I have been speaking to everyone this year about the many changes that have taken place over the years in the field of education. While I have been speaking to everyone young and old, in school or out school, many of my remarks have been directed towards parents and other stakeholders. Today, I would like to direct my remarks directly to our MOST important stakeholders—our students—specifically the graduates of the class of 2008.
The changes that have occurred since the day you were born are overwhelming. When you were born the Soviet Union and East Germany still existed.. Cell phones were carried in bags, and the first web page was still months away. The average price of gas was $1.10 and a personal computer, which had a tenth the power of a modern cell phone, no hard drive and only one megabyte of ram sold for around 1200 dollars. Your generation has been in many ways the first generation to be truly “high tech”. The information being gained by society multiplies literally by the minute. So what does this mean to you as you head out into the oft-mentioned “real-world”? To fully understand what your future holds for you, I’d like to take you back to English class for one more lesson.
Poet Robert Frost wrote in his 1920 poem “The Road Not Taken”:
I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.
We have taken you on a thirteen-year journey, but the traveling has just started. Our goal is to get you to the fork in the road where you now stand, and now the rest is up to you. The decisions you make over the next few months and years will determine where your journey leads. It would be easy to take the road that seems shortest; this will be the path that many will take- but we all know that shortcuts can leave us lost. I want to challenge you to take the road less traveled by continuing your education in a field that has true meaning and enjoyment for you. We have taught you all these years in the hopes that when you leave us, you will be inspired to continue learning your entire life. In today’s world of technology and progress, it will be those that continue to learn and keep pace with the world that will be successful.
To all the graduates of 2008, I would like to say thank you for your hard work to get to this point. As you stand here where the road diverges, I encourage you to take that road which leads you to a place of personal and spiritual enlightenment through life-long learning. It may not be the shortest road, but I assure you it will be the road that makes all the difference.
Friday, June 6, 2008
School Version 2.0- Maintenance
This week, we will have our annual custodian banquet honoring the men and women that work so hard to keep our schools looking attractive, clean and functioning in an efficient manner.
In previous generations, maintaining a building was a fairly simple proposition. There were a few floors to sweep, and perhaps a pipe to repair, but no major considerations. Fast forward to today, and all buildings have heating and air (controlled by computer nonetheless), miles of electrical wiring, miles of computer wiring, hundreds of yards of plumbing, large paved parking lots and what amounts to a small city arriving and leaving from each facility each day.
Our custodians and plant operations personnel have a daunting job. The average age of our facilities is around fifty years. The maintenance involved in keeping all of our schools open and safe for our children is a daily, almost hourly proposition, and our folks are more than equal to the task. As I travel to each school, I am amazed at how well our facilities look and function, even though some buildings are 70 years old. We realize that the appeal a school has when parents, teachers, stakeholders and students enter a campus can have a real impact on the education and attitudes that take place inside. In order to create this positive environment, it takes custodians who have great pride in their work and are very thorough, and plant operations workers that are capable and creative, finding solutions to problems that are sometimes difficult, seemingly impossible to solve.
I have also observed custodians helping teachers in many different capacities. In our schools the custodians are often the “go to” person whenever a teacher has a special project or has a special need. Our plant operations workers not only maintain very complicated electrical, plumbing, heating and air and computer systems, but are also a general resource for helping schools complete a wide variety of projects including performances, graduation ceremonies and athletic events. My personal experience is that these men and women are not only exceptional at what they do, but exceptional people themselves, caring not only for the buildings in their charge, but for the children inside those buildings as well. In short the men and women who make up our maintenance staff are an invaluable resource that makes daily life at our schools not only possible, but enjoyable. I hope we all, whether we are teachers, administrators, parents or community members take time to realize this and thank them for the very important work they do. They are a vital part of our educational process, and without them our school doors would never open and our school bells would never ring.
In previous generations, maintaining a building was a fairly simple proposition. There were a few floors to sweep, and perhaps a pipe to repair, but no major considerations. Fast forward to today, and all buildings have heating and air (controlled by computer nonetheless), miles of electrical wiring, miles of computer wiring, hundreds of yards of plumbing, large paved parking lots and what amounts to a small city arriving and leaving from each facility each day.
Our custodians and plant operations personnel have a daunting job. The average age of our facilities is around fifty years. The maintenance involved in keeping all of our schools open and safe for our children is a daily, almost hourly proposition, and our folks are more than equal to the task. As I travel to each school, I am amazed at how well our facilities look and function, even though some buildings are 70 years old. We realize that the appeal a school has when parents, teachers, stakeholders and students enter a campus can have a real impact on the education and attitudes that take place inside. In order to create this positive environment, it takes custodians who have great pride in their work and are very thorough, and plant operations workers that are capable and creative, finding solutions to problems that are sometimes difficult, seemingly impossible to solve.
I have also observed custodians helping teachers in many different capacities. In our schools the custodians are often the “go to” person whenever a teacher has a special project or has a special need. Our plant operations workers not only maintain very complicated electrical, plumbing, heating and air and computer systems, but are also a general resource for helping schools complete a wide variety of projects including performances, graduation ceremonies and athletic events. My personal experience is that these men and women are not only exceptional at what they do, but exceptional people themselves, caring not only for the buildings in their charge, but for the children inside those buildings as well. In short the men and women who make up our maintenance staff are an invaluable resource that makes daily life at our schools not only possible, but enjoyable. I hope we all, whether we are teachers, administrators, parents or community members take time to realize this and thank them for the very important work they do. They are a vital part of our educational process, and without them our school doors would never open and our school bells would never ring.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Child Nutrition Week
This week, May 5th-9th is Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week. We have talked often about the changing times, especially in education.. School lunches have not been immune to the times, having changed tremendously over the past few decades. Today, there are very stringent guidelines outlining what can and cannot be served and how it can or cannot be prepared. There is a mountain of paperwork and record keeping, not to mention recent developments like computerized tracking of student meals. Oh yes—and thousands of people to feed!
One thing that hasn’t changed is the dedication of the men and women who make it happen everyday. In our county there are over 10,000 meals served on a daily basis. These meals nourish the bodies of our children so that their minds can grow. Without this nourishment, a student’s attentiveness drastically lessens. The reality is that some our students receive their most nutritious meal of the day at school, and all of our children are healthier because of the care, concern, and planning that goes into each meal. Our child nutrition employees also serve very important roles as mentors and counselors as well. Some of the best role models our students have are the men and women they see everyday at lunchtime.
When I eat lunch with students at each school, without fail I leave with a full stomach and a little awe that these managers and workers can pull off the daily feat of feeding so many so well. I think most of us take for granted the intense planning and preparation that goes into running an effective school cafeteria, and I would like to take a moment to thank all of our child nutrition workers for the “ordinary miracles” they create everyday – giving not only nutrition- but themselves to our children.. They are the lifeblood of our schools, and without them education would be impossible.
We welcome your comments on my blog at drstrickland.blogspot.com. Please visit our website at www.columbus.k12.nc.us.
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