From the Beginning

 This is one piece of a continuing series of posts on school improvement. They advance in time and concept in book-form beginning on March 21.    

     I have been asked, after posting yesterday's Blog involving practical advice on school improvement experiences gained over my career, to back up a little and start from the beginning of the transformation effort. The reader wanted a comprehensive perspective on "turning around a distressed school." If you sustain your interest through the entire series of postings that chronicle this school improvement process, I promise you  an ending with a twist that will surprise you.

     Here's the background to offer a context.

     I was thirty-four years old and just completed my tenth year as a full-time building principal. After serving as an elementary principal in a Texas school district of thirty-three elementary schools I was anxiously awaiting the outcome of an application I had submitted to become the Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Instruction for the entire school system. 

     Although I was experienced in school leadership, but remained a bit naive in the palace politics of a large school district's central office, as well as bit green regarding politics in general. I was casually classified as a Yankee by my peers, and not in a flattering fashion. The superintendent had hired me five years ago, in 1982. 

    Soon after my arrival, I discovered that the hiring process for me was unprecedented in the district. It turned out that the Director of Elementary Education had hired every other principal for the last twenty years. The past practice had left its mark on the composition of the elementary principals.  There was one Black elementary principal and a lone Latino building leader among the group of thirty-three - now joined by a Yankee.  

     There was no way that an outsider would be hired for the position I desired, but I didn't know that then. I did receive a phone call on the night of the decision. However, it was neither a congratulatory message, nor a "thanks, but no thanks" notice. Instead, I was asked by the interim Superintendent if I would be interested in serving as principal of a junior high school. Not just any junior high school, but without question the lowest performing school, at any level, in the system's forty-five schools. I was shocked by the question, and further surprised because there was no principal vacancy among the eight junior high schools. 

     It should be pointed out that this was a district that did not dismiss failing staff members. Rather, they engaged in what was generally accepted as, "the dance of the lemons" whereby individuals were moved around the vast number of schools within the district until they retired. This prevented any toxic impact on one school for a lengthy period of time. 

     The interim Superintendent simply explained that the principal was no longer working there. In fact, he and the assistant principal had been dismissed. I later learned it was reported that an eighth grader had a gun in his locker and the administrators retrieved it from his locker and sent him back to class. The teachers signed a petition that was sent to the state education agency, which prompted the state's intervention and subsequent quick action by the school district. I should also add that Texas school districts do not have unions as we know them in New York. They are represented by associations, lacking the political bargaining leverage of typical unions here.

     The offer seemed like an appealing opportunity. After all, the school could only go up! In fact, I woke up in the middle of that night and began jotting down ideas until I had a long list of prospective plans. Armed with that bit of optimism, and the perception (later proved accurate) that the central office exercised a nonchalant, benign neglect of the low socio-economic, high need schools, I was eager to start work. 

     I suspected (also later proved correct) that I could employ a wide latitude in developing programs and practices unfettered of the intervention of upper layers of bureaucracy. It was informally reported to me, off the record, that as long as there were no race riots at the school, I was free of the reaches of central office staff. Containment was the policy. Low expectations were the norm. I woke up in the middle of the night writing down ideas until I had a long list of prospective plans.

     The next day I shared the news with the few close friends I had among the group of elementary principals. Not only was I the only principal from north of Oklahoma, but only two of the thirty-three principals were near my age. My friends reacted as if I announced I had been diagnosed with cancer. There were condolences, not congratulations. Soon thereafter, I heard there were bets being placed by principals on how long I would last there - the young white Yankee in an underfunded, under-served, miserable school dominated by racial minorities and disenfranchised parents, with teachers who annually sought transfers within the district to escape. It seems the over-under was six months away, around Christmas.

     Let's start here.

Educational Alchemy 

     The World Book dictionary provides the following figurative definition of the word “alchemy.” 

     “A magical or mysterious power or process

of transforming one thing into another.”  (p. 50)  

     The term is often used to explain the process studied during the Middle-Ages that combined chemistry, magic, and philosophy in an attempt to find or prepare a substance which turned cheaper metals into gold or silver. 

