Welcome to Bonita Vista High School and to our board meeting! Thank you, Dr. Del Rosario for your warm reception and for collaborating with Ms. Vicedo to ensure all logistics were handled. We appreciate you Team Barons!

• Welcome back from Fall break! Last week we had a very successful PD offering for all our certificated staff and many of our classified partners. Overall, another Sweetwater win for learning and growing professionally!
• I would also like to report the sad news that one of our Sweetwater administrators passed away during the break. Mr. Jose Brosz died after a courageous fight against non-Hodgkin lymphoma. His connection to the Sweetwater community began when he was a student at both Montgomery Jr. and Montgomery HS. He returned after earning his BA from SDSU with a major in History. He began his teaching career in 1988 at Mar Vista High School. In 1993, he was appointed assistant principal at NCM and then was promoted to NCM principal in 1999. In 2002, he became the founding principal at Otay Ranch High School where Mr. Brosz and the original Otay Ranch staff established many Mustang traditions that will carry on for many years. He served the Otay Ranch HS community as principal for 15 years. Rest in peace Mr. Brosz.
• Congratulations to Trustee Nick Segura and SoH Principal Lee Romero for being recognized by 80^th District Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher with a 2017 Outstanding Latino and Filipino Community Leader Award!
• College/Career Fair was held on Oct. 2 at MoH. There were 76 colleges and 30 different career/industries represented. Approximately 1500 participants attended the various tables and workshops. As you can imagine, organizing and coordinating this annual fair takes a lot of time and people. The office of College/Career Readiness deserves a standing ovation: Elaine Leano, Nancy Nieto, Norma Martin, Jerrald Espino, Joette Fredrickson, Jesus Ulloa, Jeanette Gomez-LaMadrid, Ricardo Cisneros, Troy Mason. We also applaud the Montgomery HS custodians, Campus Assistants, Admin team, counselor interns, and the CTE Culinary Arts Program that provided refreshments.
• As educators, our #1 job is to facilitate growth in others. Sometimes that’s easy, at other times, there are obstacles to overcome. How do we respond when others try to place obstacles in our way when we are trying to live our purpose? How do we remain steadfast on our journey, even when it’s hard or we’re tired or frustrated?  How do we resist allowing others to distract us or divert us on this worthy path?
• I was reading a blog from George Couros, author of The Innovator’s Mindset. He was blogging about a time when you have this great idea on helping your school move forward, sometimes what happens is that detractors may appear who want to take you off course. Sometimes others get threatened when you are shining your light. And, when others aren’t feeling all that successful, they may feel like you shining a light may prevent them from finding their own success. What’s important to remember is there is room for all to be successful and bottom line, we ultimately determine our own destination.
• Mr. Couros shares 4 ways to not let others dim your light or stop your progress and he begins with a quote from Marianne Williamson, Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, fabulous? The better question is who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine….

Here are the 4 ways to share your light:

1. Be kind, always. Even when someone seems to be attacking you. Some people thing attacking back shows strength, but being kind even while someone is going after you, shows strength on a totally different level.

2. Ask questions. Not all criticisms are bad. By showing humility and trying to learn from the criticism of others, it creates a great opportunity to learn from mistakes. By asking questions, we also can find common ground. If we find common ground and then people disagree with us still based on what we both believe, we start to realize that the criticism is less about the idea, and more about the person. And, that leads to #3.

3. Move on and ignore.  Time is the most precious currency we have, how we spend it, is what leads anyone to be successful. Who do you surround yourself with? People who constantly try to deter you from your aspirations? He shared another favorite anonymous quote in this blog, Give people a chance to share their thoughts, but don’t give them a chance to take away or deter you from your dreams.

4. Give back. You have heard me say this before, if you want to be empowered, empower others. Be the example! As I said earlier, there is room for each of us to be successful. Consider investing your time in people who are willing to invest in themselves. Although our work ethic, personal mindset, and what we do with what we have are factors that lead to success, no one has ever been successful on their own. People always help out, even in the smallest ways, to help others achieve their goals and dreams. Our own legacies continue when they live in others. Success does not happen by accident, but by habit. We have to be intentional in our interactions, not only with others, but ourselves. It’s okay to be hard on yourself and have high expectations, but that is much different than beating yourself up. It is normal to let the criticism of others get to us, but let’s not let it stop us from doing something great.

He ends his blog with, The world needs your light to shine.

I support Mr. Couros’ thoughts and add… your students, your colleagues, your family, and your friends need your light to shine. So,

Shine on Sweetwater community!