What Keeps You Humbled?
Let's journey back to the winter of 1993 when I first started teaching, and I was living 7 hours away from my parents. The phone conversation with my mother went something like this:
"David, you're doing what!?"
"Mom, it's fine. I've just decided to block off the kitchen and bedroom and sleep on the sofa."
"And why do you think that's a good idea? You just graduated from college. How bad can it be?"
"I know. It's just that I can't afford to heat my entire apartment. This old house must not be insulated very well because last month's heat bill was horrible. I just can't afford it. I'm even wearing a stocking cap to sleep. It keeps me warmer."
"Well, clearly you need to work harder so you can move somewhere and not freeze to death."
Fortunately I did work harder. I moved to teach in Michigan, got married, and earned two master's degrees. My wife and I are blessed to be able to afford to heat our home for our family, but I still keep that old stocking cap in my bottom dresser drawer. It keeps me humbled. Whenever I pull it out, my wife wants me to throw it away. Instead, I stuff it back in the dresser to remind me to keep working hard.
What keeps you humbled? What reminds you to keep working hard?
Novi Woods, where I am principal, was recently awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award for Exemplary Status. Earning this award is akin to earning an Oscar or Grammy Award. There is not a higher award for a school to earn, and we are very excited for our district and school.
On the day of the award, I had ordered a cake for my staff. We were going to watch the video announcement from the US Secretary of Education as an entire staff. While I knew we had won the award, most of my staff had not, and I wanted the reveal to be special. I opened the cake at the bakery that morning and noticed the decorator had incorrectly spelled the name of our school. The decorator was completely embarrassed. I laughed and said it was fine. The cake would keep us humbled. We had more work to do.
Our assistant superintendent, Dr. RJ Webber, regularly reminds those of us who work with him that we need to have the "humility and will" to keep moving forward. Our district is a premier district. We have many, many pieces in place to help students be successful, but everyone in our district knows we have a long way to go. Despite numerous awards, titles, and honors, resting on our laurels is not even a possibility. There is always a student we can help achieve higher. There is always a new process that could be developed and implemented to be more transparent and helpful. Simply put, there is always room for improvement.
More than anything else, I think that understanding is what helped our school earn this award. The staff, parents, and community in Novi and at Novi Woods live and breathe that we must always move forward to make an even greater impact. We might not always agree, and we might not always be as successful as we would like, but we do move forward--together.
So I see this award not just as an affirmation of work we have done but rather as a call to do the work ahead of us a little better each day. We have room for improvement, and we will improve.
PS: After receiving word that we had earned the Blue Ribbon Award, I had many people contact me. Former administrators, retired teachers, staff, and parents emailed or called me. We had representatives and even our senator's office contact us. It was a little overwhelming to think that we were being noticed by so many people. What was most humbling for me that day? My 14 year old daughter texted me a series of blue "emojis" and one simple sentence. Nothing meant more and was more humbling.
"David, you're doing what!?"
"Mom, it's fine. I've just decided to block off the kitchen and bedroom and sleep on the sofa."
"And why do you think that's a good idea? You just graduated from college. How bad can it be?"
"I know. It's just that I can't afford to heat my entire apartment. This old house must not be insulated very well because last month's heat bill was horrible. I just can't afford it. I'm even wearing a stocking cap to sleep. It keeps me warmer."
"Well, clearly you need to work harder so you can move somewhere and not freeze to death."
-------------------------------------------------------
Fortunately I did work harder. I moved to teach in Michigan, got married, and earned two master's degrees. My wife and I are blessed to be able to afford to heat our home for our family, but I still keep that old stocking cap in my bottom dresser drawer. It keeps me humbled. Whenever I pull it out, my wife wants me to throw it away. Instead, I stuff it back in the dresser to remind me to keep working hard.
What keeps you humbled? What reminds you to keep working hard?
Novi Woods, where I am principal, was recently awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award for Exemplary Status. Earning this award is akin to earning an Oscar or Grammy Award. There is not a higher award for a school to earn, and we are very excited for our district and school.
On the day of the award, I had ordered a cake for my staff. We were going to watch the video announcement from the US Secretary of Education as an entire staff. While I knew we had won the award, most of my staff had not, and I wanted the reveal to be special. I opened the cake at the bakery that morning and noticed the decorator had incorrectly spelled the name of our school. The decorator was completely embarrassed. I laughed and said it was fine. The cake would keep us humbled. We had more work to do.
Our assistant superintendent, Dr. RJ Webber, regularly reminds those of us who work with him that we need to have the "humility and will" to keep moving forward. Our district is a premier district. We have many, many pieces in place to help students be successful, but everyone in our district knows we have a long way to go. Despite numerous awards, titles, and honors, resting on our laurels is not even a possibility. There is always a student we can help achieve higher. There is always a new process that could be developed and implemented to be more transparent and helpful. Simply put, there is always room for improvement.
More than anything else, I think that understanding is what helped our school earn this award. The staff, parents, and community in Novi and at Novi Woods live and breathe that we must always move forward to make an even greater impact. We might not always agree, and we might not always be as successful as we would like, but we do move forward--together.
So I see this award not just as an affirmation of work we have done but rather as a call to do the work ahead of us a little better each day. We have room for improvement, and we will improve.
PS: After receiving word that we had earned the Blue Ribbon Award, I had many people contact me. Former administrators, retired teachers, staff, and parents emailed or called me. We had representatives and even our senator's office contact us. It was a little overwhelming to think that we were being noticed by so many people. What was most humbling for me that day? My 14 year old daughter texted me a series of blue "emojis" and one simple sentence. Nothing meant more and was more humbling.
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