     What does this have to do with school improvement?

     Many public schools find themselves involved in a similar quest for a conversion formula to transform themselves into highly effective schools where all constituent groups experience success and meet their potential. This improvement process also involves chemistry, magic, and philosophy. However, the record of performance on school transformation may not be much better than that of metal transformation. 

     Thirty-eight years as a school leader has provided a unique perspective on the issues and problems confronting schools. This career has spanned work in five different states, in environments as varied as a high minority, low socio-economic, urban junior high; a virtually all-white, affluent high school; and a rural elementary school experiencing rapidly changing demographics. Good fortune has accompanied this odyssey; being recognized as the Principal of the Year in a region of 120 different school districts in New York while serving as the leader of a school routinely awarded the highest achievement standard in the state as a High Performing/Gap Closing School; and receiving the John and Mary O’Brien Award for Educational Excellence in Texas, along with flattering recognition in varied media outlets.

  

     This Blog compilation will be organized in two separate parts. Part One focuses on the following components: 

Mission, Vision, Database, Goals, Culture, Change, and Empowerment. 

     These conceptual frames are expressed in individual chapters. Part Two offers a narrative of the transformations of two vastly different schools as a means of providing practical applications of school improvement tactics - the conversion of an urban junior high in Texas plagued by the social ills of crime and drugs into a distinguished school later described by one of its learners as “a school of hope;” and the emergence of a forlorn rural school in upstate New York that languished beneath the weight and resigned acceptance of being “good enough,” or “average.”  

*** 

     One of my hobbies is magic; hence the reference to alchemy. Magic is an intriguing subject. It also looks good on your resume, particularly when more and more school leaders are expected to routinely exercise magic on the job. I regularly employ magic in workshops on school improvement as a visual cue to introduce or reinforce key leverage points. Many people retain elements of the highlighted concept because they associate it with the effect of the trick.  

     Most of us, at one time or another, have been held spellbound by a magician. Early in my career I was curious enough, following an entertaining show, to seek additional information on magic. This interest led me to a purchase at a store specializing in magic.  

     As soon as I bought the trick the proprietor demonstrated it to me. Needless to say, I was disappointed at how easy it was to perform the sleight of hand. What at one time appeared so amazing was surprisingly easy when the process was slowed down and reduced to discrete parts that revealed the “magic.”  

     Magic and the process of school improvement share that same serendipitous feature. Once someone exhibits the proper steps the “trick” becomes much more understandable and attainable than previously imagined.

     Tomorrow marks the introduction of the process of school improvement, providing a context as well as an explanation of transformation strategies.  

Leading by Example in a School of Hope

The last few Blog entries have been opinion pieces. Today's Blog will provide practical advice borne of 38 years of school leadership experience. The main subject of the post is the effective use of positive reinforcement of desired behaviors among secondary level staff members. It was 1987, but the message of this post rings as true today as it did then.

After serving as an elementary principal for five years in an inner city school district embracing 31,000 learners in Texas, I was asked to assume leadership responsibilities of a beleaguered junior high school that was universally considered the most distressed school of the 45 schools in our school system.

I was familiar with the school because one-third of the learners at the elementary school where I worked lived in the attendance district of that junior high school and therefore continued their education there. Many factors conspired to leave the junior high school in such a the low status. The demographics (almost 90% qualified for free or reduced lunch, nineteen languages were spoken in the school, many children were being raised by a single parent or grandparents, the majority of learners comprised racial minorities in a school district that had only become integrated fifteen years earlier, in 1972) were beyond our control. But, there were several elements that deflated the school that were in our control. Chief among the areas we could influence was attitude. There was a latent sense of learned helplessness and hopelessness among learners and staff that hovered like a pall over the building. They seemed resigned to their fate. That perception was reinforced when I had walked through the building the year before as a visitor and noticed the distance that separated people and the lack of eye contact among the inhabitants of the school. The term, “dead man’s walk” would fall short of describing the atmosphere. Because it was a collective, shared despair, it was a, “dead man’s parade.”

