear that one of South Lewis's own is working with top athletes in the country.
     
    South Lewis Alum and current Elementary Principal, Mr. Christopher Villiere, shared inspirational thoughts, stories, and messages about the importance of believing in yourself, your abilities, and overcoming obstacles that stand in the way of your success. Mr. Villiere continues to be an exceptional educator at South Lewis because these motivational messages are so much a part of his daily interactions with our students. 
     
    As always, Mrs. Burmingham and Mrs. Greene brought an elite crew of Seniors to present about their success, dreams, and future plans/goals. They continued to drive home the message that people are "smart" in a variety of ways. Knowing your "smarts" and capitalizing on your strengths is a way to develop a plan for future success. 
     
    Lastly, this year, students used a completed career interest inventory (from classroom lessons in April) to explore the World of Work using the top three career clusters that were most closely related to their interests and abilities. Students were encouraged to explore careers that they had not been exposed to previously to help start a discussion about how the future has many possibilities. 
     
    Planning Your Future Day 2017
     
    This year Nancy Newell returned, via Skype, to share about her own path to reaching her goals. She talked about overcoming struggles in writing and how she wishes she had taken more time to sharpen some of her academics skills in school, to better help her prepare for her career. Her message was: the things you do now matter. They are stepping stones for your ability to achieve your goals in the future. 
     
    Mrs. Burmingham and Mrs. Green, once again, invited some amazing Senior role models to help talk with our students about how they can build on their personal strengths to find success. The presentation was fun and interactive and the fourth grade students seemed inspired by the success of the older students. 
     
    Mr. Kevin Bronson, South Lewis Graduate, came all the way from New Hampshire to talk about his journey to success. Kevin is currently featured on the Animal Planet show "North Woods Law" in his profession as a Conservation Officer. I do believe many of our students were a bit star struck, as his show seems to be a favorite of many of our students. He talked a great deal about how he achieved his goal of becoming a Conservation Officer, and how his dedication and hard work have been important to his success.