From Clerk to Civil Servant

The name sake for this blog comes from a line in one of my favorite movies, Clerks.  "You ever notice all the prices end in nine..." is not necessarily one of the many iconic lines from the film, but it captured what I was feeling when naming this little project.  Some things just happen and we are not sure why.  There is very likely a real explanation for why all the prices end in nine that some expert could give us, but we just go on with life accepting the mystery.  Like how does a former clerk, pizza delivery driver and server go from customer service  (like Randall and Dante) to public service.  Not only doing a job he never saw possible, but loving it at the same time.  Some expert might be able to explain it, but I'm happy perusing the mystery.

Customer service work is the best training I have had when it comes to working with people.  As a middle school principal I get to see wide range of easy to difficult situations that require tactful responses.  Much like when I was a gas station attendant, 95% of my transactions are mundane and required no thought.  Then there were those few that defined your whole day, aggravated you, and you told that story for years to come.  You went through enough of those episodes and it taught you how to deal with agreeable and non-agreeable people alike.  I was kinda good at it.

The biggest take away from those day is the simple courtesy that you show your customers. I'm more of a Dante than a Randall.  When I delivered pizza and waited tables, there were always little things I would do for the customer that would potentially yield a better tip. That still applies, but for a different reason. I want my parents and other stakeholders to feel that they are welcome back if they need me.

We can't operate in a pure customer service mindset in public schools, although many that seek us out feel that we can.  If we were to operate as if to satisfy every "customer" then we may cross the lines of fairness, violate a policy or heaven forbid, break the law.  It is difficult to to articulate this to an upset parent or other stakeholder that seeks us out.  The funny thing is, I still want those angry parents to dial me again.  Little by little, I want to gain their trust and respect.  Even if it takes a few attempts to do it.   Here are few tips for those customer service quagmires

• Do not predetermine your response before a visit or a phone call.  You never know how it is going to go.
• Be a good listener.  Most people that are upset, want to be heard even if you cannot help them.
• Make the situation important to you.  It is already important to them.
• Thank them when the exchange is over.

Back then, you might hear me say that this job would be great if it weren’t for the customers. Now that my role is drastically different with a much more important purpose, I’m thankful for my customers.  That sounds strange given that I have been yelled at and blasted on social media in the past when I was just trying to help.  I'd like tho think I am building a culture of welcome interactions with our parents and community members brick by brick.  That takes time and a lot of bricks.  It's worth the effort even though Randall might think there a bunch of savages in this town.

Presidential Politics in My Time

Last Sunday I watched a CNN interview with Jake Tapper and Pete Buttigieg. The first question was whether or not his sexual preference would go over well with black voters in the south. His response was stating that he hopes black voters sees what it will mean to them to have him as president.  I'm paraphrasing of course.  It got me to thinking about how much politics has changed since I became a voter in 1994.

First, lets be honest.  Presidential politics in my time means I have to be ready for people to be upset with my point of view.  I rarely post about politics because it unnecessarily divides us and it is quite sad to see good people argue online over a challenging political landscape.  Lets also be clear.  I do not care what your political preference is.  I am happy you participate, but hope you know how important it is to participate.

Moving on.  I remember my first presidential election.  I voted for Bill Clinton.  I remember the baggage that followed him from Arkansas.  Still, I knew he was type of leader that I was going to identify with despite his marital disasters.  It was simple to me.  I felt like I understood what our country needed and I felt that he was right for the job.  Simple as that.

It is no longer that simple. Since then, politics has taken a far different route and even farther from where our founders wanted it to go.  In my dream world, I am hoping we are electing Presidents based on their ability to be a public servant.  I definitely felt that way when I voted for Barack Obama twice.  I do not feel that way about Donald Trump.  Lots of Republicans feel this way despite so many leaders clinging to his occupancy of the White House.  We all knew what he represented when he was elected and somehow, he was.

President Trump was not elected based on his ability to be a good public servant for the American people.  He was elected based on probably the best election campaign strategy to date, even if he allegedly had help for a foreign country.  This is politics in my time.  We are electing the campaigns of candidates and not the actual names on the ballot.  Let me put this another way.  We have a really good way of marketing products, but the products are not very good.

Call me old fashioned, but I want to know what kind of person you are asking me to vote for.  What is their political experience?  What is their professional experience?  Do these things help make the candidate good for the job of President?  I know what is running through your mind right now.  You are probably thinking no candidate that emerges seems good enough.  No real fix of a problem is done over night.  We have to start voting for the right people.  If we make this a priority, only the right people will run for office.  Otherwise we are only voting for an election strategy.  That may be Presidential politics in my time, but it doesn't have to be fore my children when they become voters.

The Power of Grit on School Attendance

New school year means a new initiative will start.  Ours is improved school attendance.  This is my ninth year in my building and over and over again, I see the same attendance patterns play out.  We spend lots of work hours on our chronic truants between meetings and phone calls.  No we have shifted our effort towards reaching the chronic absentee.  Folks, this is a worthwhile endeavor that can reach more kids and improve academic performance.  We have turned to Attendance Works to shift towards a system of support, rather than a system of consequence for absenteeism.

Kids are absent from school for lots of different reasons.  As educators we know some do not have the support system that other students have.  Some have medical conditions that are out of their control.  And some just lack grit.  Those are the students I think we can impact as a school and as parents.

Angela Duckworth has made a career of research and writing on grit.  I read her book this summer and though it does not specifically provide insight on improving school attendance, it does provide a framework of habits and qualities that can help.  Grit defined in it's simplest definition is the passion and sustained persistence it takes to pursue long term goals.  It's about resilience and self-control.  The book is a great read.  But what does grit have to do with chronic absenteeism?

Why do kids miss school?  Surveys suggest that kids feel less engaged and connected with school as they get older.  To be clear, engaging students in the education process is the job of the school.  It should be our mission to help them see that school is theirs.  Grit is a personal quality of a student that arrives to our building.  So who then has that responsibility?  Families can raise gritty kids.  Gritty kids not only attend school, they power through obstacles and have a sense of purpose for what ever they take on.  They participate in extra-curricular activities and learn from adverse experiences.

What can parents do to raise gritty kids?  Duckworth describes this as "wise parenting" and it has only a few, but impactful components:

• Authoritative (not authoritarian)
• Hold high expectations
• Offers lots of support

She writes that this style helps produces kids that not only perform better, but they will try to match or surpass their parents through imitation.

After dealing with truant students for almost 13 years as an administrator, I can tell you that our kids that miss a bunch have parents that are not practicing this style of parenting.  Don't get me wrong, we have kids that miss a bit that do have gritty parents.  Again, we are not focusing on those with medical conditions or the severely poverty stricken (those could be a separate post).  We are talking about the kids that are staying home all day because they just didn't want to go.  The parents will call them in sick and go about they day.  This kind of permissive (or a lack of) parenting will hurt the student in the long run.

Instead, that parent should have consequences in place for blowing off school, communicated goals for school performance and be connected to the school if the child is not feeling supported by the school.  These meet the wise parent guidelines that Duckworth has set forth.  I can't tell you how many times I get the response "I just don't know what to do with them anymore."  When parents and caregivers lack grit, so will their kids.  This is best built from the ground up when they are small.  Trying to come in on the back end in adolescence is quite difficult.

Now that we are moving to a model of support, wise parenting will the be the dialog with our families.  Grit is a great personal quality that all of us can support in kids.  They will attend better and perform better and are more likely to lived more fulfilled lives as adults.