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00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Welcome to Control Shift Lead, a lighthearted and honest look into the monthly
00:00:03 --> 00:00:07 mindset of school leaders brought to you by AWB Education.
00:00:08 --> 00:00:14 Sit back and listen while we talk about planning, pivoting, hallway hilarity, and heartfelt moments.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:16 This is truly admin life, unfiltered.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:20 Now here are your hosts, Jim Witchman and Adam Bush. Well, welcome.
00:00:21 --> 00:00:25 I'm Adam Bush. Got Jim Witchman here with me today. And we're going to talk
00:00:25 --> 00:00:28 a little bit about this end of the school year. We've got a few days left,
00:00:28 --> 00:00:33 depending on where you're at in your calendar and where your end of school happens.
00:00:33 --> 00:00:38 But no, we got a few days and we kind of start talking about what we do with those days.
00:00:38 --> 00:00:42 It's either counting the days to the end of the school year or it's you get
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 a few less days to make an impact on the students.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:48 And so it's kind of like the different perspective is why I looked at it with
00:00:48 --> 00:00:49 that. Yeah, that's right.
00:00:49 --> 00:00:53 No, it's cool. And I think that's, for all of us that are in this field of education,
00:00:53 --> 00:00:57 we know we get past, if you have a spring break or an Easter break,
00:00:57 --> 00:01:01 and you're kind of right in that area, the sprint to the finish is real.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:05 We talk about it all the time. It's real. It is absolutely real.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 But there are some strategies for us to be able to, you know,
00:01:09 --> 00:01:10 to try to get to that point.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:16 And I think it always starts with kids. I mean, really what that experience for our kids is.
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 I think of kids all the time. And you were, you were telling me a story about,
00:01:20 --> 00:01:24 when we were talking about this before, you were telling me a story about kids
00:01:24 --> 00:01:25 that you've had at the end of the school year.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:29 Can you think of any of those off the top of your head that just resonate with you?
00:01:29 --> 00:01:32 Well, first of all, you know, there's excitement going into the school year.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:34 We all know it. We see it. We always felt it. Yeah.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:38 And, and when we're leading up to it, we've got teachers that want to get just
00:01:38 --> 00:01:39 a little bit more knowledge into the students.
00:01:40 --> 00:01:42 We got students, the weather in Iowa really messes with this a little bit.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 It gives us a beautiful sunshine. So we think we've made it.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:48 Then it snows or rains or something else, in other words, where the temperature
00:01:48 --> 00:01:52 drops. But one thing that's consistent is that it,
00:01:52 --> 00:01:56 It's an exciting time at the end of the year for everyone. Yeah.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:57 For some, they see a break.
00:01:58 --> 00:02:03 Others, maybe not so exciting because they know that summer break is at pools
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 and playing baseball and riding bikes.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 It's taking care of siblings. Yep. Whatever the case might be.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:12 Yep. What was, what was a memory you had as, as a, let's think about a 12 year old. Uh-huh.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:16 As your 12 year old self. Well, I'll tell you what, the 12 year old Adam Bush
00:02:16 --> 00:02:17 was probably just not wait.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:20 I couldn't wait to get summer break started because I was going to the pool.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:24 I was going to go play baseball and had the luxury of being an only child.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:28 So I didn't, I didn't have the kids stuff that I needed to worry about.
00:02:28 --> 00:02:32 It was, you know, small town too. I mean, it was the sun's up,
00:02:32 --> 00:02:34 I'm gone. I come back by supper time.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:39 Parents didn't really care where I was. And we were just being kids at that
00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 age level. Were they checking in with you on your cell phone?
00:02:42 --> 00:02:46 Absolutely not. You know, I'm sure I was just always where I was supposed to be.
00:02:47 --> 00:02:52 Right, right, right. Yeah, that is just it. I mean, it was, it was fun for me,
00:02:52 --> 00:02:54 but I also didn't have a whole lot of responsibilities.
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 Yeah. You know, I mean, life would be great if we didn't have any responsibilities.
