Principal Inspiration

Simply put... to be awesome... do as the dung beetle do.

Do you have those days when you are walking down that hall and you've assumed that look... you know the one... the look that says, "Talk to me at your own risk, stop me and I will end you, I am the Bear!"  Well maybe that's just me.  Too often I have the Bear look going and well... I certainly don't want that to be what's catching at my school.  

Have you ever had that dream... you know that one... where you have forgotten something, a homework assignment maybe, or your pants!?  For 30 years I've had that feeling, and it stems from a class in high school, Tom Clark's Shakespeare class.  Mr. Clark was an excellent teacher, and his impact on my life was much bigger than he may ever know.  Why?  Well it all has to do with a Lollipop moment.

Labor Day.  That odd little holiday that for me has always signaled the end of summer and soon to come fall activities.  But what does Labor Day really celebrate?  Well, Labor Day officially constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.  Simply put, Labor Day celebrates our labor, our work, those things that we do everyday to make our community better.

So, thinking about Labor Day, and all of the many many different jobs that we all have in so many facets of our community, I began to think about what Labor Day might mean to our students.

As a father, I have always had a strong desire to see my girls find a job they enjoyed.  We all hope to find a career we love.  Heck, many of us will spend the vast majority of our waking hours at work.  So if you don’t like it, well, that can make life pretty difficult.  You may not like your job every day, but if it is something you enjoy the majority of the time, life is a whole lot better.

So how do we help our kiddos find that “Labor of Love”, that job they can enjoy?  Well, what do they want to be when they grow up?  What are they good at?  Where do they spend their time?  Is there a career that matches those things?  There are literally thousands of career paths one can take.  We often hold college up to be the gold standard of success for our children.  Careers requiring a college education are certainly a very important option as wage earnings for college graduates are often much higher.  However, college is not the only path. That may sound pretty strange coming from a principal.  However, in my life and over my career, I have too often watched students, family, friends, and others march down one path because it was what was expected or available, only later to see they aren’t very happy.  Work isn’t always happy, and we don’t always get that “perfect” job.  However, if we look around us and study all the options we have, all the options that are in areas we like to spend our time, in areas we have a talent, we might just find a career that is pretty darn close.    

Plato once said, “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”  What is your child good at?  Is there a career that matches?  How can we help our children explore the many opportunities that are out there?  And then connect them to those opportunities that fit who they are?

This Labor Day, take some time and ask… What do you want to be when you grow up?  Maybe share more about your job, and what you may have wanted to be when you grew up.  Maybe you still aren’t sure!  I can honestly say that sometimes I still dream about other things I might be when I grow up, LOL.  Then, talk about other great things people do for work.  That sure would be in the spirit of the holiday.  It would be an excellent way to celebrate the labor Americans do every day while helping our children think about the things they might do one day too.

Here is af link to help spark some thought and discussion:

• https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/07/dirty-jobs-mike-rowes-career-advice-follow-opportunity-not-passion.html

Meet Mr. Bass an elementary music teacher who took the time to support me as a student in a rather unique way.  He helped me with my voice... quite literally.  Isn't that a primary responsibility of each of us as educators.  To help each student with their voice.  To help them recognize they have a voice and that voice is important in the world.  One incredible educator just recently inspired me to use my voice.  John Spencer in a podcast titled "The World Needs Your Voice" inspired me to make this podcast.  You can listen to John here, http://www.spencerauthor.com/your-voice/.  I hope that you find today's podcast inspiring and that it helps you go be awesome.