Mansfield's Discovery School starts new academic year on 'Energy Bus' with visiting author

The staff at Discovery School did more than set up classrooms as they were getting ready to welcome students back to school.

On Aug. 20, author Jim Van Allan worked with faculty and staff as he presented his workshop, "The Energy Bus for Schools," to build culture and cohesiveness as the school welcomes eight new staff members and new positions for several others.

After overcoming budgetary constraints, the school has grown under the leadership of new Head of School Simon Clark. After winning several competitive grants as well as increasing enrollment, the school was able to hire new staff to fill new positions and backfill some positions that had been left empty after retirements. Heading into his second year, Clark was looking for a way to keep the strong school culture of Discovery while welcoming growth and new perspectives.

“Dr. Van Allan’s work on positive school culture and building enthusiasm amongst staff members caught my eye, especially with so many new additions to our staff this year,” Clark said. “His work really affirms Discovery School’s commitment to approach education differently by building positive relationships with each other, our students, families and community.”

The staff participated in activities on intentional listening, non-verbal communication, defined values, and considered how they want the school to look, feel and sound. From there, they had time to think about actions that would bring those ideas to life for the school, starting with the first day.

“I feel like the Energy Bus philosophy will help me be a better collaborator with my coworkers this year and help me build better relationships with all the students, too. Since I interact with and support everyone in the school as the intervention specialist, that teamwork is so important,” said Lori Anderson, an eighth-year teacher at the school.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield's Discovery School starts new academic year on 'Energy Bus' with visiting author