00:02:56 --> 00:03:01 That would be a little fun, right? It would be great. But that was kind of what life was like for me.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:04 You know, I was sitting there and thinking about, and when I have my memories
00:03:04 --> 00:03:08 of summer, I do have a lot of positive memories of playing some ball and so forth.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:13 But my last year as a principal, there was a student that, he was in my office a lot.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:17 Sure. He invited himself into my office. The teachers invited him into my office.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:19 I invited him into my office. because he was there a lot.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:23 Good friends. Good friends. Good friends. He was respectful to me.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:25 Not good. But he never wanted to be at school. Yeah.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:29 And I remember the last day of school, the buses left. We had our big celebrations.
00:03:30 --> 00:03:35 The buses left, and he was the only one at school. He did not want to leave the school.
00:03:35 --> 00:03:39 And we got talking about that a little bit more, and it's like we had something
00:03:39 --> 00:03:43 in common. See, not everybody gets to kind of live the summer like you had mentioned.
00:03:44 --> 00:03:48 So same with him. So summer vacation with him was, And now I got to take care
00:03:48 --> 00:03:50 of babysitting the next day. Yeah.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:53 So, you know, whatever he says, which reminded me of what my summer was like.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:58 So my summer, the day one of summer for me was taking care of my brother,
00:03:58 --> 00:04:02 making sure he's fed, clothed and everything else, making sure my sister was
00:04:02 --> 00:04:05 doing her thing and fed him lunch and so forth.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:09 So that was pretty much it. Now with that, I would sneak out and play with friends
00:04:09 --> 00:04:11 and so forth, but that's really what it is.
00:04:11 --> 00:04:14 And I too didn't have that cell phone to check in and so forth,
00:04:14 --> 00:04:19 but we played. I know that some of my best memories were playing with wiffle
00:04:19 --> 00:04:20 ball with my brother. Sure.
00:04:21 --> 00:04:25 We were the Cubs too and kind of came along with that. Yeah. But the point is.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 It's not always exciting. And so you could talk to any educator and we know
00:04:29 --> 00:04:34 that before a break, we start to see behaviors of kids start spiking up mostly
00:04:34 --> 00:04:37 because of insecurity of what's going to happen. Yeah.
00:04:37 --> 00:04:41 Food insecurity, maybe, or just the predictability of what the day is like and so forth.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:45 Yeah. School's real safe for a lot of our kids. That's what we want it to be.
00:04:45 --> 00:04:48 Right. We want it to be the safe spot. Yeah.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:52 Predictable. Yes. I know where my place is within the school.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:56 I know I can, I can expect what school is going to get for me.
00:04:56 --> 00:05:01 And then all of a sudden that, like I just said, my, my parents weren't worried about me.
00:05:01 --> 00:05:05 It wasn't like they weren't involved or, you know, part of my life by all means,
00:05:05 --> 00:05:08 but not all of our kids even have that aspect.
00:05:08 --> 00:05:14 I mean, it literally is on your own. Good luck to you. That is scary.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:17 It is. It's scary. It's actually scarier now than what I would think.
00:05:17 --> 00:05:18 And more than anything else. Yeah.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:28 So we, we have to take, I know that the last month of school is,
00:05:28 --> 00:05:30 it's again, it's exciting.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:34 It's also a lot of work. I mean, we think about it, principals or what were
00:05:34 --> 00:05:37 you saying? Some of the things we have to do, evaluations.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 It's all, yeah. I mean, you've got, you've got to wrap up your,
00:05:40 --> 00:05:42 all your professional growth stuff.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:46 So you've got your evaluations that you probably, I know I always had,
00:05:46 --> 00:05:47 oh, I'm going to get things done by this.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:52 Come on. It never happens. It never happens. Life happens. So I'm still trying
00:05:52 --> 00:05:56 to get those things finished up and get those last ones wrapped up and do them the right way.
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 I don't want it just to be a checkbox. Right on, right on. You know,
00:05:59 --> 00:06:03 the person that I'm working with, I'm there to help them grow.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:05 And if I don't, I'm just cheating them if I didn't do it the right way.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:09 So you've got that and you've got, I'm sure you have people that are either
00:06:09 --> 00:06:14 retiring or leaving your school building or district. And it's time to honor them.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 It's time to give them some reward, follow that work that they've been doing.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:21 That takes planning. It's not just, if it's going to be done well,
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 it's not just an off the top type of thing.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:27 And so, yeah, there's a lot of that stuff that just happens at the end of the year.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 Let's take that one that you talked about, like celebrating the people who have
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 done their service and so forth with that.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:37 And that is, it's a critical moment if we do it right, otherwise superficial,
00:06:38 --> 00:06:38 like you were mentioning.
