Success

This week I had a chance to participate in the first of three "Portrait of a Graduate" meetings. These meetings are held between all types of community and school stakeholders and are designed to guide some conversation on what successful graduates from our schools can do. The first thing that jumps out at you in these meetings, is that we are assessing the absolute wrong skills of students today. Parents, businesses, and almost every other stakeholder said that they wanted students that were better communicators, better problem-solvers, and to be more civically minded. Unfortunately, we don't measure those things in a test at all. It's not something that you can bubble a sheet to figure out, and that doesn't work well for the people that measure schools. We spent some time starting to talk about what success for graduates today looks like and that conversation will be carried out in future meetings. It was a long first meeting, but I enjoyed it. 

During the meeting, I had to ignore a phone call from an unknown number. When I listened to the message, it was a business owner asking if I could be a reference for a former student that had listed me. Generally, I am happy for students that ask to use me as a reference, but I don't get many calls about it. It was late, so I returned the call the next day. The student in question was a girl that graduated in 2014. She had a baby her Senior year and didn't initially come back to school afterward. It took a lot of coordinated help throughout the district to get her to try to finish, but she agreed to come work in an empty room that was a part of the Pre-K center. Mrs. Davis and I took turns watching the baby, while the student finished the work necessary to pass the classes of her last semester. When she finished, I made her promise that she would work hard to be a great example for her little girl. It wasn't going to be easy for her, but something told me that she could do it. Since that time, I have kept up with this former student through social media. She shared her daughter's first day of school with me, and I always have enjoyed watching that little girl grow up in pictures. 

When I spoke to the employer, she told me that I was the only reference that she had listed. She asked about how she had been as a student. For some strange reason, I remembered it well. She was an average student academically, but she was spunky and didn't mind working for things. That's what got her to graduate. It's also what made her a good mom and now it was making her step out and try something new. When I explained this to the employer on the phone, her response stopped me. She said, "Well isn't that what success really is?" She's right. Somehow we have got to start teaching children that success isn't a six-figure job or a full scholarship to a prestigious university. Success is being a productive member of society in whatever you choose and supporting yourself and your family in doing it. Years later, my former student had figured out a way to show me that she was being successful, and I absolutely loved it.