Nonetheless, I accepted the challenge as an opportunity. The optimist in me was convinced that since the school had bottomed out it could only go up.

Without going into details at this point (I’ll refer to them in future Blog posts) the school began displaying progress. At that time, Texas public schools provided report cards at six week intervals, with the expectation that data on the rate of passing/failing would be published in local newspapers. Our figures revealed an upward trend, albeit they remained the lowest among the eight junior high school (but that would change). Much more awaited us if we were to sustain and improve upon our performance.

Nearly every and any parent of a child has had the experience of an elementary age son or daughter bringing home a paper or worksheet bearing a smiley face or sticker or encouraging remark that the teacher used to acknowledge evidence of desired effort or achievement. These incidents are commonly referred to as “refrigerator moments” because the papers typically adorn the kitchen appliance via a magnet.

Unfortunately, these same parents can attest to the belief that these refrigerator moments vanish once children begin transitioning to adulthood via entrance to junior high school, where they “need” to learn how to become adults, and adults, as we all “know” must develop intrinsic motivation because those silly smiley faces and stickers are for kids. This was clearly a commonly held opinion among staff members at our junior high. Adolescents were expected to learn for the sake of learning and not be dependent on the accolades routinely delivered by those cheerful and idealistic elementary teachers. Welcome to the "real" world teenagers.

We needed to change that perception and incorporate a new direction into our school culture. I invested much of a weekend in my office at school on a plot to precipitate such a change. It would prove to be a wise investment that eventually yielded great returns. I poured through the personnel records of EVERY staff member - not just teachers - and discovered the addresses of their parents. Then, I identified one instance of how each individual had contributed to the progress at school and made a list of the accomplishments. Admittedly, discovering a positive example was more difficult for some than others, and there were certainly missteps committed by everyone, including me, along our way. But, I focused on the positive and set our stumbles aside as learning experiences.

Next, I wrote personalized letters to the parents of every staff member that featured that one example of how their son or daughter had made our school a better learning environment and helped to nurture the dreams and sustain the hope of our learners. The letters were sent without notifying anyone on staff. The correspondence went out to many states, to parents of “children” of all ages, some in their fifties.

A few days later, individuals began stopping by my office. One by one, they would explain that they had received a phone call from a proud parent congratulating them based on a letter they received from the principal of the school. The smile on their faces as they informed me how happy their parents were hinted that their own experience could now persuade them of the potential power of positive reinforcement for learners of all ages. I even received several heartfelt letters from the parents of staff members who appreciated hearing about their “children.” 

The parent of the school’s head custodian was a bus driver in the district. The principal of another school that received passengers from the bus this man drove, called me to let me know that the bus driver came into that school’s main office and held up the letter I wrote to share with anyone in hearing range that he just got a note from his son's boss boasting of his son's excellent work!

The product of my letter writing campaign soon became evident. Bulletin boards boasted of excellent effort and achievement. Comments on report cards were more comprehensive and positive. Smiles were more noticeable and the distance between and among members of the school population decreased.

This was but one element in an improvement process that eventually catapulted the school above several others in the district regarding achievement (passing rates), attendance (daily attendance rates), attitude (sharpest decrease in discipline measures), and parent satisfaction (based on results of a survey administered district -wide). The progress resulted in a staff member recounting her experience in the transformation in a story that was published in a national magazine. But, best of all, when a television station visited the school for a story on its success and asked one of the teenage girls to describe the changes, she stated, “We have become a school of hope.”  

Winning Minds - Not Hearts

Tuesday's edition of the New York Times featured an article that explained that the two leading candidates for the presidency are "... winning votes, but not hearts." This Blog post IS NOT about politics or my opinion on any candidate. Instead, the title of the piece attracted my attention and prompted me to think of it in educational terms. That is, how schools could also be viewed as "winning votes, but not hearts."

Here, in the state of New York, nearly all of the approximate 700 public school districts received voter approval of their annual budget on the first ballot. Some may attribute the significant success rate to recently enacted tax levy caps that have curtailed school budget growth. There may be other, specific and local factors intervening in the process, but the end result is almost unanimous approval of budgets without requiring a defeated budget to be subsequently adjusted and proposed for a second vote.