00:06:38 --> 00:06:42 What I also think is important, and we sometimes forget this because we want
00:06:42 --> 00:06:46 to do that one more thing, one more thing, one more email, one more test, one more whatever it is.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:54 We forget to stop and think about what life was like in August to the growth we have now.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:58 We're always trying to get one more thing in there for a learning piece or one
00:06:58 --> 00:07:00 more task done or whatever it is for our kids. because we wanted.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 Teachers are working hard to make sure that the kids have every piece of knowledge
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 they possibly can in that grade level.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:10 But sometimes we forget to even take a moment to think about the little things.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 The kid that couldn't tie his shoes at the beginning of the year could tie his
00:07:14 --> 00:07:15 shoes. Yeah, absolutely. Reading.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 I mean, think about your kids when they were read for the first time.
00:07:19 --> 00:07:21 It was like, holy cow, we got to go tell grandma and grandpa. Yeah.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 We don't celebrate that enough because we think of we're modest people as teachers
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 that this is just what we do. Yeah.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:34 And I think about May is a time that we need to really celebrate,
00:07:34 --> 00:07:40 not just to each other, but the learning that our kids have done over the past
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 eight, nine months within that.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:47 Have you, any celebrations that you've, that's out of your mind?
00:07:47 --> 00:07:51 So I, we've both been doing this a while now and I've been at a handful of districts
00:07:51 --> 00:07:52 and everybody does it a little bit differently.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 I think about a previous district that I was at that, and it was kind of the
00:07:56 --> 00:08:00 rite of passage if you had been there long enough. So someone who had really
00:08:00 --> 00:08:05 put a lot of time in, we're talking maybe 30 years at this district and it was retirement time.
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 And it's kind of, I laughed the first times. I thought, oh, that's kind of,
00:08:09 --> 00:08:10 you know, really ageism, but
00:08:10 --> 00:08:14 we would, we would all chip in some money and buy them a rocking chair.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:19 And so we would have the rocking chair out there for them to get as their parting
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 gift. But it was engraved in with the school name and all of this.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:26 It was a really neat gift. I did. I like you. That was my first reaction.
00:08:26 --> 00:08:33 Like, you know. Well, but the whole symbolism of the fact that we had, they had earned that.
00:08:33 --> 00:08:38 They had earned the chair, but really the respect that came with the chair.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:39 It wasn't just a certificate.
00:08:40 --> 00:08:43 Yeah. It wasn't just a pen. A pen. Yeah, a pen. And it was, it wasn't something,
00:08:43 --> 00:08:48 it was more personal than that. The other part I've seen too with.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:52 When districts take the time, it's one thing to do at a large district. Okay.
00:08:52 --> 00:08:56 And I'm at a large district right now and we throw a pretty big celebration
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 and it's a community, you know, sponsored event.
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 There's some community partners that work with that and they,
00:09:01 --> 00:09:06 they provide some beverages and things and stuff that go along with that. And that's really cool.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:10 That is really neat to get a chance to celebrate all together because we're
00:09:10 --> 00:09:11 all part of the large team.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:17 But when you do that back down at the building level and that principal,
00:09:17 --> 00:09:21 or if it's the associate principal that maybe has a better personal connection with them,
00:09:22 --> 00:09:27 but that person that really talks about the outside of school stuff that makes
00:09:27 --> 00:09:30 that a human, a human, right? Right, right.
00:09:30 --> 00:09:34 That means more. And that's the stuff you remember. I remember leaving a former
00:09:34 --> 00:09:39 district where, I mean, I feel like a really tough guy, but I'm a ball in my eyes. Yeah.
00:09:39 --> 00:09:44 Because I could tell the person that was talking about me in that moment meant it.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:49 Yeah. And everything that they were saying was really, not only was it true
00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 and personal, but it was from the heart. And I knew it. I could tell.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:56 That makes me feel really, really special. Makes me feel really honored to have
00:09:56 --> 00:10:00 been part of their mission as well. So you said, you mentioned the human.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 One of the things that I kind of grasp onto that is.
