Pre

48 years ago this week, the world lost a running icon, Steve Prefontaine. If you grew up as a distance runner in the US since then, you absolutely know his name. When he died in a car accident, he held every American record between 2,000 and 10,000 meters. "Pre" didn't have a typical racer's body. He wasn't tall or gracefully long. He was born with a heart murmur and ran with a slight hitch to his stride. But what he had was an unwavering will to win. He used his success to rebel against many of the Olympic policies at the time and he was an amazing advocate for amateur athletes in the US. Much of the Olympic policy changes that have allowed us to dominate on the world stage are in part, because of Pre. 

Pre has been one of my heroes since I started running as a teenager. Today I have a poster outside my office with one of my favorite quotes from him. "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." That quote has helped me do the hard work in life more times than I want to count. I was working on summatives this week when I remembered the anniversary of Pre's death. The quote refers to a growth model. Give your best every chance you get or you sacrifice the ability that you've been given. That's all anyone can ask of themselves and certainly, the idea that I want teachers and students to have about their own growth.  I thought for a minute about all that has happened in the past 12 months. It's been a year. I know I couldn't tell you how everything would have played out a year ago and in some ways, I'm happy that I couldn't. It's been a huge learning curve for me to be placed in so many conversations about education in our state. My absence from the school has also meant some change and a learning curve for us as a team. If I could do it all over again, I'm sure that I would do some things differently, but I don't get that opportunity. I just know that I gave it my best and I thank so many of you for giving your best in my absence. Every one of us has a gift and this year taught me that those gifts get recognized at unique times. Thank you for not sacrificing your gift this year if you had to lead in a new way. Thanks for leading when you were needed and adapting right along with me. Life throws us some unexpected obstacles, but the gift is facing them head-on and doing our very best. That was Pre's mantra then and he came out on top with it so many times. Thanks for sharing your amazing gifts this year.