Educational+Vision+Statement

=My Vision for Schools =

I desire that our school, community and district be a model place for learning and working. How do we do this? Student engagement will be the core of every decision we make. Students first. Always. Realize that we are the beacons of light that guide the youth of the 21st century. We are **//fortunate//** to be charged with this task. We get to leave a legacy in this world through the young lives we help to shape. Let us own our role as life-changers and lead with perseverance, nurture, hard work and love.

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=My Educational Narrative: We Are Not Powerless =

How do we compete with other countries when, as the economy is strained, some of the first budget cuts are made in education? The quality of our workforce is impacted directly by the quality of our schools. Many of our schools are on unequal footing when they are compared with each other. Do we really want to send the message that only the rich and well-off have a say in the direction our country is going? That is what we are doing when we do not educate every child equitably. Why can’t kids from rural, poverty-stricken areas be exposed to the same things as those from wealthy backgrounds? If schools do not address these issues, we are supporting a system that locks the poor out and renders them voiceless. Not only are we not giving them a say, but we are further blocking them because many of the budget cuts to education are to programs that benefit the rural, poor kids the most. This cannot be ignored.

With that being said, we must give the disadvantaged a hand up and not a handout. We do not want to perpetuate this cycle of poverty. We have to start with our kids first. As school leaders, we do have control of the instruction, collaboration and community engagement that goes on at the school level. We get to work with these kids seven hours a day, five days a week. That’s a lot of time to have a great influence. When we begin to reach them, then we reach out to parents and the community. But, we must concentrate on the place where we have the stongest influence. In the book //Seven Habits of Highly Effective People//, Steven Covey writes about our “circle of influence” versus our “circle of concern.” There will be many things that we cannot directly control (district-adopted and nationally-adopted initiatives, for example). We are concerned about these things. However, to keep our sanity and get results, we must focus on our “circle of influence” – what goes on within and surrounding our schools.

With this in mind, we must also advocate for all kids, especially for those who do not have a voice. That requires challenging the status quo and working to enlarge our “circle of influence.” How do you do this? I believe we must gain the trust of our students, staff, and community. Now, of course, that is a whole different subject, but just know that we are not powerless here. It all begins with us.