Q&A with Bear Lake High School Principal Luke Kelsey

The News-Examiner recently sat down with Bear Lake High School Principal Luke Kelsey. Here are his answers to our questions.

News-Examiner: What are you hoping for most this school year at Bear Lake High School?

Kelsey: There has been a lot of change at Bear Lake High School. Most notably we changed our learning management system that was very much a form of project, student based learning. This form of learning was mastery driven which required students to pass quizzes, projects and testing that was based on mastering the concept. This year we are taking the best parts of the old system and built a new system. We understand there will be learning curve for teachers and students during this transition. But we hope this will be a positive change for all.

NE: What are the new policies and procedures being implemented at Bear Lake High School?

Kelsey: A very hot topic with new policies is our cell phone policy. We have researched a great deal. We reached out and talked to other schools districts, conferences and also read a book called the “Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt. It dives into what the use of cell phones has done to kids. We as the school district made the decision that absolutely no cell phone use will be allowed specifically during instruction time. They are allowed to have them between classes and at lunch. Our hope is kids will receive an uninterrupted learning environment and possibly feel the freedom of not being tied to their phones. Another new policy is we raised our math requirement to eight credit hours though the state only requires six. With this we have some new alternative math classes to offer like Math in the Modern World. We also have adapted our senior projects to include internships but will still require a five hour service project to correlate with the internship.

NE: Tell us about all the cool class opportunities at Bear Lake High School.

Kelsey: We are super proud of our elective class opportunities. We have a strong welding/ag program. We offer a great auto and business tech program as well. We are excited to have a full time music teacher who can offer a wider variety of music arts like guitar and musical history. For a smaller school, we really have a diverse choice of classes to keep students involved, excited about learning and grow with their interests. We try to look at long term learning for students to take classes they can use in real world jobs and careers.

NE: How do you grow camaraderie within your school and among the student body?

Kelsey: I honestly feel it’s a continuous effort by staff and administration to create a positive climate. We consistently try to make that our focal point. Being aware of the students' needs is our priority. As part of the learning management we were a part of for years, they required a mentor program where each student had a mentor teacher. We had each teacher mentor four freshmen, four sophomores, four juniors and four seniors at least bi-weekly. Students were required to meet with their mentor teacher and simply check in with anything from how things were going with school or just in life. We found this made students feel inclusive as teachers really got to know these students and became their advocates in various ways. One thing we implement to work towards to help camaraderie is as a school we have a theme that is centered around much of our learning and extra-curricular activities so it’s always at the front of our minds. This year our theme is B.E.A.R.S. which stands for Brave-Engaged-Accountable-Resilient-Strong and everything we do throughout our year will be based and focused around this theme. I have found this helps us all to stay focused and actively helping students and teachers to be better.

NE: What’s the most effective way parents can help their students and school?

Kelsey: I was thrilled and pleasantly surprised when 120 parents came to back to school night. I shared this then but will share again, when your child comes home frustrated the best advice I can give and ask is please just come in. Don’t be mad and jump on social media. If parents would simply come in or call, we can talk it through and come to an understanding and help each other. But most of all, get involved. Volunteer for events. Everything is made better when parents get involved and encourage their student to get involved.