You Won't Find This on the State Tests

I wont lie to you, being a school principal is a difficult way to live. If you do everything right, their will still be people that hate your guts. Not to mention the long hours, ever-changing state requirements, school discipline really can ruin an entire day and you feel like you are constantly raising people’s kids. But when you put in the honest effort that it takes to do it right, there is a reward.

I have to say that I felt very rewarded lately. My student body has had the opportunity to learn outside of the textbook in a big way. I constantly try to teach these lessons but until they have an opportunity to carry them out, you really don’t know what their potential can be.

Lesson Learned #1 - You get out what you put in. Our girls basketball team just completed a season that they never expected to have. The formula for a 20 win season is generally different than what we used to get there. We had one player who has spent 80% of her life on basketball and 12 others who really had little playing experience. It goes without saying that your 80% girl would score 95% of your points but going from a 2-3 start to a 20-6 finish means that something else had to be happening. The other girls began to get better. They came in on weekends and worked extra. They began to improve their basketball IQ and when tournament time rolled in they began to shock some people. Now in one season they will not catch up to the time and effort Morgan Griffith (our 80% girl pictured above) has put in over her life but without it, they couldn't be successful as a team. Without it, our community would not have come to their feet as they did and show these kids tremendous support in their resulting 2^nd place finish at state. This brings me to the next lesson.

Lesson Learned #2 - When someone falls down, pick them up. The community has really stepped up in the time of someone’s need. One of the secretaries in the district lost her daughter to a car accident. Quickly we decided to change a school fundraiser to a benefit for her family. Now I can only tell the kids that this is what you do when there are people in need. When the community provides the lead and the kids get to see the lesson in real life, it is priceless. We have to be the reality that they see. Otherwise, less worthy individuals will do that for us. Two thumbs up to the West Frankfort community for supporting our kids.

There are many lessons to teach, but they aren't on the state tests. They don’t have x’s and y’s in them and they don’t have to be a certain amount of pages long. I’m committed to teaching them, are you?  Teachers are not the only teachers in their lives.