It is a privilege for me to share with our patrons the following message I prepared for our Springdale School District staff as we open our 2015-2016 school year.
Being a member of the Springdale school system's educational team is an enormous privilege for me. I count it as a professional privilege of a lifetime. I hope that you do also.
We serve children. We help them realize that great potential and promise. We work together as a team to take care of our children. The guiding vision for me has always been to "teach them all" -- to do everything we can to teach all children to high levels of learning. To me "all" means all and that is all that "all" means. We have not yet achieved that goal. We have made excellent progress but we understand there is more great work to be done. I love that challenge. I love to be part of this team because I believe that we are focused, together, on that goal.
I choose to serve here. Springdale students need each of us to be doing our best work every day. I want to serve where I am needed. I expect that all of you feel the same way.
As we open school there will be more than 22,000 students entering our doors. Seventy percent of those children will be children of poverty. I was raised in poverty. However, my family and my teachers never let me feel neglected in any way. They were my encouragers. They helped me develop self-confidence. They modeled integrity and work ethic. Every day they showed me they cared for me and expected me to succeed. They helped me chart a life's course filled with service and hope. I owe each of them so much. In fact, I have spent my professional life trying to pay back those great gifts my teachers and my family gave to me.
Education is the greatest profession on earth. Horace Mann said, "The public school is America's greatest invention." I believe that is more true today than ever before. We are in the mainstream of the reinvention of public education. Personalization of teaching and learning is our agenda. Educational innovation is the driving force. Learning competencies, self-paced learning, mastery learning, and Professional Learning Community conversations -- those are the ingredients for school success for all children. The opportunity for writing new chapters in Springdale's book of educational excellence is there for each of us. Carpe diem! Seize the day! That's what we were created to do.
In the year ahead let's continue to build the steps on our staircase to educational excellence:
Teach them all.
Learning for all.
Learning leads to graduation.
Graduation leads to being ready for careers or college.
Careers and college lead to competition.
Competition leads to innovation.
We know enough already to teach all children to high levels of learning. Whether we achieve the vision to "teach them all" really depends on how we feel about the fact that we have not yet achieved that goal. There is no higher calling. Every child counts. The future of our community, our city, our state and the nation are in their hands. To paraphrase Christa McAuliffe, we touch the future; we teach!
The opportunity is ours. Thank you for choosing to serve here. It is an enormous privilege for me to serve with you.
NAN Our Town on 07/30/2015