Finished. For now.
The end of the year is in sight. While the finish line looks so close, right after that last sign of relief, the work, and the journey, will continue.
Our students are preparing for finals and while scheduling their courses for next year. Their choices are reflective of their performance from this school year. They are working eventually towards earning their diploma, the ultimate finish line of high school.
The seniors are gone. They walked out with clean lockers (well, mostly), finals complete. Next week holds practices for the end of the year celebrations. Done? No....Just beginning in fact. Even though I have a "milestone" high school reunion this year--my own graduation feels like it is a million miles in the past, BEFORE the beginning of my adult life. College, career, family...it's all just the beginning.
The teachers are counting down too. Unless you have worked in the school, it's hard to know how emotionally draining being an educator is. I even forgot a little in my 3 years away from being in a building. When they walk out in June, it feels like a whole summer is ahead of them...but I know many will be revising lesson plans by July, coaching a sport by August, getting their rooms ready for new faces, and ready to return, rejuvenated, on that first day of 2018-19.
Parents? I know you are looking to the end because I am too. I have a few things I am counting down: the number of "uniform" loads of laundry; the number of lunches to pack (the. worst.); the times I need to fight with my kids because I KNOW IT IS STILL LIGHT OUTSIDE BUT IT IS BEDTIME. I am so ready for relaxed nights of golf, swimming, and cartwheels in the grass (the kids, not me. I would hurt myself).
As I am wrapping up my first year, I am making my plans for next year too. A time for reflection--what went good, what mistakes were made, what can I do better, what can the school do better. The summer is not a time off. It's the off-season. An athlete that takes the off-season to lift weights, condition, and prepare for the games.
So this summer, enjoy some downtime. You have earned it. Just keep in mind, you aren't finished. Keep growing, keep working, stay on the path of Courage, Integrity, and Dedication; get ready for whatever is next. Hatch or go bad! Make whatever is next more amazing than where you have been. You deserve it.
Our students are preparing for finals and while scheduling their courses for next year. Their choices are reflective of their performance from this school year. They are working eventually towards earning their diploma, the ultimate finish line of high school.
The seniors are gone. They walked out with clean lockers (well, mostly), finals complete. Next week holds practices for the end of the year celebrations. Done? No....Just beginning in fact. Even though I have a "milestone" high school reunion this year--my own graduation feels like it is a million miles in the past, BEFORE the beginning of my adult life. College, career, family...it's all just the beginning.
The teachers are counting down too. Unless you have worked in the school, it's hard to know how emotionally draining being an educator is. I even forgot a little in my 3 years away from being in a building. When they walk out in June, it feels like a whole summer is ahead of them...but I know many will be revising lesson plans by July, coaching a sport by August, getting their rooms ready for new faces, and ready to return, rejuvenated, on that first day of 2018-19.
Parents? I know you are looking to the end because I am too. I have a few things I am counting down: the number of "uniform" loads of laundry; the number of lunches to pack (the. worst.); the times I need to fight with my kids because I KNOW IT IS STILL LIGHT OUTSIDE BUT IT IS BEDTIME. I am so ready for relaxed nights of golf, swimming, and cartwheels in the grass (the kids, not me. I would hurt myself).
As I am wrapping up my first year, I am making my plans for next year too. A time for reflection--what went good, what mistakes were made, what can I do better, what can the school do better. The summer is not a time off. It's the off-season. An athlete that takes the off-season to lift weights, condition, and prepare for the games.
Champions are made in the off-season.No one brings the principal a trophy at the end of the year (that would be cool though). At the end of the year, the prize is the growth of the school. The grant awarded to continue enhancing The Think Lab. The new courses added to our curriculum. The completion of building the band room. The prize is the growth of our students; the ones we simply let soar and the ones we saved. The prize is the admission of new students and families that want what has been created and fostered here for over 50 years. We don't get those prizes if we don't put in the time in the off-season. The work never ends if we want to continue to get better.
So this summer, enjoy some downtime. You have earned it. Just keep in mind, you aren't finished. Keep growing, keep working, stay on the path of Courage, Integrity, and Dedication; get ready for whatever is next. Hatch or go bad! Make whatever is next more amazing than where you have been. You deserve it.
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