00:10:05 --> 00:10:08 We know, we see people as a title of a parent, title of a student,
00:10:09 --> 00:10:10 title of a teacher, title of a principal.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 But sometimes we have to see them as a human first. Actually,
00:10:15 --> 00:10:17 all the time we have to see them as a human first.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:21 Forget them too often. And when it comes to celebrating people,
00:10:21 --> 00:10:25 we can do the surface level stuff and it's great and it's nice,
00:10:25 --> 00:10:26 like you were mentioning it.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:32 But if we make that time, not take, but make the time to do a little personal
00:10:32 --> 00:10:35 touch on And it says, I see you, you matter, and you have value.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:41 So when we think about the end of the school year, you see the people and you
00:10:41 --> 00:10:42 have the conversations for it.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:49 I know as an educator, and I know I don't always show it. You mentioned about balling or anything.
00:10:50 --> 00:10:53 Gosh, if you go to any school I've ever been a part of, they'll all tell you
00:10:53 --> 00:10:55 that I was the biggest crier in the whole school.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:58 So yeah, that's okay. I'm a passionate guy, right?
00:11:00 --> 00:11:05 But when we stop and we sit down and we give people presents and we sit there
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 and say, we did it and we did it together.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:12 I really appreciate what you did here and here. Or when a parent says to me,
00:11:12 --> 00:11:16 Hey Jim, you know, when my kid was at, at the middle school and you were there
00:11:16 --> 00:11:19 and you did these little video things in COVID,
00:11:19 --> 00:11:25 I want you to know that that really helped our family because we saw you as a person. Yeah.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:28 Not just the principal. Not just the principal saying, Hey, we got this.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 We got this. Because a lot of times I'd say to them, we don't got this.
00:11:32 --> 00:11:36 We don't have this at all. We are struggling. We're trying to navigate this together.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 And, and every time they come back to me, even when my, you know,
00:11:40 --> 00:11:42 through show choir parents have been wonderful,
00:11:42 --> 00:11:47 they would make the time to just, it's a 30 second thing and it feels uncomfortable
00:11:47 --> 00:11:51 for me, but I can promise you when I'm walking away, the only thing I remember
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 is that they made the time to share that with me.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:59 So those little notes, parents, that you might put out there or colleagues that you give to each other.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:04 It goes a long way, huge, long way. You were mentioning, so as you're talking,
00:12:04 --> 00:12:05 it made me think of something.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:08 So, and cause you're, you're super creative, Jim. You always have been.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:12 I mean, that's, that's a, it's probably not even enough of a compliment to what
00:12:12 --> 00:12:17 you're really capable of, but we're talking about, like, I was just mentioning celebrating staff.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:21 Okay. But there's more to it than that. There is. And I know as you were talking
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 about the videos, it brought up some memories of like, no, there's some other stuff there.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 So celebrating staff is one thing that's fine. But what about kids?
00:12:28 --> 00:12:31 And we celebrate our students because at the end of the day,
00:12:31 --> 00:12:33 yeah, we're doing a lot of work, but they are too.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 What's some stuff that you've done that is worth sharing for that?
00:12:38 --> 00:12:42 So students are kind of like staff. They forget about the growth that they've had.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:49 And so what I've seen in classrooms is seeing the teacher taking pieces of writing
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 that they had at the beginning of the year and what they did at the end of the
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 year and have some celebrations like that. And it's really cool.
00:12:55 --> 00:12:59 So it's those little moments And kids are proud about seeing their growth.
00:12:59 --> 00:13:04 What we really want people to have when they leave the school is the same amount
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 of excitement when they're coming in. They want to leave with energy.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:11 First day, energy on the last day. Yeah. First day, that's a great idea.
00:13:11 --> 00:13:16 So while I love to say these are my ideas, but I just need someone to put them into place.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 I can't even say they're my ideas. Yeah.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:25 I can't even fib on that. Yeah, sure. I remember, you know, I would say to an
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 assistant principal at the time, she is amazing.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 She would, I would say, hey, we want to have something with the staff.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 I want to do something with the staff. Get them together. Yeah.
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 And she'd put together something like amazing race, put them into all these
00:13:36 --> 00:13:39 things. I mean, the teachers would get behind planning. This was amazing. Yeah.
00:13:39 --> 00:13:42 Yeah. But I got to tell you, go back to the students.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:46 And I don't know what it's called or how it's organized or anything.
