A View from the Now-Retired Principal's Seat

  I'm breaking a rule today.  For those who know me - especially my social media presence - I use social media as an escape.  I like to stay in contact with family and friends.  I enjoy connecting with former students and their families.  I follow organizations for which I am interested such as antique tractors, scuba diving, whirligigs, history, etc...  (Secretly, I don't even mind an occasional stupid pet trick!)  You get the idea.  Today, however, I am breaking that rule.  Today I intend to be bold and maybe in some people's eyes, a bit controversial.  1.) If this offends you, please just scroll along.  I will not be responding to any negative comments.  2.) If you are moved to action then I have met my goal.  Finally, much of what I post or discuss is totally appropriate for young students, the age I worked with the most in my teaching career.  This post, however, is not appropriate for younger children.  Tha...

A remarkable man and friend died this week.   Before becoming a school principal, I was, of course, a teacher.  In that time I worked directly for three principals.  There were several assistant principals who were also very important, but for better or worse, a school principal sets the stage for hundreds and thousands of students and their teachers.  Dr. Tim Falls was the second principal I worked with and for the longest time.  For 10 years he guided, shepherded, mentored, and supported me (and literally a generation of other educators) as an educator and man.  As I compose this it still feels surreal that he is no longer alive.  Tim has been retired for 17 years, and there are few colleagues or families currently in our school district who remember him at all.  Still, I couldn't let Tim's passing go without sharing a few thoughts. Tim retired in 2007 after a long and full career in the Novi Community School District.  He had been a c...

Change is hard.   Actually, I'm not so sure change is as hard as not changing is just comforting .  When we don't change, we know what to expect.  When we don't change, life is more predictable.  When we don't change, we aren't challenged. Change, however, is inevitable.  Everyone knows this.  Still, change is hard. My beloved Novi Woods community is about to experience change like they haven't seen in 12 years because I am retiring.  Novi Woods is getting a new principal, and I have some hints for what to expect and how to help. First, I encourage everyone to take a deep breath.  Lean on what we do well.  Novi Woods has a long, long history of being understanding, proactive, kind, determined, safe, and inclusive, and there is no reason why any of this should change.  If anything, I am hopeful this grows and improves.  Remember a school or community is not one person.  A true community needs a leader, for sure, but a commu...

Dear Willis and Linda, By now you've heard I am retiring at the end of this school year.  I have so many people to thank for my career, but I have been hesitant because I know I would miss recognizing someone.  I hope the countless colleagues, students, staff, parents, mentors, and friends who have supported and inspired me in so many ways will find a bit of my thanks here.   Still, I couldn't end this journey without reaching out to you, Linda and Willis.   It's been over 35 years since we first met when I was a junior in high school.  Willis, do you remember that first meeting?  You were a School Board member for our little, rural district in Wisconsin, and you asked the high school principal (390 students in grades 9-12!) who should consider attending Purdue University--7 hours away and in Indiana.  The principal called me to the office, and you offered to drive me for a weekend visit.  You chatted with my parents, and you and I made the t...

Yes, it's true.  After 30 years as a public educator, teacher, and administrator I will be retiring at the end of this school year.  To say the feelings are bittersweet is perhaps the greatest understatement I have ever uttered.  Yet, I am at peace. While I will be more reflective about my last 30 years in future posts, I want to make something 100% clear; I am retiring now because I have had  the most rewarding and fulfilling career I could have ever imagined.   I taught 5th grade for two years in Indiana, and over the last  28 years in Novi I have taught 5 th , 6 th , and 1 st grades.   I was a co-principal at Novi Meadows, and I have been principal at Novi Woods since 2011.   There have, of course, been stumbles and struggles, but the joy and relationships I have built   could extend multiple lifetimes.     I only hope I have been able to return and inspire just some of the joy, love for learning, and kindness that has come t...

