Time for Reflection

I’m not always good at slowing down to take a minute to reflect. It’s something that I have to force myself to do as a habit. In fact, this blog is a big part of getting me to stop and reflect on the week. Without those forced habits, I am far too task-oriented to stop and appreciate things or think about how they could have been different or better. I do believe that reflection is essential to personal and professional growth, so despite my natural aversion to it, I choose to work on it. But every now and then, reflection will slap you in the face. That happened this week.

Ten years ago this week, I traveled to Washington DC to accept the award for the National Blue Ribbon for Greene Early College, where I had served as the principal the year before. The awards ceremony was on my birthday and I felt so proud to be there, but also knew that other than filling out the grant application, I had very little to do with the award. The teachers at the school had earned that and I was just there to represent them. Fast-forward a decade and I found myself having dinner with the governor, surrounded by some of the brightest minds the Old North State has to offer. On the drive home, with my wife asleep in the passenger’s seat, I had time to reflect. 

I’ve had some pretty awesome opportunities in my life. And when you have dinner with the governor, Eric Church and several professors and authors that are decades ahead of their peers, you can’t help but wonder how you got there. That meal is a long way from mucking horse stalls and shelling butter beans that were a regular part of my youth. And once again, just like I knew from the Blue Ribbon award, I’m there because of the people that help me do the work. I’ve been exceptionally lucky to work with people that care about what they do. So on the ride home, and with Thanksgiving a week away, it hit me like a ton of bricks just how thankful I am for the opportunities I’ve had on behalf of the work you all do. As a team, you deserve a lot of extra credit. So over the next week, I hope that you also get to reflect and appreciate where you are and the people that helped you. So little in our personal or professional lives is accomplished on our own. Even when we hit a big goal or milestone, there are people supporting us or filling the voids so that we could focus on that task. Schools and the lives of students and educators certainly are no different. So somewhere in the next week, I hope that you get the chance to reflect on that. Like me, I'm sure you've already come a long way from where you started. 

As a Parent

One of the unique benefits that most educators don't acknowledge enough is the extra time we often get to spend with our own children when they go to our school or one nearby. My daughters have always spent a disproportionate amount of time in school. When I was a teacher and coach, they tagged along to practices and events, and later when I became an administrator, they attended arts and athletic functions when I had a duty to be there. When I initially started working in Greene County, I was still living in Pitt County and my children went to school there, but it didn't take long for me to bring them with me if nothing more than the added benefit of seeing them more and supporting them the best way I could.  My wife has generally left school information and functions to me (until the girls got older and didn't always want me there) and I was always able to be involved as a parent in their school functions. My experience with my children and their schools has not been the normal experience for most parents that have a career. 

This year, I've started to understand and appreciate the more traditional role of a working parent as I've been much more involved in things that have not allowed me to be as present. Both of my parents worked, and they had to prioritize what they were able to attend to see me do, and for the first time, I've had to do the same thing. This week was particularly tough as I couldn't attend Rylee's last tennis match of the season because I was hours away. I had to check in with Reagan and her day via Facetime, rather than our usual discussion when I grabbed her from the car rider line. We are making it work, but it's not always the same. However, I have an advantage. Over the past several weeks, several of you have reached out to me to send pictures of my daughter in class or at tennis. I've even gotten a few funny stories about things you've seen. It's as if you knew that I, as a parent, would want to see that and you shared that experience with me and I can't tell you how much it means. 

As a parent, we all want to support our children. We trust their teachers to not only instruct them in content curriculum, but in our absence, we often need them to support our children in other ways as well. Ultimately, I wish that every parent was able to share in some part of the experience that you have given me this year when I wasn't able to be there.  The unexpected anecdotes of our child's success do amazing things to brighten our day and reassure us that they are doing well. Taking a minute to do this is one of the most customer-focused things an educator can do. As a parent, I want that for every parent. As a principal, this is ultimately why I ask you to try to prioritize parent communication. I'm not sure if the pictures and texts that I received will make it to your Parent Contact Logs, but they are exactly why we do them. As a parent....thank you.