The Hard Work

I don't always win points for being a comforting and understanding parent. As my girls have grown up, they have learned that if they need emotional reassurance, they almost always choose their mom to go to. They have learned to guess what Dad's response will be. When things are difficult or life doesn't seem fair I'm more likely to ask, "What are you going to do about it?' than to comfort them. And sometimes your kids, maybe especially daughters, don't want to hear that. I get it. But it's what I value. I appreciate doing the hard work, especially in times when you might not want to or when the odds don't quite seem fair. 

I struggled this week to find the words to say about Stephanie Snow because she had that quality that I admired so much. Anyone who worked in this building for just a short time could recognize that about her. She found a way to solve problems, get creative, meet deadlines, and promote students. Most people will never know how essential her contributions were during COVID. She and I constantly worked together to find ways to balance classes and keep as many kids in school as we possibly could. There were many days that I knew she almost worked around the clock. In short, she never turned away from doing the hard work and that's why we all admired her. And while I'll miss her, I'm happy that she has new challenges ahead of her and new opportunities. She's earned it.

Stephanie is not alone, however. There are plenty of others that we work with and interact with that also do the hard work. This week we got to celebrate a beginning teacher that I already see similar characteristics building in her. Congrats to Ali Lewis on what she's doing and for the recognition of her efforts. She joins the ranks of many others on our campus who share that same belief in taking on challenges when you see a need. We may not always love it. We may sometimes grumble. But we get up the next day and do the hard work and that's what makes it a better place in the end. 

Tell Your Story

Maybe it's because I've been traveling and occupied with so many other things in the past year. I'm sure that the distractions meant that I had to focus harder on the problems that arose when I was away instead of the good things. Maybe I didn't take a second to notice what was going on. Maybe it was a little of all of it. But Wednesday night at Ram City did my heart a lot of good. Students were proudly supporting their different clubs and organizations. Adults gave their time and effort to support them and had smiles on their faces throughout it all. Some cooked food, others coached flag football and some volunteered to be everyone's amusement in the dunk tank. Everyone had a great time.

I've been working on an initiative at the state level to get public schools to tell stories like this one more. Let's face it, parents have options now and those options are marketing themselves. Private schools and charters have budgets for that sort of thing, and we do not. But what we do have is a culture and a tradition of doing great things for kids. Events like Ram City and the myriad of other things like it that we just do as a part of "school" today tell a story and it's one we should be sharing louder. It's those stories that build relationships that convince students to try a little harder or stay when they would have otherwise given up. They set an example and they build character traits that aren't found in a curriculum. They build young adults. 

So this week, I'm giving you some homework. Go tell your story. Tell people about how cool it is to see students, teachers, and families come together for something really positive at school. It's a story that no charter can mandate and no voucher can purchase. It is our unique identity and it's what is really great about what we do. 

Coach Prime Fever

I'll admit it. I caught Coach Prime fever. If you haven't witnessed the media spectacle that is Deon Sanders and his latest role as the football coach at the University of Colorado, then you're missing out. Deon is Deon, always has been. In my youth, I hated him when he played for the San Francisco 49ers, loved him when he played for the Cowboys, and hated him all over again when he was traded to the Washington Redskins. His electric athleticism was only beaten by his showmanship and that's a good thing when he's showing out for your team and a bad thing when he's showing out against you. He's still good as a showman in his role as a coach, but now it comes with some experience and wisdom that age tends to put on us. His quotable moments come on topics of hard work and self-worth when you know you've done that hard work. I love his mentality as a coach, and so...I caught the fever. I follow him on Twitter (do we call it X now?) and my social media is full of his words and actions. One post this week caught my attention because it rang true with something we discussed in our Leadership Team meeting this summer. Here it is:

Consistency. Think of all of the things that can be accomplished through consistency. Every one of us was trained to feed ourselves, use the bathroom, walk, learn multiplication tables, read, and so much more through consistency. We did it over and over again until it was right. And it seems so simple when we think of it in terms of those basic learning blocks we go through as a child. But just imagine if someone who raised us allowed an inconsistency in one of those areas. Inconsistency would have stifled growth and ultimately, achievement in learning that skill. 

So if I need to do my best Coach Prime impression, I will. I'll post it on Twitter and say it in press conferences if that's what we need! But Coach Prime is right on this one. We can have everything that we want for ourselves, our students, our school, and our profession through consistency. 

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.

