LEADING THROUGH LISTENING

Halloween is a time of year where almost everyone can find some form of enjoyment. By and large, the number one way to recognize or celebrate Halloween is by dressing up in a costume. Whether is be a child or an adult, most people that enjoy Halloween will find time to costume up and enjoy some time to be something other than themselves. It can lead one to ask the question, "Why does someone choose the costume that they choose?" Obviously, there are a lot of responses to this question. It could be because of the hot movie or trend in society right now, it could be someone's favorite character or historical figure, it could be someone's favorite object, or it could be completely random. And then there are the costumes where they are so good that you can't even tell who is in them. Those costumes are the analogy I've been wanting to draw from for quite some time. Just like the costume that hides an individual's identity, when we are all not in costume, every...

As we enter the final week of October, I want to take a moment to once again recognize the amazing work that is done on a daily basis by our principals. October throughout the country has been deemed as National Principal's Month and we are fortunate to have a top-notch team of school leaders working with our students and staff every day. There is no doubt that every responsibility within a school has changed dramatically over the last two years, but the role of a principal has never been more demanding as it is today. Between changes in the State Education Department that relate to the basic operation of a school and all of the constant barrage of COVID-related issues that have been added to the requirements of operating a school, the role of a school leader has become non-stop. We all know that part of being in education has the expectation of being on-call for whatever situation or need may come our way. Currently, working in administration also feels like a secondary degree in ...

This coming week marks the week where we celebrate and recognize our Board of Education during the statewide Board of Education Recognition Week. Those of us who have committed our careers to education know that being a member of the Board of Education is oftentimes a thankless job. On top of their own busy lives, Board members put in countless hours of meetings, conversations, research, and visits to help ensure that our children are provided with the best resources, facilities, and opportunities possible. The compensation for being a Board member comes in the form of student smiles, "thank you's" from us, and a general pride in working toward a greater cause. With the constant onslaught of State and Federal mandates (absent everything related to COVID throughout the last 18 months), the concept of remaining focused on learning and children is becoming increasingly difficult for most Boards. Yet through it all, they find a way to remain focused on improving the opportuni...

  As we prepare to get students back into our schools this week, it's important to take a moment to appreciate the challenges that were overcome this last week. While remote learning may have been the easiest element of the week, families and students who made the week work need to be appreciated and thanked. While our teachers can always rise to the occasion, the frustration and disappointment of having to suddenly be remote cannot be ignored. As we move forward, we have already begun to develop several things to assist students and families throughout the remainder of the year. We have been fortunate to work directly with the Governor's office on the search and recruitment of additional bus drivers and I am hopeful that this will yield positive results in the coming month. There are still time barriers that make getting drivers on the road difficult, but you can't hire people that you don't know about. We have also engaged in conversations with our teacher's assoc...

  I'm not sure that there are words to describe the events of the last month that accurately depict the roller coaster that we have all been on. The most immediate image that comes to my mind is the tornado scene from the original Wizard of Oz movie. At this point, cows flying through the sky would probably not come as a surprise to anyone. We continue to work through the transportation driver shortage and I thank everyone who has already participated in the survey that the district sent out late last week. At this point, we have 60% of the community responding to that survey and a reduction in student riders by 5%. In an effort to reduce riders further, we are going to keep the survey open until Tuesday evening and ask that people encourage each other to complete the survey if they haven't already. Every percentage that we can decrease ridership will assist in reducing the number of buses needed, which in turn can help make sure we don't have an issue in the future and hel...