The Catch 22 Known as Social Media

 I, like many, enjoy social media.  In fact, I've always had a bit of a system.  My Facebook account is used for family and friends, Twitter is used for professional connections, and Instagram Reels keep me belly laughing.  It's a simple life that has always worked for me.  I keep my feeds clean of any nonsense and unfriend/unfollow people if I need to.  Until recently I can say that it's been a good experience.

A couple of weeks ago I left Twitter. I joined almost 12 years ago to expand my professional network of school administrators.  My activity did just that.  I connected with admins across the state and participated in professional discussion and outreach.  My tweets got some engagement and my engagement with other school admins served me as professional development.  This changed in the last few years.  My feed became dominated by negativity, obvious manufactured news stories, and an onslaught of disdain for teachers and schools as institutions.  I hear people say they feel their mental health gets damaged by social media and I have now begun to understand what that means.

Between some acquaintances and a couple of podcasters I listen to, Threads has emerged as a good alternative to X.  I connected my account through Instagram and dove right in.  It was immediately nicer than X and I was caught off guard by a simple white screen and no ads.  I few posts in, I posted the following:

The next day, the teacher apathy began flowing through my feed despite the tone of this post.  Constant doubting of the profession, calling out teachers, and teachers complaining about their schools were all in the mix.  That old feeling crept back in.  I began to scroll fast through what I saw as negative posts and wasn't finding much to be interested in.

I decided to take control of my feed.  I posted a positive celebratory message and thankfully it got a respectable amount of engagement.  Until I saw the first comment.

I tell other people to be the good they want to see and that the grass is greener where they water it and yada yada.  That is not going to work on this particular individual.

If we have yet to figure this out, social media is a catch-22.  We can blame the algorithms for what is fed to us and that would be fair.  But those algorithms have to have the content to feed us and that falls back on us.  If we only post our grievances, it will be used against us, and complaining is something we are really good at.

As I learn to use this platform and its filtering, I will still keep posting the positives.  I feel truly blessed to work in education and I know not everyone feels that way.  The least we can do is reach out to those struggling and help them serve their kids while helping themselves.  Social media is a catch-22 and cannot be our therapy.

More Than a Crown

 Warning: Dad Brag Post

About a year ago I was sitting in the Benton Civic Center watching something that I thought I would never be a part of.  My daughter, Makane, entered the Princess Flame Scholarship Pageant as part of the Old King Coal Festival.  Being her first pageant I think we had no expectations for her to win, but we did want her to try her best as we always do.  When they called her name as the 2023 Miss Princess Flame at the end of the evening, I went from "Who cares about pageants anyway?" to "Holy crap my kid just won!" in a split second.

After a year of being Princess Flame, she retired her crown last night.  I have to say (and not because I'm her dad), she wore that crown well.  During the course of that year, she did all the things that pageant winners do.  She rode in parades, did the speaking engagements, and visited special events like the Veterans Honor Flight all in service to Old King Coal and the community of West Frankfort.  Something else was also happening.

She also used the title to serve.  (This is where the dad brag comes in.)  She started the Building Leaders Project with two very worthy activities.  She collected over 250 books through donations to give to the Saint Louis Children's Hospital.  She also coordinated an art supply drive for the Night's Shield Children's Shelter in West Frankfort.  To say that we are proud of her for using her crown in service to others is an understatement.  Over the years, she has made us very proud in a variety of ways. Now as she has become a young woman this is the kind of pride in her that I'm looking for.  

Parents, I hope we are looking for the same thing out of our children.  When given a big opportunity, what will our kids do with it?  Will they check it off the list and merely say, "Look what I did that one time."?  Or will they see the chance to do something that leaves an impact?  As our kids get older, it is important to encourage them to serve but to also set the standard for service.  I snapped this picture last night to hopefully remind her that with her effort, the next Princess Flame will want to meet the standard set forth or even better, exceed it.  I'm confident that Makane set a high bar and for that, I could not be prouder.