One may conclude that the budget approval of taxpayers is an indication of robust support of community members. However, if taxpayers and community members truly supported the local public school system and aligned themselves with the spirit and intent of the district, wouldn't they collectively form a mass of voters that could leverage the legislature and governor to lift the existing fiscal restraints suffocating public schools and increase the state's contribution in the form of raising state aid?

Although public schools have earned the majority of votes of taxpayers to approve annual operating expenses, I suspect a case could be made that they haven't been convincing enough to capture their hearts.

There are voters who perceive it their civic duty to support school budgets. Others may cast affirmative votes in gratitude for the people who did so when they were attending school, in some sort of pay-back. The tax levy cap may have persuaded people to vote yes, as long as the school district's budget is held in check. There are a multitude of reasons that have converged to produce exceedingly high budget approval ratings. But, if so many people believed so much in their local school district, why have they sat back and allowed the politicians to steamroll legislation that over-burdens the capacity of schools. I am not even raising the specter of the inequity in the distribution of state aid to public schools - that's another tragic story in itself. Instead, I speak of debilitating measures in accountability of teachers and schools; imposing curricula on schools prior to adequate time and money for the training of teachers necessary for successful implementation of the new curricula; expecting state tests to be administered via computers when not every school had sufficient numbers of computers for mass test administration - and some lacked the access and bandwith to meet the testing needs. I could go on, but this issue has been addressed countless times in multiple forms of media, and it is not my intent to do more than simply echo the contentions.

Instead, I want to question whether public schools are reaching and holding the hearts of those they serve as consumers (learners and their parents) and investors (taxpayers in general). Are we relying on a romanticized, tradition-based support that has passed us by in time, when public schools enjoyed a virtual monopoly on clientele? When the percentage of children attending public schools was much higher than it is now (before charter schools, and the fastest growing alternative to public schools  = home-schooling, disrupted the equation) it may have been enough to unfold the budget and await parents and relatives of the learners to come in with civic minded community members and  approve the annual budget. If this ever was true, it certainly has not been for a couple of decades, perhaps since Minnesota became the first state to allow charter schools in 1991.

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics:

1. From school year 1999–2000 to 2012–13, the number of students enrolled in public charter schools increased from 0.3 million to 2.3 million

2. In 2003 there were 1,096,000 children (2.2% of total school age children) homeschooled, in 2012 there were 1,773,000 children (3.4% of the total school age children) homeschooled.

It is no longer enough to presume that by conducting informational sessions with the local PTA and convincing them of your meaning and message, you can ensure budget approval. The numbers do not support such a strategy.

I believe that a clear obstacle to persuading the public of our purpose and value has been self-inflicted. Much like the legal profession that for many years felt that advertising their services beyond the yellow pages (remember them?) and sticking a shingle out in front of the building was unprofessional and demeaning, schools have been averse to seize the initiative (available more now with social media) to promote and brand themselves in a marketplace that has become competitive and crowded. At least lawyers have adapted (albeit, using tiresome 1-800-lawyers ads on cable television) and routinely tout their services and skills. 

By the way - yesterday's Blog post made a case for marketing (advertising, branding, surveying,...) to be included as a key component in principal preparation programs.

Parents have the opportunity to exercise choice when examining educational venues. What are public schools doing to regain market share? How are they soliciting interest and convincing parents that public schools offer the most meaningful learning experience? Finally, as a means of further drawing attention to the future survivability of public schools, here's an alarming article that appeared in today's Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/03/17/the-walmartization-of-public-education/

  

The Wallace Foundation: Spending or Investing?

The daily email I receive from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (a great source of news on issues) indicated that the Wallace Foundation is seeking to leverage success in preparing principals for the challenges they face by allocating $47,000,000 toward the effort. Here's an excerpt from the ASCD article:

"Now the foundation is announcing that it will spend another $47 million during the next five years on an effort to improve principal preparation. The money will pay to redesign as many as six university training programs, each of which will be expected to partner with several school districts so that practicing superintendents and administrators have input into what aspiring principals need to learn in order to be well-prepared."

