RBVHS PODCAST &
RBVHS TOUCHSTONE - RESPECT THE RANCH
RBVHS TOUCHSTONE RESPECT THE RANCH
What is the RBVHS Touchstone? Our touchstone development was inspired several years ago after a presentation by Thomas Likona. Mr. Likona’s talked about how effective it is for a school community to create a phrase or motto to live by on campus.
Development History:
Fundamental to an effective touchstone motto is input from as many different voices on the campus as possible. We first let the Character Professional Learning Community ( PLC ) brainstorm some ideas, then took it to our student forum, Shared Governance Committee ( SGC ), and site administration.
From these groups we came up with three viable touchstones that our school community voted on. The winner, “Respect the Ranch,” uses the following acronym to communicate the spirit of our touchstone:
The Rancho Community: Responds with compassion Accepts responsibility Never gives up Challenges itself Honors diversity
Podcast History RBV plans to create a monthly podcast that has the same goal in mind. Rooted in the acronym for our touchstone and built around a different theme each month, our podcast will explore the many talents of our school through interviews, stories, art, music, poetry and more.
We look forward to further building our community and creating even more powerful experiences in the future.
Video History
As a playful manifestation of our touchstone, “Respect the Ranch,” RBV has developed two videos, one in 2009 and one in 2011, in which our video moves through our school, recording students and staff lip-syncing and dancing to inspirational songs.
The touchstone video is designed to be just one example of how our school is a powerfully diverse community that can inspire, support and create both fun and moving experiences together.
So What Do We Do With This Now?
“Respect the Ranch” should become common language on our campus to communicate what it means to be a part of the RBV community. We are looking into subtly embedding the concept into the background of the school. For example, we may create posters for classrooms, use the touchstone logo on the cover of next year’s student planner, develop murals and artwork, and/or fold it into our course syllabi. But in the meantime, we can slowly start using this as part of our shared language at RBV.
The Rancho Community: Responds with compassion Accepts responsibility Never gives up Challenges itself Honors diversity
