One year ago we launched this blog: Ask Me About My 12,000 Kids. There were over 181 million blogs when we began and there are probably more than that now. The blogosphere is bloated with lots of blogs (say this sentence 10 times). So thank you, dear readers, for choosing to read this blog. To celebrate our year together, I’ve made a delicious chocolate cheesecake (recipe can be found here) and if you want a slice, stop down to our office today. We’ll be offering them on a first come, first serve basis.) In addition, we’re whooping it up by sharing 17 blogtoids* about our one-year-old blog:
- In one year, we offered up 53 posts; that’s basically a fresh post every Tuesday.
- Donna Carroll and I welcomed 11 guest bloggers, composed of CIS staff, board, and partners. Thank you Emily, Artrella, Bethany, Melissa, James, Dom, Sandy, Pam, Bonnie, Kaitlin, and Carly for contributing your voice to this blog. Thanks to all the kids, parents, school and community partners who shared their thoughts with us. We’re looking forward to hearing more from you as well as new voices this school year.
- Over half of our 53 posts have highlighted individuals or entities in this community. If all our 12,000 plus kids are going to succeed in school and life, it’s going to take a lot of committed adults working together.
- All 18 of the Kalamazoo Public School buildings that have CIS (we’re in 19 schools this new year, having most recently added Woodward School for Technology & Research) have been mentioned at least once in one or more posts. We love the Kalamazoo Public Schools!
- We named names. And we won’t stop. We’ll continue to tell you who is making a difference for kids through CIS.
- You’re smarter because of this blog. You’ve read topics here ranging from literacy, mentoring, resiliency, and music. You’ve discovered what dental care and food have to do with academic success. You’ve read impressive phrases (thanks to guest blogger like CIS board member and partner Dom Pullo) such as “students mixed chemicals that created a chemiluminscent reaction…”
- Three of our posts caught the attention of National CIS. Woo, hoo!
- Most cried over blog post: Open Letter to A Father Who Will Never Read This.
- Funniest post: Don’t Name Your Blog “The Blog.”
- Post that received the most response from teachers and other school staff: Cast Your Vote for Kids.
- Post that featured our hairiest school volunteers: Kaitlin Martin’s Paws for Stories.
- Hardest post to write: Engineers of the Heart.
- Funnest post to write: Six and a Half Things to Do While We’re Away.
- Most fashionable post: Threads.
- Post that featured one of our favorite student interviews: Pop Quiz: Lincoln International Studies Student.
- Hardest thing about blogging? Coming up with a title for each post that is provocative without being too provocative. It needs to be something catchy that will make you want to read more than just the title.
- Most rewarding thing about blogging? Seeing and sharing CIS in action—with you, the partners, volunteers, donors, parents, staff, and learning about the wonderful students who are empowered because of your support.
We have only begun to introduce you to some of your 12,000 kids and the hundreds of caring adults who are helping to raise them. Stay with us this year and continue to get a behind the scenes glimpse of CIS in action. At Ask Me About My 12,000 Kids you will continue to meet the talented teachers, hard working principals, and dedicated community volunteers, partners, and CIS staff who are empowering our children to succeed. We look forward to turning two with you.
*A blogtoid is a term I made up just for this post. (I hope this makes you feel special!) A blogtoid is a fact or deeply held opinion about a blog.
Tags: Artrella Cohn, Ask Me About My 12000 Kids, Bethany Clay, blogging, blogtoid, Bonnie Terrentine, Carly Wiggins, chocolate cheesecake recipe, CIS, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, Dom Pullo, Donna Carroll, Emily Kobza, James Hissong, Kaitlin Martin, Kalamazoo Public Schools, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, literacy, Melissa Holman, mentoring, Music, Pam Kingery, resiliency, Sandy Barry-Loken, volunteering, Woodward School for Technology & Research