The concern I harbor, after serving as a principal for thirty-three years (at all grade configurations, in varied socio-economic environments, across the spectrum of demographics), is whether the grant will prove to be an investment (as the title of the article suggests in its wording) or whether it will merely represent another ill-fated expenditure. In an earlier Blog I sought to distinguish between "expenditures" and "investments" with the latter being a mission driven, goal supported, research based, strategic distribution of financial resources directed at a difference that makes a difference - as opposed to the former, which too often extends a traditional "more of the same" allotment of resources among competing parties, aligned with cost of living standards without respect to a changing context and uncertain future.

Simply changing titles, creating appealing acronyms (which sometimes becomes more important than the actual purpose and intent of programs in order to appease grant sources) adopting new accountability measures of principal performance, and cosmetic alterations, will not likely develop the school leaders we need to confront the challenges of an ever-changing political, social, technological, and economic interdependent world.

Einstein once claimed that, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

Here's what I would propose for any new principal preparation program.

First, erase the generic format of time guiding curricula in graduate programs developing future principal's. We live in a world where we can readily access incredible bases of knowledge which we can mine for addressing areas of deficiency regarding what we need to know about many of the issues within our schools. For example, if you have a problem with bullying in a school you are only a few clicks away from learning about a long menu of programs attendant to the issue, as well as a lengthy list of experts and practitioners who can supply assistance in crafting an appropriate and effective response for the school community you serve. Similarly, our historical commitment to the standard semester long, three or four credit course produces an off-the-rack selection. Why is it that every course magically requires/takes the same amount of seat time for accreditation? For instance, a school law class, typical in most principal preparation programs, must consume the fifteen week duration, the same as a school finance class. Coincidental, or just historical and practical? Additionally, nearly all school districts retain the services of law firms that specialize in educational and civil issues that confound school leaders. Why do we allocate essential time in a principal preparation program for areas of knowledge that we subsequently acquiesce to specialists, like lawyers? School finance may be vital for an aspiring school district superintendent, but how relevant is a fifteen week course in it for someone who hopes to lead a school? In short, we recognize and promote the value of differentiated instruction and flexible time allocations in public school classrooms, but choose to willfully ignore the same principles in our principal preparation programs.

Second, after providing a single survey course of law and finance and philosophy which (involves practitioners delivering much of the program rather than professors removed from the daily challenges of the principalship) eliminates the fifteen weeks of classes normally required in each of the subjects. I would apply the same scrutiny toward every current course requirement in principal preparation programs, paring away irrelevant or redundant classes and adjusting time frames. By the way, for full disclosure, I have served as an adjunct instructor at the graduate level and found myself surrounded by full-time professors who are swelled with a firm grasp of research and concomitant theories, but have not been challenged with incorporating what they know into a real, fluid, and dynamic environment. I am refraining from the politics of labor-management related to the growing concerns of full-time staff regarding job loss due to adjuncts - I'll leave that for others on another day.

Here are some courses/content/skills that should comprise a preparation program for principals - from someone who has served as a principal for longer than most people.

Sociology and Psychology (not just child psychology - often times the obstacles we face are adult-oriented, with staff, parents, and taxpayers) = to better understand the differences and nuances that can distinguish and divide us.

Communication = No, not the standard public speaking class, but the real thing, training in: how to go beyond 'hearing' and really 'listen'; understanding non-verbal communication; written and verbal expression, apart from the passive voice favored by the many; effective use of technology (reduce the addiction dependence on PowerPoint); how to harness and exploit the power of social media to manage meaning;

Marketing = how to identify core values and understand what is the 'unique selling proposition' of the school (you don't buy eyeglasses, you buy vision; you don't buy circus tickets, you buy thrills,.. see: A Crash Course on Marketing by David Bangs and Andi Axman. I suggest that children don't come to school for an education, they come to school to be transformed) - how to develop/burnish the school's brand in a way that distinguishes the school from any and every other school (what three adjectives do you want people to use describe the school to their friends, neighbors, acquaintances? - how to create surveys that elicit useful information - how to advertise the school - finally, these skills are crucial, given the increased competition of home schooling, charter schools, parochial and private schools.

