Skip to main content

Saying Goodbye

I have a lot of flaws. I mess up dates in the calendar. I worry about silly things and I stink at saying good bye. I've known for over three months that I will have to say good bye today to an amazing member of my school team but I've postponed it (in my mind).

In a few short hours, we will gather for a goodbye breakfast to tell Jane Pingelski thank you. She is retiring from our district after --- years (see, the date and time thing again). I'll just say many. Jane is our Library Media Specialist and one of the classiest people I have ever met. She is a quiet warrior for literacy. She can connect her specialty to other subjects in a blink. Due to budget cuts, she has had to coordinate the needs of three libraries in our district and has done so with grace and a positive attitude. She has officially mentored some of our most at-risk students and secretly takes many others under her wing. She can pick them out -- those kids that need her.

As a mom, I've been fortunate to see her influence on my son. He's a reader whom I can barely keep up with to talk about books or discuss book recommendations. Thankfully, he's had Mrs. Pingelski to lean on. She is one of the reasons he comes to school. In his words, she is awesome. She makes you feel heard. She gets it.

Every time I saw her yesterday, she was surrounded by kids. These were kids trying their best, in their way, to say goodbye.

I think we become librarians, teachers (and administrators) hoping we can make a difference .

Mrs. Pingelski, please know you have made a difference.

It is a difference that will not be easily replaced or forgotten -- ever.

Comments

  1. DennisJanuary 30, 2015 at 8:28 AM

    Lisa, I was just thinking about the starfish story this week...what a nice tribute to Ms. P. She sounds amazing. Hey, and as for flaws, the only one that you may have is that you don't blog every day. ☺️

    Beautiful post...

    Dennis

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2015 at 8:23 PM

      She is. Thank you so much for commenting. I am honored to be connected to you and count you among that inner layer.

      Delete
  2. Fueling EductionFebruary 1, 2015 at 8:13 AM

    Lisa - This post alone is a wonderful tribute to a colleague that made a difference in the lives of many, including yours. Like the child in the starfish story, you can continue to pay it forward.

    Craig

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2015 at 8:23 PM

      If I only do 1/2 as much as she has, I'll be proud.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something about March

Our work in school leadership can often come in waves. Some days you are happily swimming to shore while other days you might feel as though it is taking all of your energy to stay above the water.  The latter is often what March feels like.  There is something about March that has always felt like a difficult month for me, at least personally, as an educator. Maybe it's the impact of a long winter, access to less sunshine, or the absence of any scheduled downtime in the month. It's also the point where we are able to look back on a school year and see how much we have accomplished but at the same turn how much there is still to do.  But, the difference is the proverbial finish line that June brings. We all know, whether we like it or not, what we planned or were even assigned to accomplish this year is now connected to an imaginary stopwatch that is counting down that time. We can see the end to the year and that can be stressful.  What about all the things still le...
Post a Comment
Read more

Growth Mindset

This will be a quick post likely full of errors and incomplete sentences. But, I feel a pressing need to get these thoughts to paper while: a) I have time  and b) I can still remember the pieces I want to connect I was given a great opportunity to work with Dr. Shawn Hunziker today. We've conducted some online book studies around Mindset by Carol Dweck. This past winter, we were invited to give a keynote to CSE Chairpersons ( BIG TIME for us) and that led to today's session with CNYSEA's Summer Institute .  On my way to the session, I was rehearsing notes (as I always do, see previous post ). At a stop sign near the venue where the conference was held, I pulled up in back of a car and noticed the neatest license plate: NEVRQT* I think that's how it was spelled. I tried to grab a picture but realized how creepy that would look and did not reshoot the blurry image I captured. When I arrived at the conference, I immediately told my partner, Sh...
18 comments
Read more

My one word: Courage

I am part of an amazing voxer group of MS Principals and Jay Posick became a recent member of that group. Talk about a man with the right mindset. Recently, he posted a link about a one word challenge and it got me thinking. I've been struggling with the idea of a "new year" and the (self-imposed) push to set some resolutions. I don't like the idea of setting resolutions. They feel too artificial for me. Maybe that's because I've failed at them before. But, what I can commit and buy into is this idea of one word . I think my word is COURAGE.  It's funny when I typed out that sentence, I couldn't get around the phrase "I think". The way I crafted that sentence speaks to why I have chosen the word courage to help guide me in this new year. I need courage to continue to take risks and nurture creative ideas. I need courage to finally do some things I have been postponing (some for just 30 years or so) and set to accomplishing them or...
3 comments
Read more