00:13:46 --> 00:13:50 But as a principal, I sit back and I watch this is amazing. the
00:13:50 --> 00:13:54 assistant period principal kathleen we both know she organized
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 this rock star rock star i mean she's just
00:13:57 --> 00:14:01 amazing absolutely she put together this configuration
00:14:01 --> 00:14:06 of things where she had some help with the teachers and so forth but everybody
00:14:06 --> 00:14:10 had a homeroom so kids would come in they'd start off in their homeroom they'd
00:14:10 --> 00:14:15 do some final celebrations within their group so starting the small then we
00:14:15 --> 00:14:19 explained the rules to them and it was kind of like a survivor amazing race
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 i'm not really sure what you're going to put it into,
00:14:21 --> 00:14:26 but kids were excited all morning long.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:29 It was like half day. So it's like they were doing and they'd be,
00:14:29 --> 00:14:34 if they were in the hallway without their shirt or whatever the thing is, they'd adopt a point.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:38 We had parent volunteers. We had warmer employees coming back.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:43 Policemen were in there supervising all this and they saw the faces of kids smiling.
00:14:44 --> 00:14:47 Then we would have lunch together as a gray level of team, whatever the case
00:14:47 --> 00:14:50 is. Sure. And then we ended the day by signing yearbooks.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:55 Yeah. So think about that last day of school. It wasn't doing one more test. Yeah.
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 It was just cleaning out your locker. Or wiping down the desk.
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 Yeah. Heck, we did that the day before because we didn't want them to bring anything.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:06 And all they had to do was celebrate each other as humans.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:12 In a time when we're like, push, push, push, push, just putting the brakes on
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 and saying, kids, look at this.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 We're social beings. Let's be social and celebrate.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:21 Yeah. I mean, she put together some amazing things and it just gave the kids
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 the opportunity to be kids.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:32 Music.
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 Oh, we were just talking about, I mean, we just said it. You know,
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 you want kids to be as excited in that last day as the first day.
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 I mean, think about what you're just describing right there.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 The kids that are leaving your building. So you've been in a middle school,
00:15:42 --> 00:15:45 so there's another building after yours in our system. Multiple buildings,
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47 transitions, all that good stuff, right?
00:15:48 --> 00:15:52 If you call it transitions, always good, but we made it through work. We made it. Yes.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:55 So those kids leaving on to the next building, think about that.
00:15:56 --> 00:16:00 That lasting image that they have from being there is just amazing.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:05 It's awesome. It's a great, even if some parts of the year maybe hadn't been
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 their favorite, boy, that's a good way to leave.
00:16:07 --> 00:16:10 That's a good way to have hugs, high fives, tears.
00:16:10 --> 00:16:14 And the ones that are coming back next year again, A, they've already got a
00:16:14 --> 00:16:16 great jumpstart into the following year.
00:16:16 --> 00:16:19 And they come in with that energy and they also know what's at the end again.
00:16:20 --> 00:16:22 Yes. It's going to be something similar to look forward. Yes.
00:16:23 --> 00:16:25 And that's awesome. That's really cool. That's a really neat idea.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:30 But we forget those little moments and we forget that we are coming together,
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 like you said, the humans first.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:35 If we forget that moment, then we really kind of forget what our purpose is.
00:16:35 --> 00:16:40 If you ask for parents or anybody, really, what's your memory of school?
00:16:41 --> 00:16:47 A lot of them are social interactions that really don't have anything to do with 2 plus 2 or reading.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 That'd be mine.
00:16:51 --> 00:16:54 Memories of school are not that great math lesson.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 It's the relationship piece. I remember that great math teacher.
00:16:59 --> 00:17:03 Exactly. It's the teacher that made a huge difference in me because they reached
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 me and they weren't able to get to what I needed them to do for me. Right.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:09 And they were, they were just that person. They were my person.
00:17:09 --> 00:17:12 Right. That's what I remember. And that's what your kids are going to remember.
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 Yeah, that's exactly right.
00:17:14 --> 00:17:16 They're going to remember that moment that, that, that we provided for them
00:17:16 --> 00:17:18 in that. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:22 But there's a lot of things that go into the end of school year too.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 We know that. So we've, we've got, we've talked about celebrating the kids.
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 We've talked about celebrating the staff. We can't do that enough.