Political Science = yes, Virginia, schools are communities within the pile of bricks and exist within larger communities outside of the schoolyard. Earning and maintaining a base of enduring followers around a common goal with shared meaning is inherently a political process. Examine techniques to navigate the political realm. One of the glaring weaknesses within educational leadership circles is our aversion to use the terms "business" and "politics" - bot of them considered dirty words! Well, check out the size of school budgets and the number of employees and there's no denying it's a business. Furthermore, schools operate in a competitive environment, against other alternatives (charter schools,...) that clearly understand and practice an awareness that they are indeed a business. Politics? Well, as resources become (and likely remain) scarce, the competition necessitates an understanding of the "roll up your sleeves" nature of obtaining services, commodities, and hope. Ignore these two elements, business and politics, at your peril. 

Leadership - I know, I know, every graduate program for principals involves instruction in leadership. But, rather than isolate ourselves around educational leaders, we can be better served by studying and meeting (if possible) positive and constructive leaders outside of education who are involved with intricate and complex, broad based issues to learn effective practices. 

Customer Relationship Management - visit and study the hospitality and/or retail sales industry to examine the best practices of customer service and sustaining relationships with consumers. We are ultimately in the business of growing people and ideas, and not confined to 'education.' How do we attract and keep customers? How do we convince taxpayers we are a worthy investment?

Resources - I would suggest that we dispense with most educational texts, which, by the way, are usually outdated (like most texts in the social sciences) and replace them with subscriptions to magazines in the field of business (i.e. Fast Company) and educational research journals. Similarly, required reading should expose future principals to Malcom Gladwell, Chip and Dan Heath, Daniel Pink, Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Marcus Buckingham, Phillip Schlechty, Theodore Levitt, Terry Deal, Jim Collins, David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, Peter Senge,...   * I have read a significant number of business/leadership oriented books not found in the education section of the college bookstore, and compiled a repository of notes of difference-making thoughts extracted from the books to the tune of over two hundred pages of notes/quotes. This compilation has guided me like a lighthouse through the years.

Okay, that's enough for one day's attempt to solve the problems of the world. I could probably add to this, but I've run out of time at the moment. I hope I've given you something to think about.       

 

   

The Wizard of Smiles

There have been two distinct instances during my lengthy administrative career when I had to reach deep down inside myself to identify the core of what it means to be a school leader. First, as I met with the parents of an incoming Kindergarten learner to review data following the registration process, the child looked up at me and asked, "What is a principal?" Second, as I prepared a high school graduation commencement speech for a class of learners I had watched grow from Kindergarten through Twelfth grade.

There are job descriptions and assessment instruments that define expectations and responsibilities of a school principal. So, the role is not difficult to articulate. But, while the adjectives and terms may suffice for those involved in education, the real question and resulting response must be presented in a manner that is meaningful for the consumers - the learners and parents who receive services from the principal. Therefore, jargon and degrees do not constitute an acceptable reply that a child or parent can digest.

I found the thought process to be similar to reducing fractions to their lowest terms. Eventually, I arrived at an explanation for the inquiring Kindergarten. "I'm the director of smiles for the school." I went on to state that as I welcome all of the children each morning at the school entrance my duty is to check for smiles and, if I discover someone without a smile, I would check on the youngster to determine what took their smile away and to develop a way to return the smile to their face. I offered some examples; a lost lunchbox, someone teasing the child, a problem at home,.... and indicated how I and other adults working at the school would replace any frown with a smile. I concluded my discussion by pointing out that I also station myself at the exit at dismissal time and check to make certain that every child leaves school with a smile, or intervene and explore a way of recovering their smile. Perhaps, I suggested, they had difficulty with their math assignment, or a misunderstanding with a staff member, or....

