Reflections

I think it was third grade, maybe second. The older gentleman would pick me up from my classroom and walk me to speech therapy. My memory sees it as a space under a stairwell. He'd hold my chin and say the sounds over and over asking me to repeat them. SHHH....CHHHHH... He'd give me reminders about slowing down when I talk. I felt a bit of shame I couldn't get those sounds right and I couldn't --- no matter how hard I tried --- get my brain to slow down when I talked. Around that same time, I began to notice other students on the playground. They were students we didn't necessarily see all day but looked to be similar in age. I can't remember who talked to whom first but I met a girl named Pam. She was a student in a special education classroom ( I didn't realize that until many years later ) in the same building except I had no idea where that classroom was. Looking back, I am not sure anyone did. Somehow, she found out I could draw and I began to draw th...

I was in my former district for 10 years in various capacities. During those years, my favorite role was that of Middle School Principal. It's an experience I look back on often and recall with pure fondness. I learned so much during that time and with that team. As I spent more time there, my awareness and perception about our school grew and gained dimension. My appreciation for what we had deepened. I could find beauty, effort and celebration in so much. I grew skilled in articulating those positives. In my new role, in a much larger district, I serve as a newer member of the administrative team and often walk away from different meetings in different buildings truly amazed at what this district offers for students. I don't always get to articulate that as well as I should. It's all so new to me still so the time to fully process is longer.  Do we have areas we need to look at more closely for certain parts of our student population? Yes! Do we have areas of need...