A Little Help From My Friends (Revisited)

Back in 2015, I wrote a blog post about having to run the school for a week by myself while the assistant principals (Juan Castillo and Diane Blackman back then) were away at a conference. Teachers pitched in to help in a lot of ways. They ran after school programs and even came to the rescue on a the fight that occurred after school. Their efforts reminded me of the Beatles' song, A Little Help From My Friends.  So here we are eight years later and so many of those familiar friends from back in 2015 are still doing all that they can to help me out in a time of need. I must admit that this week has been incredibly overwhelming in the best of ways. I've been tired every day but I've been incredibly supported by a staff that saw a need and decided to step up in every way that they knew how. So many of you recognized ways that you could be helpful and jumped into action. And in almost story tale fashion, all of this happened to take place during Teacher Appreciation Week. So while I know that Teacher Appreciation Week usually means that you get the predictable gifts of food and GC gear, please know that this year, more than any other, I sincerely appreciate you beyond those small gifts. I tell people everywhere that I go that the greatest thing we can ever teach is empathy. It's something that can only be taught through example when others see us practice it in our care for them or someone else. I was shown a lot of empathy this week and it has done my heart a lot of good. Thank you so much. I think I'll get by with a little help from my friends.

Tribe

Early settlers in what is now the United States faced many challenges. But a strange phenomenon started to happen as English settlers interacted and integrated with Native Americans. English settlers found themselves leaving their settlements and going to live with Native American groups. It kept happening over and over and almost never did Native Americans move to live with the English. The settlers found themselves psychologically linked to the Native American ways of life and seemed to prosper and prefer it. Their close-knit ways of life and focus on community was different that traditional English culutre. Hundreds of years later, modern Americans find themselves in the same situation. We see it when combat veterans return home from active duty and find it difficult to assimilate into society after having had very close bonds with others when at war. It seems that every part of our psychological makeup wants us to be in a small, close-knit community: a tribe. 

I feel like I know exactly how those settlers and veterans feel after being removed from my tribe this year. The pull toward your tribe comes from trusting the people that you are with and being comfortable in them putting trust in you. When you are away from that, there is a psychological need to find that trust again. So when I have weeks like this one when I am away, I feel releived to just talk to some of you. I appreciate those of you that rally the tribe in my absence and protect the community by supporting one another. All tribes need those that are willing to guard the customs and values. As we look to next week when we appreciate teachers, just know that I appreciate you for more than bein g educators. Thanks for being a member of our tribe and for the many ways that you contributre to the lives of all of the other tribal members. It's a great thing to come home to. 

We All Need a Coach

Some of you may know about my recent attempt to regain my youth by tackling a running challenge that I completed ten years ago. It's called a streak run and basically, it means that you run every day of the year. I did this my first year at Greene Central and a decade later, I'm trying to do it again. It's more of a form of self-help this time around. I'm certainly not as fast as I once was and the longer runs leave me sore much longer than they did then. But this time around I'm focused on mental therapy rather than winning any races. Because of where I live and some previous close encounters with cars early in the morning, I've done a lot of these runs via a treadmill. I've never really liked treadmills though. They make me feel like a hampster in a wheel. But nonetheless, I carried on with my very inexpensive treadmill until the week we got out for Spring Break. The motor was dying and I needed to quit being cheap and make an investment. 

I chose a new treadmill with a feature that I thought I might never use. There's a screen with a video of a coach that runs with you in different places throughout the world. But why do I need a coach? I ran competitively for years and coached some very successful runners. I know what I'm doing so why do I need to pay a monthly fee to be told what I already know? My wife wanted to try it and so in the spirit of having a growth mindset, I gave it a try. I'm so hooked. Over the past two weeks, I've been doing interval training on the beaches and mountains of South Africa with a coach that guides me and encourages me along the way. I can't begin to tell you how much of a difference it makes. Having a voice of encouragement keeps you accountable to something other than the voice in your head. I run farther and faster every time I do it. (But I'm still not fast.)

Having a partner for challenges in life makes them easier. Someone to support you and give you feedback makes you better, even when things are tough. These last few weeks of school are always the toughest part of the race. We are tired when they need us the most. But look around and remember that this is not a race that any of us runs alone. We are all right there together, we just need to look up and encourage each other to finish the race. Each of us has the ability to be that coach for each other and to receive that when we need it. Now is not the time for any of us to put our heads down and attempt to run alone. Let's do this together!