Deacon Insights

Another week draws to a close with a strong reminder that winter is here. I acknowledge the hectic nature of this time of the year. So many variables are aligning that require our time and attention. It is times like these that I am thankful for a book that Dr. Smith shared with me – The Important Book. It’s a simple children’s book so it fits well with my reading list as Carter, Landon, Ethan and Maddy drive the majority of my reading selections now days. Here is a quick excerpt: “The important thing about a spoon is that you eat with it. It’s like a little shovel, You hold it in your hand, You can put it in your mouth, It isn’t flat, It’s hollow, and it spoons things up. But the important thing about a spoon is that you eat with it.” There is no doubt that all of the before mentioned variables vying for our time and attention have merit and value, but don’t forget the important things that were so eloquently presented to us in August. The important thing is to realize how we can “touch eternity” – Bishop Folda. The important thing is that ALL staff and students “feel loved and respected everyday” here at SHS/SMS – Dr. Smith and Fr. Charles. The important thing of this time of year, Advent, is to prepare our hearts for the arrival of the true meaning of Christmas. The important thing is to live a life worthy of the sacrifice He gave to us all.

As always, I hope that you take the time to reflect on this week’s successes of developing our students to realize and live what is important. Enjoy a great weekend!

Another week has come to a close and the month of October is now in the books.  As another week comes to a close, I am disappointed that I have not been able to fulfill my personal goal of populating my blog with postings that address the variety of our stakeholders.  The section that I had in mind for staff was the Friday Focus tab.  The intention of this section was to turn the focus of the end of the week into one of reflection.  So often times we are so focused on our few days off that we forget to look back at the successes and opportunities for growth that the week has provided.  I know that as I go through each week, I am presented with so many variables for which I did not anticipate, do not know how to address, or thought I have successfully addressed already.  To be fully transparent, sometimes I end the week wondering if I have made any positive impact or brought value to our organization.  In these times of a fixed mindset, I remind myself of the variables of which I have control, my resolve and my reaction.  I remind myself that these limiting variables will not outlast my effort, my determination, my will.  These variables will not outlast me.   I remind myself that while God has given me the free will to choose, God has also given me the strength to overcome.  My resolve to maintain a positive reaction is motivated by the successes that I can identify from each week – the positive interactions with students/staff, the manifestation of our core values in the actions of our students and ourselves, the list goes on.   My resolve to maintain a positive reaction is motivated by the words of Bishop Folda to “touch eternity”, our collective goal to ensure that all of us, staff and students alike, feel loved here at Shanley, and the profound words shared by yesterday’s PLC guest, Cory Steiner, that no school was built to employ adults and that our overriding variable in all scenarios is to do what is best for kids.  As I acknowledge that my vision of my blog may not be a reality, my reflection of the variables takes me to a level of greater clarity and motivation to make that vision a reality as those limiting variables will not outlast my vision to bring value to our school and stakeholders.

As this week comes to a close, I hope that you take the time to reflect on the successes and opportunities for growth that it has presented and are motivated to a reaction that takes another step down that perpetual path of excellence on which we collectively travel.  Best wishes for a restful and reflective weekend.

Although I don’t get to do it as much as I used to, I love to watch movies.  With the blessings of our children, April and I find ourselves watching more Chuggington, Bob the Builder and Ninjago that we care to admit, but I can still remember my favorites with great clarity.  As I was organizing my thoughts for this posting, I read something that reminded me of one of my all-time favorite movies, the Shawshank Redemption.  A great quote from this movie comes from a conversation between Timothy Robbins and Morgan Freeman.  As they talk, Freeman’s character enlightens us to the one thing that even the deplorable conditions of their incarceration could not take away from them – their hope.  Of all the great movie moments and quotes, this is one that has stuck with me as I matured in my personal and professional life.

The beginning of each school year is filled with so much hope.  Staff and students alike are filled with the hope of making their vision for a great year a reality.  Hope is such a motivating force for us in education.  We don’t have the luxury of always seeing the immediate results of our efforts in our profession, yet our hope that those efforts will have a positive impact on the lives of our students motivates us to remain vigilant and forge on. As our inmate movie characters taught us in the Shawshank Redemption, hope is the one thing we hold onto even during the most challenging times.  Hope that you can make a difference in the lives of your students is what brought you here and keeps you coming back.  The beauty of hope is it does not need instant or constant affirmation to be a driving force in life.

As Mrs. Anderson and I met with a struggling student this past week, I was reminded of this positive power of hope and how sometimes, we unintentionally discount the motivational power of hope in our students.  The student that we met with was having a difficult time in a course.  He had concerns, the teacher had concerns and we both had concerns about the potential for success in this course.  Our discussion initially focused on the limitations of the situation – the things that weren’t going well.  The things that discount the hope that all of our students have.  We had set our course on a one-direction compass that told us dropping the class was the answer until Mrs. Anderson opened the door to hope once again by asking the simple question of what the student wanted to do after leaving Shanley High School.  We were both amazed by the clear answer given with conviction that he hoped to attend a specific four year school and earn a specific degree.  My heart sinks when I think about how we were seconds away from putting him into a course that would not have allowed him to meet the entrance requirements for a four year institution.  With that simple question and clear answer, hope prevailed and our conversation took a completely different direction.  Don’t get me wrong, we all acknowledged the very real challenges of the course but leveraged the power of hope to motivate us all to create a positive outcome.

