Chrysalis Academics: Above the State AND National Average!

By Kenny Pannell / August 20, 2014 / Comments Off on Chrysalis Academics: Above the State AND National Average!

Kudos to the 2014 High School Graduates of Chrysalis!  They are ready for college success. The ACT College Readiness letter has arrived in our school office.  The results are shown on the graph below.  100% of our students who took the ACT met or exceeded the benchmark score of 18 on The ACT English Test.…

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Kootenay River Trip 2014

By Kenny Pannell / July 16, 2014 / Comments Off on Kootenay River Trip 2014

After a full day of preparing and packing for the second Adventure Trip of the summer we were all ready to hit the road and head north.  We drove three and a half hours into British Columbia to arrive just an hour south of Banff National Park, in the Kootenay National Park.  We spent our…

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Freezeout Lake Migration Trip

By Kenny Pannell / April 24, 2014 / Comments Off on Freezeout Lake Migration Trip

Over spring break, seven Chrysalis students left Eureka for a weekend trip to the Rocky Mountain Front. ‘The front’ as locals call it, is the place in our state where the mountains meet the plains. To the west, snowstorms brew high in the foreboding Rockies, to the east, golden fields and blue sky stretch into…

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Butterfly art Adobe AdobeStock 99473767

Reflections on the Poetry Competition and Teaching

By Kenny Pannell / April 4, 2014 / Comments Off on Reflections on the Poetry Competition and Teaching

I strongly believe that one of the things that makes teaching such a challenging profession is that many of us adopt our students. Of course, this doesn’t happen legally, but I can assure you that it happens emotionally. I teach because I care about the success of your daughter. I am always telling them that I…

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Volunteering at the Special Olympics

By Kenny Pannell / March 18, 2014 / Comments Off on Volunteering at the Special Olympics

On Tuesday February 25th, seven Chrysalis students journeyed south from Eureka to Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort, but not for a day of hitting the slopes.  Instead of skis, snowboards, helmets and goggles, they arrived with noise makers, flowery leis, silly hats and giddy personalities as we volunteered to help out with the 16th Annual Montana…

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Student Qualifies for STATE Poetry Out Loud Contest!

By Kenny Pannell / February 17, 2014 / Comments Off on Student Qualifies for STATE Poetry Out Loud Contest!

The following article was written by one of our English teachers after last week’s Montana High School Regionals Poetry Out Loud Contest. I think I should have worn velcro on the seat of my pants last night… it certainly would have made it easier to stay seated after hearing our school champion recite her first…

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Using Mindfulness to Slow Down and Make Different Choices

By Kenny Pannell / February 13, 2014 / Comments Off on Using Mindfulness to Slow Down and Make Different Choices

Many of the students who come to Chrysalis present with anxiety, depression, impulsivity, emotional regulation issues, and difficulty distinguishing between thoughts and emotions.  Mindfulness practices teach students to begin to slow down their busy minds, see the difference between thoughts and emotions, and pause before reacting impulsively to those thoughts and emotions.  The concept of…

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Winter Activities and Bloomsday Training

By Kenny Pannell / February 7, 2014 / Comments Off on Winter Activities and Bloomsday Training

It’s been a snow filled week here in Eureka, Montana. Chrysalis students are staying cozy and enjoying the fresh snow on the weekends. A group of students are headed to a Forest Service Cabin for a leadership retreat this weekend. Take a look here at why we do leadership retreats. In other news, the annual…

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