It takes a community . . .

In my last post, I shared my recent experience that resulted in increased coherence for me related to our leadership journey.  In that post, I shared the slide below that I used with our administrator team to capture what I believe is a primary teaching responsibility for all in the system.  Our classroom changes, but we have a responsibility to facilitate learning for those we support.

I want to use the same slide but add two other components, the School Board and community.  The context with this slide is a focus on support and direction.

We would not experience success without the support of our School Board members, Tim Adam, Bill Clausmeyer, Mary Jane Glaser, Tami Henkel, and Didem Pierson.  We are fortunate to have five committed individuals that bring their individual experiences and expertise to our efforts.  They work collaboratively with me and others to identify targets for our work and then securing and allocating the necessary resources to meet their expectations.  From experience, I can share with you that their focus is directly on the center of the target.  They care about the success of our young people while in school and after graduation.  We are fortunate that it is truly a collaborative effort as these board members individually and collectively are not focused on special interests.

We have also come to understand how important our community is to our success.  In the absence of community support for our operation levies and bond measures we would not experience the success that makes our schools a destination school system.  Without this support, the school board would not have the capacity to support the comprehensive program currently in place and the plans to ensure that all graduates are Future Ready.  In the absence of this support those at the center of the target will not be positioned for success and options in post high school learning and work.  It truly does take a community to ensure that young people have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to meet the challenges while in school and those they will encounter in the increasingly more complex world of the future.

So teachers facilitate student learning, principals facilitate teacher learning, central office staff facilitate principal learning, and the school board and community ensure that we have the direction and resources necessary to meet the community's expectations.