Community

I tried to get the film crew that came to visit our school this week to switch dates. We had been out the day before due to the snow, we were on a 2-hour delay which threw off all of my original plans and I had several other great excuses why it needed to be moved. They were having none of it. When they walked in right on time on Tuesday, I asked them, "So what do you want to see?" I've done plenty of visits over the years that are specific to the visitors learning about a program or instructional style, but this was different. It was supposed to showcase me in the school and that seemed much more difficult. We talked about what kinds of shots they wanted and they even suggested staging a leadership team meeting or something like that. Perplexed, I suggested that we just start taking a walk around to visit some of the classes, and along the way, I would explain some of the more unique aspects of Greene Central. We visited several rooms and several different groups. Some knew that I might swing through and others had no idea. They stopped along the way to film artwork in the halls and even got a few unsolicited comments from kids that wanted 15 seconds of fame when they saw the camera. It was a great few hours and I probably couldn't have scripted it better if I had tried. As we walked back to my office to film some final interview questions, I got the comment that I loved. The lady that has organized every one of these videos for years said, "This is such a community school." Perfect. Now she gets it. 

Thanks to everyone that let us invade your classrooms on Tuesday. Thanks for letting us steal some of your students so that they could explain what they do. Thanks to those that prepped a lesson that I wasn't able to see when the schedule changed. But most importantly, thanks to all of you for being the community. You make me look much better than I really am.