“Winning is a habit. Watch your thoughts, they become your beliefs. Watch your beliefs, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character.”

Vince Lombardi
NFL Football Coach and
1971 Hall of Fame Inductee

An Education Week article referenced a post-pandemic survey that close to 85% of teachers believe morale is lower than before Covid became a common word in our vocabulary. The coronavirus alone probably did not cause this. One can argue that society had been changing for year in terms of parenting, lifestyle and a fractured and polarizing public debate on a variety of issues. The long-lasting impact of the pandemic is yet to be seen, but many agree that school shutdowns and isolation from society had a negative impact on students, parents and educators alike.

Based on anecdotal conversations in our community, many teachers feel frustrated and at times unsupported in their uphill struggle to educate all students. It is logical to assume that support staff, administrators, central office and even members of our Board of Education share similar thoughts. I welcome the opportunity to hear more from of our stakeholders about their experiences. To a degree we create our own morale each and every morning, but it is too prideful to think that we can achieve our best self without encouragement by, support from and collaboration with each other.

We often ask our students to be critical thinkers, to be adaptable and to master the ability to learn through experiences rather than the outdated educational techniques of the past. Our educators, however, are often required to operate in a system of rigid rules and are evaluated by data-driven outcomes. This is not to say that data is irrelevant, but educating children today is more about results of standard test scores.

Direct comparisons to corporate America are not necessarily analogous to public education, but there is commonality to motivating people. American business consultant and motivational speaker Ken Blanchard describes the modern example of today’s leaders in successful companies: “In the past, a leader was a boss. Today’s leaders must be partners with their people…they no longer can lead solely based on positional power.”

We cannot lose sight of the fact that educators, like most other professionals, learn from their own experiences. Our district does a tremendous job providing professional development opportunities for all educators and support staff. Such learning, however, is only a part of the incredible journey from young, idealist teacher to seasoned, effective educator. Along this journey, our teachers and administrators undoubtedly experience failure. Education today is a challenging job to say the least. Sometimes failure will be the result of circumstances beyond control. Each experience, however, adds value. A successful school district encourages this process in the spirit of personal and professional growth rather than a climate of fear.

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

Maya Angelou
Author, Poet and Civil Rights Activist