My school district found the perfect way to get the staff riled up for the new school year. We had a keynote speaker this morning in a district-wide assembly, and to our total delight and surprise it was one of the 5th graders from town. She wasn’t from my building, but man was this kid something else. She paced the stage and used her headset mic like a motivational speaker on TV. She told us not to give up on her and her classmates because for some of them we’re all they’ve got. She knows working with kids can be tough (and for this she yelled out to the crowd, “Can I get an AMEN?!”), but the kids need us. She asked if we believe every child in our district can graduate high school ready for college or the workplace (“YES!!”). And she asked us to believe in our colleagues and believe in ourselves.
Archive: September 1, 2009