What does this tell us?  I believe it tells us that hope is something our students have and desire.  The cynic or realist in us says we are setting students up for disappointment by allowing them to believe that anything is possible if we acknowledge our limitations and use hope as motivation to overcome them.  I ask all cynics (and I’m one at times) what gives us the right?  If we take away hope from a student, we may take away the most powerful asset that they have.

As a staff, can we focus on building hope?  Can we all do more to guarantee hope is ingrained in every lesson?  It may be simply how you greet students at the door that gives them hope this is going to be a great class today.  It may be using carefully chosen words for difficult concepts to give students the hope that they can understand this material.  It may simply be modeling a mindset that focuses on what is possible instead of what limits our hope.  I think of Mrs. Littlefield and how she took the time this week to work with a struggling student who was considering transferring out of Shanley High School because her hope to be a successful student was not a reality in her mind. By simply working with this student during study hall for a few minutes, Mrs. Littlefield restored her hope and motivation to continue.  I think of Mrs. Anderson asking that one simple question that reframed our whole conversation back around the hope of what is possible for the student with which we were working.  I think of the hope that I have that you read these postings, reflect on your own practices and choose to march that perpetual journey to excellence.  I hope that we can create a climate and culture in our building of collective ownership, support and accountability as we, staff and students alike, truly create a community that inspires excellence through faith, learning and service.   I hope that each and every day we get closer to the reality of Fr. Charles opening day homily.  I hope…and that is a good thing.

During this past summer, I attended a conference in Minneapolis. While there, I had the opportunity to enjoy the environment of downtown Minneapolis, including the amenities of a full service hotel with my wife and young children.  It was while working through a situation of a dead battery in our vehicle due to an interior light being left on by one of the kids that I had an epiphany on the meaning of being great in the moment.  At our hotel, there was a man who worked as a parking garage attendant.  As a new American immigrant, I’m sure he aspired to someday attain the level of the American dream that his clientele achieved and so many took for granted. In him, I witnessed greatness.  The attendant station did not have the tools to jump start our van so this man made phone call after phone call to find a solution.  He then vehemently refused any tip that we offered him after he secured a device that got our van started.  If I was in his position, I think controlling the emotion of envy on a daily basis would be nearly impossible and the motivation to provide services above and beyond the call of duty without compensation would be void.  However, this man was amazing.  It was neither his job performance nor an amazing skill set that made him memorable.  Instead, it was his mindset, his attitude.  It was clear that he made up his mind to be the greatest parking garage attendant that he could be.  My family and I were truly in the presence of greatness.  I realize some of you will think this is crazy.  How can a simple parking garage attendant impact the life of another in what was a chance meeting?  Let me put it in perspective in relationship to our jobs.

What if we came to work every day and made up our mind that we would try and be great at everything we do?  What if we truly tried to be excellent?  The key words in those questions are not great or excellent.  The key term is actually ‘try’.  In our jobs, we control so little.  We don’t get to pick our students, the parents with which we work, or even the standards we are to address.  The one thing in our chaotic world we can control is attitude.  Would our building be an even greater place to work if we all made a commitment to having a ‘great’ attitude each and every day?  Would student achievement rise? Would coming to work be more enjoyable?  Of all the programs and innovations, the one thing that can make the biggest difference, our attitude and the culture it creates, is still controlled by us.  Still not convinced…

What would the greatest lunch line supervisor do differently than an average one?  I think they would greet students with an enthusiastic welcome and engage them in some meaningful conversation specific to them.  They would maintain the integrity of the line and the behavior of the kids without them even knowing it.  They would be relentless and they would outlast the kids.  They would smile and treat every student as their favorite.  I saw one of our English teachers, Mr. Bashford, do this today.  He turned his lunch line supervision duty into  a hand shaking, baby kissing public relations spectacle that would make any politician envious.  Instantly, I thought about the parking garage attendant.  I realized I was in the presence of greatness yet again.

What does all this mean?  Simply put, it means we make our own climate in this building.  We make a conscious choice when we walk through the doors to be great or something else.  Our core value of excellence is not achieved by having the most skill or knowledge.  It is achieved by having the perseverance to attempt to be great in all that we do.  I ask you to think about the roles you play during the day at Shanley High School/Sullivan Middle School.  Have you ever caught yourself not being great in the moment?  (I know that I have and that is ok.  We are only human.)  The key question is, what did you do about it when you missed the opportunity to be great in that moment?  I challenge each and every one of us to make the conscious effort to be great in the moment and march the infinite path to excellence.  It is a choice and we do have the power…..now what are we going to do with it?