Lessons Learned

Parent Letter regarding Sandy Hook Elementary Tragedy:  December 18, 2012 Dear Royal Manor Families: We started this week with the heaviness of worry for our families.   You were worried about your children being at school.    Our staff’s families were worried about their loved ones who come to school each day to take care of your children.    We cried tears of utter disbelief. I walked through classrooms the past few days and I could feel the burden that lay heavy on my heart begin to lift.    Your children were smiling and joyful.    Teachers were teaching and children were learning.   Children were taking care of each other.   Their teachers and principal reassured students that they were safe and loved at school. I truly believe that children are the greatest teachers. We started our week with a plan on everything we were going to do to help our students.   We learned very early Monday...

One School x One Church = Multiple Lives Changed Dear Good Samaritan Friends: Early this school year, my friend Pam asked me to write a few paragraphs on the impact of the Good Samaritan Church and the Royal Manor Elementary partnership.   At first this request appeared so simple, but it was also challenging to find the best measurements.   What is the best way to document our one church and one school partnership? I started with looking at the statistical impact of our partnership.    Students participating in the Good Samaritan Church-Royal Manor Elementary Wednesday night tutoring program have demonstrated measurable growth in the following areas:   A positive increase in student achievement Improved social skills with students and adults A significant decrease in student discipline episodes From a numbers stand point; the above data would indicate that our partnership is a success.   Numbers seem so inadequate ...

Laying in the grass along a spring flowing meandering river,  I looked through the leafing tree limbs at a crystal clear blue sky.  With the coolness of the earth on my back and the warmth of the spring sun on my face, I drifted into a semi napping state.  I was aware of my surroundings but lost in an amazing state of calmness. My mind was empty of deadlines, conflicts, and goals to be accomplished. My body was motionless.  I was actually still and this state of calmness is unusual for me.  It is as rare as finding a four-leaf clover in the Sahara Dessert. Words seem limiting to describe the feeling that washed over me.   It was like soft rolling waves lifting me and softly dropping me back.  Each wave seemed to take me back in time to the happiest of memories.   The thought of those moments were so realistic I could hear the sounds, taste the tastes, and see the moments. Traveling through time, I wasn't expe...

Get away from me you mother f@-/er is the greeting I received from a seven year old refusing to get out of his mom's car.   As I escorted him into the school he arched up and bit a chunk out of my middle finger.   A hurting frustrated little boy was striking out and the old principal was an easy target.   I must admit that I was not amused.   His antics caused me to spill my coffee.   My finger was throbbing as I bear hugged him and carried him into my office.   My day of planned task completion flew out the window like an escaping caged bird.   All that mattered now was one first grade angry boy.   With a growly voice and crunched eyebrows, I informed him that I need that middle finger for driving on I-270.   Sarcasm is wasted on the young.   Where most people see a misbehaving defiant brat, we see behind his actions knowing that there is an evil eating into his childhood like a malignant tumor engulfing healthy tissue. ...

The Bow Socket The blast furnace burned at 2,000 degrees as I watched a steel bar burn hot.    The bar glowed red as a strong man lifted it from the furnace and placed it in a forging hammer.   The ground shook as a massive drop hammer slammed to the ground mashing the red hot metal into the die.   The bar was lifted and carried again to a trimming press where another earth shattering sound trimmed the part into shape.  The worker placed the bar back in the furnace reaching for another bar and moving again to the forging hammer to repeat the steps of the forging process. It was the winter of 1977 when I watched this process.   The heat of the furnace was making my face red.   The outside temperature was zero degrees.   My face was warm, but my feet were cold as I watched these men work in a factory built before Teddy Roosevelt was president.   It was not the first time that I learned about the horrific conditions in which my father worke...

I always open the paper and turn on the news saying a silent prayer.   I whisper to myself please Lord, don't let today be the day that something tragic happens to one of my former students.   Please Lord keep them safe. That fear of something happening to one of my kids became a reality on Christmas Eve.     Adam, 19 years old, was struck by a car and then ran over by the next car.   The first car did not stop.   One of my lost boys was killed by a hit and skip driver. My heart sank and my eyes welled up with tears.   My mind swirled as I thought about Adam.    He was a boy who never experienced the joy of a peaceful childhood.   He was a lost boy. I must admit I started to smile the next morning when I recalled some of Adam's colorful office moments.   He told me about a magical tree where you wished for something you wanted and a fairy would bring it to you after school.   It was his ...