Makane, thank you for representing your crown and Old King Coal the way you have.  You have set the standard for the next young lady and the next and so on.  Congratulations on your reign and though I am not ready to call myself a pageant dad, I am always proud to be called your dad.  Your mother and I are very blessed.  You are more than any crown you might wear. 

Local Tax Referendums Matter

Election day is upon us again and we often lament on the candidates we get to choose from, but we also get to answer Yes or No to local tax referendums.  I know, we are taxed to death and nobody likes those taxes raised.  Don't just answer No because of the price tag.  These are important issues.  Oddly, the two most important referendums to me will not be on the ballot where I live this election.

The first, and most important to me, is the building referendum for Bethel Grade School where I am the proud Superintendent/Principal.  It will be difficult to hide my bias here, but we have to replace a 108-year-old wing of our building.  It can no longer be maintained and it is cost-prohibitive to fix.  Our current plan is to replace that wing and put it in a different spot on the property to ensure it does not suffer the same fate as the old wing.  We will also be renovating our gym and adding a new lobby, bathrooms, and concession stand.  This will be a big deal for our little school.  In all the conversations I've had, our community wants this, but there will still be those who will focus on the price tag and miss the big picture.  

The second is the West Frankfort Park.  Officials are asking to raise their debt limit to help keep the park running including the Aquatic Center which has become a nice attraction to the park over the years.  More than 100 people use the Aquatic Center each day for a variety of activities.  Look beyond that and you will find a beautiful area that offers so much to the community.  The playgrounds are exceptional, the grounds are well-kept, and you can catch a ballgame almost year-round.  I've read that there has not been a tax increase for this purpose since 1996.  Still, there is a contingent that sees only the price tag.

Here is my plea,  I know it costs money and not all of us can afford it.  However, if we want nice things for our kids, their kids, and so on, we have to pay for them.  When our state or federal income taxes go up, we often have no idea where that money is going.  I think we can all agree that those dollars do not always go where we would like them to.  When a local taxing body asks for an increase for something that we see and use every day, we should be excited.  We can see that progress and can be proud of what our communities can do for their members.  Don't be afraid to vote for a tax increase that you can see working for you directly.

I've done a lot of research in my own effort to pass the Bethel Referendum.  When I looked back on referendum questions in Jefferson County I found that even though statewide tax questions were overwhelmingly voted down, local more community-based tax questions were passing almost 2 to 1.  That tells me that people get it.  It is easier to vote yes, the more local it is.  These local tax referendums matter and please do not feel that a Yes vote is a difficult choice.  Vote for your local needs on Tuesday.

Famous Enough for Now

 

A really cool thing happened after my son's basketball game last night.  As he was walking up to us as we waited to leave, a little guy with a small basketball approached him and asked him for his autograph.  I'm sure this took him by surprise and he did give a big grin afterwards.  As we followed this little guy around he was finding as many of our players as he could to get their autographs on his ball.  While this was an episode of cuteness for our group, it confirmed to me what I have been telling student-athletes for a long time.  

As a school leader, I try really hard to help student-athletes understand why they need to behave and always be the best versions of themselves.  No matter what, somebody wants to be what they are.  To a 13 or 15-year-old kid, this doesn't make sense.  They don't feel famous enough to be asked for an autograph, but to a 6 or 7-year-old kid, they are everything they want to be.  This kid can't wait to be old enough to wear that uniform and take their shots on the floor of the great Max Morris Gym.  For this reason, it is important for our student-athletes to be great role models.  They help grow the next group of kids that can't wait to be them.

It happens that middle and high school kids have to be disciplined or removed from teams.  They lose playing time because they break team rules.  Sure these rules exist for management of the team and to ensure fairness, but I say it is more than that.  It makes sure the kids have guardrails to help them be the best version of themselves.  Our little guys need to see this.  They might watch the pros on TV, but our student-athletes are what they get to see in person and have access to.  They may dream of being in the NBA, but today they want to be a high school basketball player just like our sons and daughters.  We have to help our kids see that they are vital to this mission and even just their presence means the world to some little kid.

