You Are What You Celebrate

I had the opportunity to attend a very special event this week.  Our BETA Club went to their annual state convention in Springfield and man did they impress.  They entered in 25 competitions and placed in 13.  Of those 13, seven were first place winners.  This was the best state convention that we can rememeber and their trip to nationals in June appears to be very promising.  My daughter has been a BETA both years in junior high and it has been a very rewarding experience for her.  She has created lasting memories and learned what it takes to meet high expectations.  Our students truly are preparing themselves for sucess.  On a side note, our kids are some of the best behaved students there each year I have attended.

I found myself as excited as the kids were about their triumphs.  I had flashbacks of when I was a YMCA Youth & Government sponsor at Mt. Vernon and Elverado.  I remember fondly not only being a very successful delegation but also communicating how important it was to our students that they perform at a high level and put themselves on the map at every turn.  Our BETA Club has been successful over the years but not like this.  They got the full experience of being the school that everyone was looking at and wanting to know more about.  I was very proud and quickly took to the bus to tell them that before we left.  I also had to post about it on social media to tell the world how these kids made their community proud and represented them well on a large stage.  The comments and feedback were great and you could feel that community pride with each conversation.

I have no problem celbrating our kids.  What I have loved about our BETA Club is that every kid that is selected understands that they are expected to compete at a high level and add plaques to the wall when they get home.  Having high expectations and helping kids acheive to their fullest potential should be the mission of every school.   When that mission is executed, we have to celebrate our kids so it will perpetuate itself.

Let's use that word with caution.  Celebrating is great if you celebrate the right things.  You are what you celebrate.  If you celebrate mediocrity, that's what you will get.  If you celebrate reaching a low level goals repeatedly, there will be no motivation to go further.  You are what you celebrate.  I often have a lot of conversations about school climate with fellow admins and I usually take a quick peek at their social media pages to see what they celebrate.  Those school leaders that report that their schools feel uninspired, usually have very dull websites and social media pages.  I always challenge them to tell their stories on social media.  They might be uncomfortable with doing that but our families love to see that our schools are dynamic learning spaces that are growing students.  Social media is a great venue to celebrate who you are.

It was an absolute treat to travel with our BETA Club as a parent helper.  I would like to give a big shout out to our sponsors and kids for making their community proud but also for having high expectations.  We celebrate high expectations all the time and remember, you are what you celebrate.

Our Special Talent dancers saying a prayer backstage before competing in the finals.  They took first place in the event.