By Karen Donato
Special to the Pioneer Times
As parents and students prepared for the first day of school, so did the educators of RSU 29. All employees met at Houlton High School on Aug. 28 to meet new staff members and participate in mini-workshops that included the following topics: Bullying and Cyber-bullying, Blood Borne Pathogens, Sexual Harassment, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and OSHA training. Following the morning session the staff disbursed to their respective buildings to meet with building principals. On Thursday all staff returned to Houlton High School to hear Dr. Robert Brooks, who is on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. He has a part-time practice in the Boston area as a psychologist and is also a motivational speaker.
Brooks has more than 40 years of experience and has not only worked as a principal at a high school whose students were mentally challenged, but has also written 15 books covering many topics students and educators are facing in today’s world. Brooks has received many awards for his work with special needs children and adolescents. He speaks nationally as well as internationally to educators, business leaders and parents.
He believes that all children can be successful if the right strategies are used. He encourages teachers to put forth an effort to be positive and welcoming to their students, to look for areas of strengths rather than focusing on the student’s weaknesses.
Brooks suggests that if strategies being used with students are not effective than ask, “What is it I can do differently to help this situation?” rather than wait for the student to change; that may never happen. He challenged teachers to create a classroom atmosphere that nurtures the needs of the unconventional students.
Educators attending the presentation were invited to share their own experiences as students in a classroom with teachers who left very negative impressions, as well as those that had believed in them and were a very positive influence in their childhood. These stories were very enlightening to those in attendance.
