Be Epic Not Ordinary

Be Epic Not Ordinary

Our school was recently awarded a top honor for middle schools that recognizes the development of the “whole child.” Of course, academic excellence is a component of the award but at least the National Forum acknowledges the creation of a whole person and not just the creation of a test taker. You must reapply for the award every three years addressing the recommendations from the visitation team.

As I was reading an article about teachers suing their school district for using test scores as part of their evaluation and another article about a moratorium on standardized testing, I came up with what most educators would consider a brilliant idea. (I know because I asked a few.) Just like all schools in New Jersey, our teachers’ evaluations also use a percentage of test scores calculated with Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs) to measure effectiveness. I will not get into a large discussion about the process but I will say it should be done differently.

My proposal is that you factor in the number of times students come back to say thank you. Thank you for raising the bar, caring, introducing them to leadership, inspiring them to go beyond their expectations, making a difference in their lives, allowing them to connect, introducing them to problem-solving, taking them places they never thought possible, finding their voice, and keeping them on the path of success.

When a student comes back to thank us or writes one of us a letter or email, that will forever equate to the reason we became educators. Not one student has ever come back to thank us for making them a great test taker nor should they because that would be absurd. They will, however, come back to thank us for taking the time to create something special that all committed educators do. When one of us wins then the whole school wins!

It’s time to celebrate the accomplishments of a community. Let us celebrate in times of success because in times of failure everyone points the finger. Work hard, be successful, have fun! At the beginning of the summer, our school was awarded the New Jersey and National Forum “Schools to Watch” honor. So this past week, we were able to hold a community event that allowed us to have fun.

We had a scarecrow contest, pie eating contest, popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs, s’mores, games, music, pumpkin painting, and fun. Our school was truly the center of the community on that day. We wanted to thank everyone for the support we get all year. By connecting everyone to our school, our leadership and success increase exponentially.

The students came out in full force and so did the staffulty, parents, and the community. If smiles are indicators of fun and success then we outreached our goal for the day. It was a grateful, great-ful day! We felt like a team that achieved common goals.

The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform is an alliance committed to promoting the academic performance and healthy development of young adolescents in four areas. The four areas include: Academic Excellence, Developmental Responsiveness, Social Equity, and Organizational Structures. 

The National Forum is based on nationally recognized research that identifies and disseminates best practices, articulates and promotes effective policies, recognizes and develops enlightened leadership, and informs and engages the public. Potential middle schools are identified and evaluated at the state level which awards the schools the honors then recommends them at the national level.

Recently, I met with a group of professors and university undergraduate students. One professor asked me a question that I think about all the time. He mentioned a documentary, A Touch of Greatness, about an inspiring teacher, Al Cullum. He mentioned another inspirational educator, Erin Gruwell from Freedom Writers fame and Teach With Your Heart. “With all the high stakes testing, how many potential Cullums and Gruwells can we create?” My answer was simple. Every other school has the same bureaucracy to deal with. The difference with our teachers is that we hire passionate people. Passion cannot be taught in a classroom but it can be inspired in a classroom. When I walk in and out of classrooms, that is what I see.  I see lessons that inspire. I see the Al Cullums and Erin Gruwells.

One thing we hear all the time: “You have great students, that’s why your school is successful.” And those people are right that say that. We also have great parents, great staffulty, great community, and great commitment. I listed some things that those other great schools do not have:

Leadership for everyone: Transformational Leadership + Servant Leadership = Resultant Leadership.

We were the subject of a Japanese film documentary about technology in the classroom. (International acclaim for what we were doing with technology integration)

After one day of following me around the school, the director said to me, “Wow!” it translated as “Wow!” when I asked the interpreter what he meant, he told me that our students are nice and happy all the time. “This school is amazing! As soon as you walk in, you know something great is about to happen.”

We developed a comprehensive technology professional development plan that was copied by school districts in our state and other states.

STEM to STEAM: Solving real world problems- collaboration across the curriculum

Over the last ten years, our staffulty has published over twenty journal articles and four books.

We have at least a dozen national presenters on our staffulty that have turn- keyed professional development to our school and other school districts.

Our students receive more leadership training than most adults receive in a lifetime.

We won nine Renaissance media Wow Awards and twelve Renaissance best idea awards.

Award winning band that consists of almost twenty percent of our student body

We have a plethora of Renaissance nighttime community events including the Blue and Gold Basketball game, Almost Anything Goes, Happy New Year, Academic Pep Rallies, and movie nights.

We were designated an Intel School of Distinction.

We were awarded the New Jersey School Boards Leadership Award.

We created a cohort with an an agreement with Stockton College for them to that gave fourteen staffulty members their MA onsite with no out of pocket costs except hard work and commitment.

Every eighth grader has an exit interview.

Most of all, we have the resistance not to be ordinary or complacent.

Please add these things along with our “thank yous” to our evaluations.

“Be epic not ordinary!”