Rumor Has It

By Wednesday of this week, I didn't know what my message in the week's blog would be, but I did know that somehow, some way, it would center around rumors. To a degree, I'm used to rumors in a school this time of year. Teachers wonder if their administrators will be back next year or if they will be moved, promoted or choose to go to another school. Many of you know me well enough by now just to ask me. Likewise, administrators hear rumors about teachers leaving as well. Those are the normal May rumors. This year you can sprinkle in rumors about changes in teacher responsibilities for next year, class assignments, and budget impacts. Most of those rumors and what you hear are based on no fact at all, just conjecture or someone's opinion taken as fact and spread.

By early this week we added in a few "unnormal" rumors as well. I had a phone call inquiring about the school being for sale. This rumor was based on a prank by a student that posted an ad on Craigslist with a picture of the school for sale for $5000 and my personal number attached to it. (I'll give it to them, this was a good one.) Since then, the kids have been having fun with my phone throughout the week. Added to that there was the rumor that the whole school was infested with bed bugs (again not based in any fact) and it's been a fun week of rumors.

Some rumors are silly and harmless. Some are based in fear or insecurity. Some are hurtful to those that are implicated. No matter what the rumor is, rumors impact the reputation of people or organizations. The difference between a rumor and a fact is that there is evidence to support a fact. They also don't usually contain good news or a positive image. But maybe we can change that. In the spirit of this week's wild rumors, here are some that I'm starting. Feel free to spread these!

Rumor has it that Mr. Greene is pretty proud of Greene Central and thinks a lot of the students and teachers that come here.

I heard that Mr. Ginn got picked for Teacher of the Year because he does an excellent job balancing content and student relationships.

A student told me that their teachers and counselors are like family to them.

Mrs. Willis said that teachers at Greene Central do a great job with limited resources.

Mr. Jones thinks that teachers that take time to communicate with students and their families deserve a medal.