At best I am three degrees removed from the classroom. To provide a bit of perspective, oftentimes visitors to our office can have a hard time reconciling the fact we are even in a school. My day to day work experience may find me buried in spreadsheets, signing purchase orders, answering email or arguing with a vendor on the phone. I may be in a meeting hearing from direct reports, facilitating a debate, or planning for future building use. Perhaps there is a disciplinary issue that needs to be addressed with an employee. Or, at other times, I may find myself balancing whether or not it makes sense to put a new transmission in a school bus or just buy a new school bus. Over the winter, I monitor market trends to determine the best time to purchase bulk natural gas. Then in the spring we consider health trends and how best to manage our PBM. Budgets. Buses. Buildings. Benefits. I would imagine this list of tasks and responsibilities would lead few to conclude these are in the wheelhouse of a school superintendent.
When studying to become a superintendent, there is this utopian idea of a concept known as instructional leadership. By definition, this is someone who is prioritizing what is happening inside the classrooms. Focusing on the quality of instruction and the effectiveness of curriculum. The professional growth and development of teachers. Sure, from a macro level I can make that argument. But what is happening in 5th grade this week? I can't help you with that. Those attributes are more closely situated within the scope of what our principals do on a daily basis. There was a time not to many years back when, at the beginning of the school year I would offer platitudes to our new teachers that they would see me on a regular basis, in their classrooms and hallways. I'd start out OK, but it didn't take long before a crisis with the HVAC system would scramble the schedule.
Now, I'm not saying all this to complain. Quite the contrary. I knew what I was getting into and find the work incredibly satisfying and rewarding. I know that if a question or problem comes across my desk, no one else has been able to solve it (that's not to say every solution I've come up with may be popular-or even right). The point is that, admittedly, it is easy to lose the plotline from the chair I currently occupy. I can get so wrapped up in the spreadsheet on my screen I forget, that at this very instant a lightbulb moment happened in first grade. A student who finally mastered place value, or adding and subtracting within 10. Or the magic in agricultural mechanics, when the student has figured out with a great deal of satisfaction just the right touch needed to ensure a consistent and strong weld bead.
We're at the point in our school year where a bit of perspective and introspection is helpful; if not for you, perhaps me? You see, in the fall we set the stage for the year that is about to unfold. Here we hold all of our hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the students that are preparing to walk through the doors with dreams of their own. Very soon thereafter, reality sets in and the daily grind takes over. Before we know it, we are in the throes of winter and what I often refer to as the 'long stretch'. Now, the long stretch is over. Our days of cold, wet, and downright unpleasantness are beginning to wane. Days of warm sunshine are replacing the cold and dark of winter. It's springtime in Iowa-now it may not really feel like it today, but trust me. Warmer days are in the forecast.
But more importantly, before our very eyes a transformation is taking place inside our schools. You see, also at the beginning of the school year, I have the 'You have one job' speech with our employees. Turn the students in your classrooms into 3rd graders....and so on down the line. Now that we are through the banality of the beginning of the school year and the long stretch is in our rearview mirrors, I can see it. Those 2nd graders? Well, they are starting to look an awful lot like 3rd graders.
As for me? Well I was able to pick up the plotline again over this last weekend. On Saturday night I was able to attend the jazz cafe concert. Embarrassingly, it was the first music concert I was able to attend this year. Then on Sunday afternoon, I treated myself to a performance of the spring play and speech showcase. Folks, I was blown away by the performances of our students. Yet it was more than those singular capstone performances that impressed me. It was also a recognition of the journey these students had been on over the course of this school year. Mrs. Ramsey and Mr. Stover articulated it best when they recognized the fact that these students had been working together in rehearsal since as early as November. Even more enlightening was the commitment that was shown over the course of multiple years when both directors talked about the impact their seniors have made on the program.
As we move through this spring, marching steadily toward summer, there will be ample opportunities for all of us to make sure we don't lose the plot. I encourage all of us to make sure we take full advantage of these moments. It is in the concerts, inductions into National Honor Society, classroom presentations, and athletic events to come, where we have the chance to remember why we are here.
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