Adults, we are not off the hook.  The next time we catch ourselves complaining about our work or burdens, there are some people who wish they had our burdens instead of theirs.  We have to be good role models too and understand our blessings.

Who knows, maybe someday my son will be asked for his autograph because he's rich and famous.  Today, some little kid asked because he gets to wear our school colors and play on the floor he hopes to play on.  He and his teammates are important to this kid and that is famous enough for now.

X - Twitter User?

Calm down.  I don't plan to bash Elon Musk.  I'm not overly impressed with him and I think he just might be another rich person who doesn't know how to stay in their lane.  It's funny when you hear a pro athlete get vocal about a social issue, they are told to shut up and play ball.  Now the shoe is on a different foot.  Mr. Musk needs to be quiet and fix Twitter.

When he bought the platform, I was instantly worried.  In the end, I figured that he was a successful businessman and he should be able to make it work.  The opposite has happened.  Since his involvement, Twitter has lost users, advertisers, and money.  He recently blasted advertisers for what he called holding the platform hostage for ad money.  Not to mention he fired us all up with rebranding it to X, a move I still cannot settle with.

To be fair, I am no social media expert and I have no idea how to right the ship.  I am the "Joe Six Pack" of this universe and my personal experience is what really counts to me.  I joined Twitter in 2012 at the urging of my then-superintendent, Greg Goins.  I wasn't really excited about this.  I was a Facebook guy and that was plenty to keep up with.  I could see myself creating an account and never scrolling through it.  However, Dr. Goins was on to something.  This space was a great place to network with other school administrators.  I enjoyed it and really took my account seriously.

I'm no influencer, but I had a decent engagement to Tweets and I could count on some kind of response to anything I tweeted.  Again, I was staying in my school admin lane but I did branch out and gained more followers and started following more influential people.  I really liked this momentum and I began creating blog content and Tweeting it.  I was on cruise control for several years.

When Elon Musk took over I began to call it the era of the blue check.  Almost immediately this little icon no longer symbolized a verified identity.  It signified a subscription.  This is when my Twitter activity began to slow down.  I don't pay for my little blue check mark, but my Twitter behavior has not changed.  I Tweet the same types of things, hashtag, and tag people just like always.  Overnight I saw my small amount of engagement shrink to nearly nothing.  The growth of my professional network began to slow also.  

In an effort to enjoy Twitter again, I began following sports card collectors to help nurture a hobby of mine.  Still yet, the connections do not feel organic, they feel driven by the check marks of many colors.  In fact, I am now being solicited more than ever to pay to play.  This was waiting on my feed for me just yesterday.  I can pay for reply prioritization.  Seems like the content should drive the platform and not paid prioritization, but hey I'm just a Joe Six Pack.

I don't know yet if I will soon be an ex-Twitter user.  I do know that I will use it a lot less and it is already a low priority for me when I post something.  Maybe Musk will sell off the company and it can see the good ole days again.  That might be the only way he can fix Twitter, X, or whatever the young kids call it these days.  I dare not hope for too much.

Stand for the Pursuit

I get to stand for the anthem a lot.  I mean a lot a lot.  Between my ball games, my kid's ball games, and family ball games, I might stand for the national anthem up to 2 or 3 times a week for four months during basketball season.  I even have a favorite spot to stare at on the flag.  It's the star closest to the middle of the whole flag.  I have a favorite anthem.  It's the gospel rendition by the Gaither Vocal Band.  I play it at all of the games that I work.  Give it a listen.

When I stand for the anthem I might notice those not standing, but it does not bother me.  I can't speak for or judge people's relationship with our nation.  I definitely understand mine.  The flag is a symbol that means different things to different people.  When I stand for the flag I see a continuum that seems to be open-ended.  The stripes represent our thirteen colonies and the stars represent our fifty states.  When you look at this as a storyline, our journey between these places in time, a lot is being said here.

