This is our finest hour

    Do you remember the scene in the movie Apollo 13 when guy said "It would be the worst disaster NASA's ever experienced." and the Ed Harris character said, "With all due respect sir, I believe this is going to be our finest hour."?

       After all of the problems that had taken place over the past few days, he believed in his team at NASA and he believed that the astronauts would return safely to earth.  He knew that it would be the hearts and minds of the dedicated professionals at NASA that would ensure this outcome.

       Have you ever looked at your school or school district and said "This is our time to shine.", "We could be the best school district in the country.", "This is our finest hour."?

       Dedicated professional educators working together can do amazing things in the most difficult of situations.  We live in a world with answers to the most difficult educational questions.  Where we don't have clear answers, we have years of experience and mountains of desire to help all of our students to succeed within our staffs.  The daily decisions and the year-long goals of every teacher have the potential to achieve world-class results with every student body in every school in our country.

       Teachers live in a world that sometimes makes it easy to see the obstacles and hard to triumphs.  In the same way that students who are motivated to do well can overcome limitations in ability; so too can schools and school systems achieve great things when they believe that great things can happen.

       Of course it takes hard work and lots of collaboration.  Nothing in life worth doing comes easy.  But it can certainly happen.  Do you believe it?

       Is this your finest hour?

Secretaries and Custodians

     Everyone knows who the principal of school is; everyone knows their teachers.  But there are people who keep our public schools running smoothly and looking great that many people never notice.  In fact, these people do such a good job that it can be easy to overlook them.  Yet every school principal and every teacher is very appreciative of the jobs that they do.  These people are the secretaries and custodians in our public schools.

     Our secretaries answer the phones, oversee daily attendance, order supplies, send out email and paper information to parents, organize files, update their computer skills, and attend to many other responsibilities for the benefit of the students, parents, and school staff.  Their work makes it possible for teachers to teach and for principals to lead.  Secretaries are often the first person that people see when they enter a school building and therefore, they represent the "first impression" of a school that people have--a very important position.

     Custodians keep the school buildings clean and safe for students and staff.  They mop floors, empty trash cans, clean the lunch room (daily), keep the heating and air conditioning running, clear the sidewalks of snow, change light bulbs, fix doors, windows, chairs, tables, desks, and anything else that needs fixing.  Our custodians attend to many and varied needs throughout the day and throughout the school year.  This also includes cutting the grass and maintaining the landscaping around the school.  They set up chairs for assemblies and special events.  Custodians enable students and staff to work in a clean and safe building every day.

     The secretaries and custodians in our public schools are hard-working, dedicated people who take pride in doing a good job and in being part of the public education system.  Their role is essential in the smooth operation of any public school.

     School Secretary Day (in the United States) is April 23, 2014.  It is a day to recognize and show appreciation for the people who do so much for our schools and our school systems.

     School Custodian Appreciation day is on October 2nd.  Once again, this is a day to share with our school custodians just how much we appreciate the job that they do.

     It's good to know that schools have able, competent, and dedicated secretaries and custodians that come to work everyday to support the education of our students!