Mr. Kline had some pretty big shoes to fill when Dr. Wilcynski left. My freshman year was also Mr. Kline's first. Everyone LOVED Dr. Wilcynski. Mr. Kline was stepping up to the plate to bat right after Babe Ruth hit a homerun for seventeen years. There was doubt in everyone's hearts. The first year, he adjusted to his new environment. He had over 2000 names to learn, a new student body and new staff members to direct. He began building a Twitter presence, and learning our names, and still maintaining a high school. He started a blog called Cougar Chat and already began investing time to write and recognize athletes, scholars, and clubs all over Kennedy High School. He was working hard from the start. Under his administration, I had a wonderful freshman year.
Sophomore year brought huge changes to Kennedy High School, however, changes that were exciting for everyone. Mr. Kline pitched the idea of SMART Lunch, an 80 minute lunch period for the entire student body, as opposed to 4 slots of ABCD lunch that rotates students in and out of 4th hour with 20 minutes to eat. Instead, there would be an open campus for juniors and seniors with passing grades to leave for lunch. Underclassmen and those that stayed could enjoy two 40 minute slots of "tutorial." Tutorial was time to catch up on work, eat, socialize, ask teachers for help in their classrooms, and attend club meetings or recreational sports. Students and staff adjusted when the year started, and everyone loved it. Everyone loved Mr. Kline. And with good reason. SMART Lunch meant it was easier to participate in clubs and sports, made homework more manageable, and students that rode the bus could participate more in school life. Everyone was winning, and Mr. Kline was to thank.
By the end of the year, SMART Lunch had shifted slightly, though, and Kline took some big hits on Twitter. Administration chose to close the foyer during the end of SMART Lunch and students needed a pass to get to a classroom. It was to control the noise level, but Mr. Kline got tons of criticism on Twitter from students trapped in the noisy cafeteria. I'll admit to being one of those irritated students. Additionally, SMART Lunch was cut short 20 minutes to make time for more class, so we had fewer snow days to make up in the summer, and school had to start five minutes earlier and end five minutes later. Oh, the pain of waking up five minutes earlier. Mr. Kline took more hits, despite it being a decision of administration as a whole. Even teachers were irritated, but it was necessary. Being a high school principal means making difficult decisions, and Mr. Kline made his fair share of hard decisions that year.
Enter junior year. Present day. SMART Lunch remains shorter this year, at 30 minutes per tutorial, one hour of lunch to use accordingly. There is still an open campus, and the foyer has been open for students to come and go after lunch. Thank goodness. That was irritating. Now that everyone appreciates SMART Lunch, we turn to whether or not JKline is truly invested in every student. He attends every football game, but only one cross country meet in the season?! *Gasp* He doesn't participate. Yes, but he tweets about the team victories, and he celebrates every. single. sport. in an elaborate paragraph at the end of the week on his blog, Cougar Chat. He tweets about National Merit Scholars, Debate Team, football victories and dive team videos, and he is so cool when you talk to him. His focus is definitely football this year, but we're 7-0 baby! How can you not celebrate that?! The student section is flaming, and when over 200 students are there, Kline should probably be there too. And he missed the game this week because he was at his brother's wedding. He still tweeted and kept up with the game, and he's been encouraging students to add emails to a Battle of The Stands to win our school $25,000. The only reason we are in the lead is because Kline is so present on Twitter. No other school in the city of Cedar Rapids has such a strong social media presence as Kennedy.
Now that we all have some perspective, stop hating on Mr. Kline. Next time you feel that he isn't invested in all students, as his Twitter bio claims, check up on his weekly blog. He is one heck of a role model, and he is still learning and growing like the rest of us. He has risen to the challenge of a huge, new school and implemented an entire new lunch system with grace. He is raising a family of 1800, and a family of his own. Cut the guy some slack and thank him for all he's done next time you see him.
Stay awesome,
Claire
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Follow Mr. Kline on Twitter.
Read Cougar Chat, "from the desk of Principal Jason Kline."
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By the end of the year, SMART Lunch had shifted slightly, though, and Kline took some big hits on Twitter. Administration chose to close the foyer during the end of SMART Lunch and students needed a pass to get to a classroom. It was to control the noise level, but Mr. Kline got tons of criticism on Twitter from students trapped in the noisy cafeteria. I'll admit to being one of those irritated students. Additionally, SMART Lunch was cut short 20 minutes to make time for more class, so we had fewer snow days to make up in the summer, and school had to start five minutes earlier and end five minutes later. Oh, the pain of waking up five minutes earlier. Mr. Kline took more hits, despite it being a decision of administration as a whole. Even teachers were irritated, but it was necessary. Being a high school principal means making difficult decisions, and Mr. Kline made his fair share of hard decisions that year.
Enter junior year. Present day. SMART Lunch remains shorter this year, at 30 minutes per tutorial, one hour of lunch to use accordingly. There is still an open campus, and the foyer has been open for students to come and go after lunch. Thank goodness. That was irritating. Now that everyone appreciates SMART Lunch, we turn to whether or not JKline is truly invested in every student. He attends every football game, but only one cross country meet in the season?! *Gasp* He doesn't participate. Yes, but he tweets about the team victories, and he celebrates every. single. sport. in an elaborate paragraph at the end of the week on his blog, Cougar Chat. He tweets about National Merit Scholars, Debate Team, football victories and dive team videos, and he is so cool when you talk to him. His focus is definitely football this year, but we're 7-0 baby! How can you not celebrate that?! The student section is flaming, and when over 200 students are there, Kline should probably be there too. And he missed the game this week because he was at his brother's wedding. He still tweeted and kept up with the game, and he's been encouraging students to add emails to a Battle of The Stands to win our school $25,000. The only reason we are in the lead is because Kline is so present on Twitter. No other school in the city of Cedar Rapids has such a strong social media presence as Kennedy.
Now that we all have some perspective, stop hating on Mr. Kline. Next time you feel that he isn't invested in all students, as his Twitter bio claims, check up on his weekly blog. He is one heck of a role model, and he is still learning and growing like the rest of us. He has risen to the challenge of a huge, new school and implemented an entire new lunch system with grace. He is raising a family of 1800, and a family of his own. Cut the guy some slack and thank him for all he's done next time you see him.
Stay awesome,
Claire
---
Follow Mr. Kline on Twitter.
Read Cougar Chat, "from the desk of Principal Jason Kline."
---
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