Once a Ram, Always a Ram

Near the end of the summer, I was tagged on Facebook by multiple people that had seen a post of a young woman that was looking for the owner of a Greene Central class ring from 1984. I was able to connect with her and get the story of how her grandmother had found it in a used car that was purchased many years ago. Her grandmother had always wanted to find the owner but had no idea where to begin. Armed with the resources of social media, Makayla Meeks set out to find the owner of the ring for her grandmother. Throughout the process of finding the owner, I got to meet Makayla, a former student of Coach Wooten at North Pitt. I also got to meet the ring's rightful owner, Cheryl Moye. Cheryl now lives in Connecticut, but still has many strong ties to Greene County. I also spoke with many other graduates from the mid-1980s that knew Cheryl or were helping to find the owner. This community of people was amazing in their stories and the things that they remembered about the school. I also went through the 1984 yearbook and found some familiar faces, including Coach Edwards and one of my cousins who worked at the school as an assistant principal that year.

The school hasn't really changed much since 1984, and the community hasn't either, and that's a good thing. You still find good people that value personal connections and the time and space that they spent together. I heard stories of people that had not spoken in almost 30 years and could still remember great things about one another. I hope that aspect of our community never changes.

This week, Greene Central welcomed in almost 200 freshmen and several new faculty members. Each of these people is a Ram now and are a part of this complex, interconnected web of people that make up our community. In the years to come, some of these people will remain in the area and some will move far and wide. But no matter where they go and what they do, once you are a Ram, you are always a Ram.

Class of 2018

I'll admit that I may have started out this week tired and overwhelmed. I walked in the door Tuesday morning thinking that I was really happy that it was a short week. When I got hit with Senior pranks a few minutes later, I was already over it. In last Friday's blog I asked teachers to dig deep and work hard this week despite how tired I know that you are, and I came in and did the exact opposite. In my frustration after everything was cleaned up, I made a statement that got twisted around pretty quickly. I joked that the Senior class hasn't been able to do much to organize themselves to do anything as a group, and now they decided to show us that they could. Somehow that statement got twisted into me saying that this class would never amount to anything after high school. I'm not sure how it got there, but it made me pause to consider why they would believe that.

Miscommunication often happens when we are frustrated. We either say things that we don't mean or don't say them well. There's a dose of humility that comes with setting the record straight. I had to do that with a few students that took things to heart. Talking with several of them this week made me realize that this may be some of my final conversations with them as students. I thought back about them as a class and about several of the individuals that stand out. We think about these students as the Class of 2018, but in reality, they are not considered under this title until they graduate. So in my penance for being misunderstood, I'd like to set the record straight on what will be the Greene Central Class of 2018.

This class arrived with high expectations. With an unusually large number of students identified as academically gifted, some amazing athletes, talented artists and young people with strong opinions, they gave us a run for our money pretty quickly. We watched them grow and so many of our teachers tried so hard to push them beyond their comfort zones. We did that because we didn't want them to just rely on talent. We tried to teach them grit and perseverance. We changed school schedules and created more college course opportunities to try to give them every shot we could. So many of them took advantage of these opportunities and their college and career choices will be much easier as a result. We tried hard to teach them to be leaders and to be active in their school. We saw that in how they supported one another over the past four years. They were quick to help a friend when they could because they developed a sense of community amongst themselves. In doing all of this, we created individuals. We created young adults that had an idea of what they believe in and why. 

In a few days, they will leave Greene Central and be a part of the real world. They will have bills, jobs, pressures and all of the other responsibilities that come with being an adult. But they are ready. We will miss the Class of 2018. While we hope that we made them better people to enter the world, we also know that they also made us better people and educators at the same time. 

Tired Is A Good Thing

A new teacher, trying to make use of her psychology courses, started her class by saying, "Everyone who thinks they're stupid, stand up."

After a few seconds, little Johnny stood up.

The teacher said, "Do you think you're stupid, Johnny?"

"No Ma'am, "he said, "but I hate to see you standing up there all by yourself."

Undoubtedly, we are all tired enough to be that teacher at this point in the year. Between exam reviews, relentless urging of students to give it their best, awards ceremonies, concerts and events and end of the semester, we all look exhausted by the end of the week. With just a few days left of classes, we are at the point of realizing that we have just about given it everything that we have to give. If you are tired, then you are probably tired for a reason. You've used the last few weeks to pour your heart and soul into getting the most from your students. You've helped them make up assignments and attendance so that they have a shot at passing the class or scoring proficient on your exam. With one week of classes left before exams begin, I am going to ask you to give me one more week of your very best. Your efforts and enthusiasm mean a lot for student and school performance. Without you, so many students simply would not make it at all.

Thank you for the long days, the longer nights and the frustration you've dealt with along the way. I appreciate you and even though they may not always say it, your students see your effort and they appreciate you too.

Politics

Recently, the social studies teacher in me has been enjoying the increase in political discussion in our school and in our profession. During last week's primary election, we had members of our AP US Government class help man polling places throughout Greene County. They got a chance to see the political process in action and even signed off on the official results from their district. The real win was that they had to register to vote before they could serve. This assignment gets them involved in voting and is something that will continue to inspire them in the years to come. What each of the students found interesting was how few people vote. Granted, they do not see early voting or absentee ballots. Even with those, about 28% of registered voters in Greene County participated in the last election.