That summed up, from a child's perspective, what we must accept as our essential role. Serving the "whole child" by being attuned to the social-psychological-physical-emotional-intellectual needs of each individual. We can't successfully 'teach them' unless and until we can 'reach them.' We must pledge ourselves to integrating individuals into a sensitive, responsive, and inclusive learning environment that respects each and every one of them.

I stumbled on the words I wanted to use to express my appreciation for the 13 years, 2,340 days, and 15,210 hours comprising the odyssey that the high school graduates were completing on commencement day. I was proud of their collective accomplishments, their endurance, and their commitment. But what did I actually contribute to their progress? How did I help shape their development over the years?

The answer came to me as I thought of one of my favorite examples of leadership - The Wizard of Oz. Now, I acknowledge the wizard was misleading and certainly purported to be someone he really wasn't in real life. But, after Toto pulled away the curtain and exposed him as an ordinary man seeking to perform extraordinary feats, his work become more understandable. That is, when he was confronted by the angry travelers, each seeking something magical from the Wizard, he apologized for his lack of magical intervention and instead carefully explained how the Lion found his courage fighting off the flying monkeys; the tin man found his heart when he agreed to accompany and support Dorothy; the scarecrow discovered his brain when he cleverly thwarted the diabolical efforts of the Wicked Witch; and Dorothy always had the power to return to Kansas, simply by clicking her shoes together. In other words, the Wizard did not exercise skills or magic in bestowing the travelers with added qualities. Rather, the Wizard helped them by showing them what they already had. He didn't add anything to them, he provided the conditions that revealed their inner qualities.

Michelangelo was once asked how he carved such warm and compassionate figures out of a cold slab of marble. He replied that instead of imposing his vision on the subject, he just chipped away at the stone and liberated what was already inside. That's what effective school leaders should adopt as a goal when supporting learners.        

School Kitchen Staff - Food for Thought

This post is a resurrection of a speech I delivered at a regional conference for school food service workers. It's a tribute to those who too often work silently and invisibly within schools. They represent significant contributors to creating a positive school climate. They, and other staff members are diminished by the use of the term "support staff." Instead, their contributions can be described as "leading from behind."

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The President of Ford Motor Company once challenged the design engineers working on an idea for a new car to – “Develop the kind of car you want in your driveway?” High performing and proud food service workers prepare and serve food as if it was going to be served at their own table at home.

During the 33 years I have served children as a principal, and five years as superintendent, I have interacted with some very special people. There is one such man who I recall as a little boy years ago. I contact him every now and then to keep up with his progress as an adult because he continues to inspire me with his optimism and belief in overcoming odds. I recently exchanged e-mails with him and happened to mention that I was scheduled to speak tonight to the regional association of food service workers. He emailed me back with a note I’d like to share with you this evening.

Dear Mike:

I thought about the group you are going to be speaking to Thursday evening and I wanted to share something that has always been important to me.

As you know, our family was poor. My dad was a disabled, alcoholic, and troubled war veteran. My mom was depressed and suicidal, worn down by caring for the many needs of seven kids. Both of my parents quit school after tenth grade and started their litter of kids without anything but slim hopes.

Food was as important to me as it was for anyone. I remember how all of the kids at school used to collect canned goods for the poor for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I remember how ashamed I felt when Mr. Murray, the principal before you, would come by our apartment later that day and present us with boxes of the canned goods. I felt ridiculous that first time, because I had even brought in a can of beans or something for the poor, only to find out we were the poor!

Maybe that’s why the subject of food service personnel is so important to me. I was among the very few in the school who qualified to receive free lunch. One day the cashier asked me why I was always the last one in line for food. I sheepishly admitted that it was because I didn't want my classmates to see my free lunch ticket while they were paying, for fear they would tease me - and they already teased me enough about wearing their hand-me-downs. The next day, she gave me a stack of envelopes and told me to put the ticket in an envelope and give it to her at the register and no one would know what was in it. Her pat on the back and her smile that day went a long way toward making me feel better at school.  