 All of this post is true--well--at least most of it.  :) Occasionally this picture or something like it comes across my social media feeds. Smartphones have clearly replaced many more items than what is listed here.  When was the last time you used a non-digital camera or played a record or CD?  The list goes on... I'd like to suggest one more item smartphones have replaced. I am a child of the 1970s, and for better or worse my parents did not care or show any remorse regarding the breakfast cereal we ate.  Sooooo--if it was sugared, I probably ate it.  I fondly remember picking cereal based on the toy that was in the bottom of the box as well as the cartoon character on the front of the box.  I recall a silly bunny, a toucan, a tiger with stripes, a leprechaun, a bear--oh my, the list is endless--all working their marketing genius on me.  And what did we do when we ate that cereal?  We read the back of box, of course.  No self-respecti...

Someone told me one time, "We have one mouth but two ears.  So we should listen twice as much as we talk!"  I hope I am not alone in the fact that I need to listen more, but lately I regularly hear phrases that bring me great comfort at my school. Our building engineer beams at our hallway and cafeteria floors, "These are my floors.  I want them to shine for the kids." Our bus drivers report, "These are my kids too, Mr. Ascher.  Please let me know how I can help them." Our cook smiles and states, "I just love our lunch team.  Everyone is here to help our kids." Our secretaries comment, " Our teachers are just amazing!  Look at all they do." Our teachers say to each other, "Let me know how I can help.  The students in your class are my kids too." Our before and after school CARE leader stops in the office and finishes a project for us, "I want to help.  This is my school too!" My list could go on and on. I list...

I've written this blog for more than 10 years, and I'm not sure why I have mainly remained silent on school shootings.  I think they are just too personal for me.  I have 500+ students and staff enter and exit my building each day, and I have learned I need to outwardly process each shooting with as little emotion as possible so I can focus on what I must do to help keep everyone safe.  Of late, however, I better understand that blocking off those emotions is not healthy either.  I also struggle to not make this argument sound too political.  I see posts on social media about what should happen or that place blame on one party or another.  I suppose I could do some of that too, but it wouldn't be professional of me.  Ultimately, I believe it may help to list what my district has done to respond to active shooters in schools. Yearly training in ALICE protocols which is a more proactive response to active shooters than our previous model of only locking ...

When I was a pre-teen youth and just beginning to listen to the radio the rock band The Rolling Stones had a song entitled Emotional Rescue.  I don't hear it very often, but it played on my shuffle the other day.  While the lyrics might not exactly fit what I have been experiencing lately, the title surely does.  Many people I care for deeply have told me in their own way their emotions are raw, and many are looking for an emotional rescue. Over the last few months several of my students have cried on their way into the school building.  Their remarkable parents and I have an agreement that we will always help their sons and daughters be successful.  My staff is super-sensitive, and 99% of the time the little ones stop crying as soon as they enter the school doors.  I always double and triple check on these kids throughout the day, and then I call one of their parents to keep them updated.  The conversations are almost always the same: Hi.  This i...

"All of this is to say thank you for the foundation you laid for me; encouraging me to push myself, learn endlessly, and to be kind." That is just one line from a letter sent to one of our elementary teachers from a soon-to-be graduating senior.  The teacher had this student when she was a new, young person in our district, and now the student will be graduating from high school and pursuing her next dreams.  Nothing--and I mean NOTHING--means more to a teacher than to hear from a former student and to know that maybe--just maybe--you made a difference. Teachers don't measure "making a difference" by profit and loss statements.  Some would choose to have us measure the difference we make by only high stakes testing.  While it's easy to measure academic achievement and growth, wise educators know they are not what is most important.  Yes, we help our students learn and grow in academic areas, but wise educators know that we teach children--and not just academ...

Dear 2022, I know we are about to begin dating, but I need to be open with you.  I'm just getting over a long-term relationship that has not always been positive.  2021 started hopeful, of course.  When 2021 and I first met we were hearing about vaccines and exiting the pandemic, but it quickly turned dark.  So many words have now become part of our daily news feeds; insurrection, variant, breakthrough cases..., and I am tired.  My colleagues are tired.  Our students are tired.  Our families are tired.  The world is tired.  Still, I am hopeful.  Anytime I begin a new relationship I try to remain positive.  I try to set goals.  I try to listen and remain excited, and I will try.  I promise. I will try to lose that 10 pounds that I gained in the last year.   Yes, I will clean out my workroom and closet.  Yes, I will practice my guitar more.  Yes, I will reach out in love to those extended family members a...