Just days later after the primary election, teachers began the discussions surrounding teacher pay and school funding as our state legislature reconvened. As thousands of teachers descended on our state capital and thousands more supported them from afar, teachers also began to include themselves in the political process. The part that I have appreciate most about the teachers is how they are informing themselves. Civic responsibility requires that we inform ourselves on the issues and follow through on them. What I hope for educators is that Wednesday's rally is not a one and done effort. Just like I hope that our students that served at the polls have started a lifelong commitment to voting and civic duty, I also hope that teachers continue to follow the legislation that impacts them and remain active participants in the laws that regulate our profession. Continued involvement will bring action. Stay informed and participate in the political process. Bringing about change is a marathon, not a sprint.

Teachers as Classroom Leaders

During Teacher Appreciation Week I like to watch you all a little closer than normal. I'm not looking for classroom management or expert lessons. Instead I look for those of you that show true passion for what you do. I have often held the belief that something magical happens to teachers after their 3rd year. Something clicks for them and they start to realize what their style is rather than copying someone else. They have their procedures in mind and classroom management becomes easier for them. They don't feel as hectic all the time and develop a focus on what is important. I saw these characteristics this week in Mrs. Gray. Mrs. Gray was asked to speak about leadership at the JROTC awards night. Her message was short but in a few words, she said a lot.

Mrs. Gray said that she has determined that teacher leadership involved conveying three things to all of her students. First, students should know that she cares about them. Second, they should be shown grace when they fail to meet expectations. Third, they should learn something about how the real world works. While I listened to her, I thought about how universal these three things are. They can apply to every teacher, in any classroom, regardless of subject or age. While these three things show students why you care for them, they also remind teachers why they decided to teach in the first place. As teachers we often can be discouraged when students misbehave or don't put their best effort into an assignment. Our vision of what a student "should be" is often clouded by what we remember ourselves as being. We forget that not every student is like us. But when we put Mrs. Gray's three leadership ideals first, we get a better idea of what our job really is.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all of you. Thank you for working hard when others do not to improve our future. Thank you for refusing to give up and for inspiring others to not give up on themselves.

Don't Tell Me...Show Me

As we have started the final marking period of the year, teachers, administrators and counselors have been rounding up our students (especially the Seniors) that have issues with grades and attendance that will keep them from passing their classes. There are always a few that wait until the end to try to make up work and attendance to keep themselves just good enough to get by. In my conversations with these students, I often hear great promises from students about what they will do if they just get one more chance to prove themselves. Some of them are genuine and some are not, but any educator knows that. I always end the conversation with a simple statement, "Don't tell me...Show me." I am all for redemption as a part of the learning process. Whether we would like to admit it or not, we have all needed a second (or third) chance at some point in our lives. What we do with that chance shows others our character.

When all is said and done, the majority of students will never use most of the information that they learn in most of their classes. I never needed to know the parts of a cell and not once have I used the quadratic formula since it was on a math test. What we really learn in school is how to produce something when it is asked of us and how to navigate the problems that keep us from being successful in doing just that. For many of us, procrastination can be a problem. Dealing with lost opportunities or having to make up work later for less credit often serves as a teaching lesson that corrects some of that behavior. This builds character.

In these last few weeks I encourage you to exercise patience when students ask for a second chance and diligence when when you expect results from that chance. Make them show you. It will do much more for them than the content of the assignment they didn't complete ever will.

The People Around You

Last week, my blog centered around choosing the right people to surround yourself with, so that they make the right impression on you. This week, I gained a new perspective on how the people that surround you serve as a support system and how important you can be to them as well. No sooner than I had submitted my blog last Friday, I received a call from my wife to tell me that her mom had suffered a stroke. By Sunday, I had a house full of her family including Erika's dad, his dog, Erika's sister from Alaska and her brother from New York. Needless to say, it's been a long week with many trips to and from the hospital. Despite the ups and downs of the week, I have been impressed by how much people step up to help out when a member of their circle is in need. I saw it not just with my wife's family, but also with her co-workers and with several of you here that stepped up to help me. (Special thanks to our APs that did a lot to let me leave early several days this week.) The people you surround yourself with, not only impress their values and character traits on you, but also work as a system to support you as a member of the group. There's no formality of asking for assistance or anything like that. People just help the ones that they care for.

I see the same among many of you and you may not even notice it yourself. There are countless times that you have covered classes for one another when there was an emergent need arose. I saw our English teachers team up and support Mrs. Medrano's freshmen English class while she was out on maternity leave. I see teachers that support one another when they know that a colleague is having a tough time outside of school. These efforts make the people around you better, and as a result of their improvement, you are better as well. So much about this job involves the people that you work with and how you help one another in a common goal. While our monthly "Whatever It Takes" award usually goes to just one person, there are times when I really think it should go to many of you as a team instead. Thanks to all of you that silently do so many things to help support your colleagues and our school family as a whole. You make us better every day.