It always seemed that the nice ladies who served the food would put an extra scoop of food on my tray. I could tell from their soft and caring smiles, and their sympathetic eyes that they were mothers and really extended themselves for kids like me. I presumed that they knew about me and my family – either that or they just thought that the extra food might make me grow, since I was always the smallest kid in my grade.

Some of the very best meals I ever had as a child were prepared and served at school, especially those turkey and mashed potato lunches around the holidays. I always ate everything up and couldn’t understand how anyone could throw any of that great food away. Maybe it was because my family regularly dined on the government commodity food we got from the welfare agency. My mom was not creative enough to do much with the white butter, canned stringy turkey, lima beans, rice, powdered milk and powdered eggs, clear Karo syrup and all of other food that came in the boxes each month.

As I grew older and advanced to the junior-senior high school, I became more conscious of the stigma of being on free lunch. I recall how careful and considerate the cashiers were. They relieved me of some fear and discomfort by hiding my embarrassment and handling my free ticket in a way that the other kids, who could pay in cash, would not see my ticket and ridicule me for being poor. They also seemed to notice whenever I had a haircut or had something to smile about. Their little comments meant a lot to me. 

These women really took their jobs seriously. I’m sure that you’ve heard of the parable about the three stone cutters, each performing the exact same task. When asked, the first one said he was cutting stone, the second one said he was making a wall, but the third one exclaimed proudly that he was building a cathedral!

You might recall that my dad was a custodian at the hospital. I remember one night when he described his job as a “responsibility to provide clean and sterile rooms so the doctors and nurses could operate and do their highly skilled work.” He saw his job as much more than just mopping floors. He made it a calling – just like the women in the school kitchen who did so much more than simply preparing and serving food. That’s why I suspect these were the same women who brought in the hand-me-down clothes that were given to me by the school nurse and counselor. They always served me a smile with my meals and I wonder if they ever understood how much that meant to me. Now, as an adult, I aware of the powerful connection food has to people beyond nutrition. Our society emphasizes the social interaction associated with meals, whether it’s just the family sitting around the table at dinner time or a special event or holiday. Food is a reinforcer and it meets more needs than just nourishment of the body.

I want to update you on what I’ve been doing since our last correspondence. I was recently selected as the top performer of the year in my field out of over 500 people in the same position. And, you remember my oldest sister? Well, in the same year, she was selected as the top coach in her sport - in the whole country! 

In addition to these kind and caring ladies, many people helped us both along the way as we pursued our dreams – teachers, counselors, and a number of other staff members. I went all the way from the free lunch line in elementary school to the registration line at Harvard. Please slip in a thanks to the food service personnel from kids like me. Remind them of that cliché that the best way to someone’s heart is through their stomachs. Remind them that they do more than feed kids – they help feed dreams!

I hope that this letter reminds you of the tremendous contributions each of you make to the education process.

Thank you and good night.

A Reminder for Educators

The recent passage of the anniversary of the Tragedy of Terrorism of September 11th prompted my memories of that day. Here's a brief message I shared with our staff as we assembled the next morning before school in an effort to get back on our feet and regain our composure: (I happen to believe that the theme of the speech is one which teachers should subscribe to as a matter of course on a regular basis - which is also why I am sharing these thoughts)

"This is a day that will define us – not as educators – but as people. This is a day that we were not prepared for by college, but by our parents, family and friends. This is a day to ignore the scores on a test and concern ourselves with the test of our mettle.

Our school is special because of the people within it. You were each hired because of your care and compassion, commitment and cooperation. If we are determined to pursue a mission borne of fostering hope and feeding dreams, then we must sustain that belief throughout this day and those that follow.

Let us conduct ourselves with dignity and civility, sensitivity and faith. We must serve as purveyors of information, and reservoirs of understanding. Rest anchored to facts, not fiction; objectivity, not opinion.

When the school bell rings, on this day that the nation mourns, we may be judged - not by grades and points, but by hugs and tears. If we are resolved to a future of freedom, then we must remain strong, speak as one, and act for all.

Remember, people don't care about how much you know, until they know about how much you care."