Q: So, what made you decide to come out of retirement and come to Holladay?
Haynes (smiles): I don’t know why I decided to come out of retirement and join you here. You know, it could have been any school. They needed someone to finish out the school year or a period of time. It was a more perfect match turning out to be Holladay because I had an assignment here when I started to teach…I spent 15 years here. So I had a chance to know about Holladay as a neighborhood school – all the fun things I remember Holladay being. Its still a very special place and a special place to me today.
Q: When was it that you came, it was in the fall…
Haynes: The last week in October
Q: Anything remarkable about your year so far?
Haynes: Not necessarily remarkable, but more an expectation – the quality of the fine arts program. No matter who is the person who oversees it, it has always been a program that draws many families from all throughout the city. The quality is still as I remember it to be – it has not dropped off one iota and has stayed at this ‘Wow!’ quality.
Q: Let’s talk about disciplinary problems. What would you say about the discipline situation at Holladay?
Haynes: I think one of the things that has occurred in response to parent requests, is to take a look at a program that might build a closer school community here at Holladay. That program helps students navigate thru peer conflicts…looking forward to the fact that we’ll have a schoolwide approach, a way of making statements about situations that folks find difficult to resolve on their own. We want students to be empowered to resolve these situations on their own.
The program is called ‘Bully-Proofing your school’. Mary Cullin will be making a presentation, the PTO voted to have her bring the bully-proofing program to Holladay.
It’s too early to have made a difference yet, but I know that it will, because it will be disseminated througout the campus. Adults will be talking in a consistent way. Students can learn to agree to disagree. Looking forward to having young people realize that we do have a program in place, and that they too help with that program. When we talk about the ‘Redhawk Way’ they know exactly what that means and what it implies.
Q: What about next year?
Haynes: I haven’t given much thought to next year. My current focus is right here right now, and what we could put in place for a transition for the next leader to step into. I think we have shaped that trajectory with a lot of teacher and parent input. Whether that next leader is myself or someone else, we’re coming together as a real community to help Holladay continue to be the special place that it is.
A huge move in the direction of a more solidified focus for Holladay – we’ve always been fine arts – but the fact that the faculty has decided on a definite first choice of Expeditionary Learning, that means the entire curriculum will revolve around a particular philosophy. Not just one thematic unit but across all grade levels.
Q: What is Expeditionary Learning, exactly?
Haynes: They talk about your ‘destination’. They talk about the depth of what you’re learning instead of the breadth of it. You are able to integrate a number of components.
It is inquiry and project based.
It is not traditional but is driven by the interests of the kids by this whole project. So its a whole collective approach to learning.
This is going to heavily involve the specialists as well. They will begin to plan with teachers – how might we involve the visual arts, the performing arts, with what you are studying. Is there anything you could do PE-related, might be a challenge perhaps but there may be things that you could do that are integrated in to the theme.
Q: How does that planning happen?
Traditionally teachers plan a thematic unit planning for the end, building to that. But the Expeditionary Learning will bring a very specific approach – we will be receiving the same instruction for how to go about it. So when we go expeditionary learning its part of our professional development.
They provide continuity – a safety net in terms of the continuity and quality of yoru program.
We build long range learning goals, this process is new to all of us but there will probably be some similarities to what we already do.
—– Thanks to Larry Haynes for taking the time to talk openly about our present and future at Holladay School! —–