From our beginnings as colonies to now, our nation has seen many ups and downs.  Despite this, we continue on.  The framers of the constitution designed this experiment to never be finished.  Our country is designed to endure and regardless of how ugly our history has been, we move the needle in the pursuit of happiness.  I know that the needle moves differently for some, but it does move.  I stand in respect to recognize our nation's pursuit but also I'm aware that our nation is not perfect.  This nation is mine and I will chase perfection with her.  That is why I stand.

I know that people really get upset about this and those reasons are not lost on me.  One might say a service member fought and died for the flag and you should stand for it.  That is a fair statement.  A veteran might tell you that he/she fought so you have the freedom to not stand, and that's also a fair statement.  Either way, standing or not standing is dependent upon your relationship with your country.  If you feel connected, you will stand.  If you feel disenfranchised, you might not.

Because I understand my relationship with my country, you can stand or sit during the anthem.  I really don't care.  If given the task of convincing people to stand if they don't, I would simply say that you should stand.  Stand as a cheerleader for our nation in her chase to form a more perfect union, the pursuit of happiness and to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.  This is what the founders were chasing and they left it to us to finish the chase.

The Stories In Between

One of my student-athletes got some upsetting news.  She has injured a tendon in her ankle and will be out of basketball for about a month.  I know some are thinking, it's only a month.  These people have never worked with or coached a very determined junior high girl.  She returned from her doctor's appointment and signed in with a walking boot and tears in her eyes.  She's a good kid and it's hard to see a student struggle.

As the day went on, my dad brain kicked in and I called her down to the office.  I could tell she was still upset and the day had not gone well for her.  As I began my words of encouragement, I happened to look up and see a picture of my daughter from a golf match her senior year.  I decided to share a story with my student.

Before her freshman year began, my daughter was hitting golf balls with me.  I was preparing for the one time of year I play golf at the Redbird Scramble.  She was new to golf clubs and clumsily hitting balls next to me, but I was not really paying attention to her as I was razor focused on my incredibly poor golf game.  Somewhere during that visit to the driving range, she hurt her right shoulder.  More specifically, her AC joint that connects the collar bone to the shoulder blade.  She was getting ready for freshman volleyball and it was uncertain how this would affect her serving.  She was treated by a fantastic physical therapist and was back on the floor in no time.  Returning to her usual level of play would prove to be difficult.  She was suffering a big setback just like the student I was telling the story to.

As fate would have it, she did not return to volleyball and joined the golf team.  This was the very sport that was the source of her despair.  She worked really hard.  She enjoyed competing and the grind of the game.  She saw her scores drop in each of her last three years of high school and was an all-conference golfer her senior year and played in the IHSA sectionals.  That honor doesn't make this a success story.  Her willingness to try something new after a setback and push herself to be successful is the story.  These stories need to be accessible to other budding athletes.

I'm not sure if the story helped.  I know that she listened and thanked me before she left.  I even offered to set her up with the same fantastic physical therapist that my daughter saw.  

I like winning as much as anyone.  I think trophy cases are fascinating and I'm always looking at gym banners wherever I go.  Those stories should be told, but the stories in between them can be far better.  Many familiar names in sports have incredible back stories that make their success seem inspiring to me.  NBA star Serge Ibaka was born in the war torn Congo as one of 18 children and lost his mother and father.  Basketball was an escape from poverty and despair.   MLB pitcher Jim Abbott threw a no-hitter with only one arm.  Olympic gymnast, Kieran Behan, overcame 15 months in a wheelchair, then suffered a head injury and several broken bones before qualifying for the Olympics in 2012.

Almost anyone can tell a kid that Micheal Jordan won six championships despite being cut from his high school team, but that story is not that inspirational and is not accessible.  I'm pretty sure he will not visit your practice to tell your players about how awful that was.  All kidding aside, if we want to motivate young players we have to tell the stories that happen in between the successes.  Invite real kids to speak and tell their story.  Give your kids a person that they can relate to and have a relationship with.  That's how we motivate kids to have a growth mindset and push through the tough stuff.  It makes them better players and people.