00:17:29 --> 00:17:34 But it's also like, what is it that goes through the mind of a principal that last day of school?
00:17:35 --> 00:17:37 What were some of the things, isn't it? When you were an assistant principal
00:17:37 --> 00:17:41 and you had all those little details, because you weren't operating in just
00:17:41 --> 00:17:43 that current month, you were operating.
00:17:44 --> 00:17:46 Tell me more about that. Well, I mean, you're talking, let's think about scheduling,
00:17:46 --> 00:17:48 which we've already been doing forever, right?
00:17:48 --> 00:17:52 But it's still not done because you still got those last little pieces that
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 you've got to put together. And if I'm, if I'm at an elementary school right
00:17:55 --> 00:17:59 now, we've got that dreaded class list reveal day that's coming at some point in time.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:03 Right. And that it's not just as simply as dividing up 25 kids here,
00:18:03 --> 00:18:05 25, there's purpose. Right. All of that. Right.
00:18:06 --> 00:18:09 Secondary level, we're still doing that. And I've got kids, maybe that just
00:18:09 --> 00:18:12 went, finally went on a college visit and now they're coming back saying,
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 you know what? I've changed my mind.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:19 Now I want to do this. And so these elective courses mean a big difference to
00:18:19 --> 00:18:24 me, or I may have had a, one of my teachers that is really, really good at something.
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 Found a different job someplace else. And now we're going to replay.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:31 So there's always that, that scheduling piece that just never ends,
00:18:31 --> 00:18:35 but also the planning of like, okay, how are we going to address it?
00:18:35 --> 00:18:38 I'm going to lose my counselors. Most likely they, they're not always 12 month
00:18:38 --> 00:18:40 employees in most districts.
00:18:40 --> 00:18:45 And so at some point in time here in the very near future, my sounding board
00:18:45 --> 00:18:48 for changes or ideas, they're gone.
00:18:48 --> 00:18:52 Now it is on me to finish up because at the end of the day, that deadline is
00:18:52 --> 00:18:55 going to come. So you have kids, you have to be in classes, have to be in class,
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 have to have that stuff ready to go.
00:18:57 --> 00:19:00 So, yeah, I mean, I think the scheduling piece is a huge part and,
00:19:00 --> 00:19:04 and being very thoughtful on how you plan that. If you're at a larger district,
00:19:04 --> 00:19:08 like I've had the luxury to be in the last few years, I typically have another
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 colleague that I bounce ideas off of.
00:19:11 --> 00:19:14 Especially if we're looking at something somewhat innovative when it comes to a schedule.
00:19:14 --> 00:19:18 You know, when talking about schedule, it's intriguing me. So I've been an elementary
00:19:18 --> 00:19:22 principal for a short period of time, then mostly at the secondary level at middle school.
00:19:23 --> 00:19:28 One tweak in the schedule has an aftershock. It's huge. And I remember,
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 so I could look it through a lens as a parent. I'm like, why can't he just?
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 Yep. But once I looked at it through the lens of a scheduler,
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 which I am, that is not my forte.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:39 But once you do, I saw ripple effects. And it sounds simple,
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 but it never is. See, some of us think that's fun.
00:19:43 --> 00:19:47 Yeah, I know. It's fun to see what the ripple effect does and does that all.
00:19:47 --> 00:19:50 As long as you're okay with like, yeah, that was a bad idea.
00:19:51 --> 00:19:53 Let's start over again. If you have that skill set.
00:19:54 --> 00:20:01 That's kind of true. But it is, and it's something that, whether we like it or not, it is part of.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:05 The way schools operate. A lot of times we have that conversation of the schedule
00:20:05 --> 00:20:07 shouldn't dictate how we serve kids.
00:20:07 --> 00:20:11 And that sounds great on paper. And I love that as my core philosophy.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:15 But at the end of the day, I have teachers for this block of time.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:20 And at a secondary level, you typically have something related to some sort of a period schedule.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:25 And we have all of these things that the state says we have to get in and the
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 people who have to teach that.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 So whether we like it or not, the schedule is going to dictate some things.
00:20:31 --> 00:20:34 So if I'm a parent and I'm saying this, I get my kids scheduled,
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 how come they can't get in classes?
00:20:35 --> 00:20:38 What the tricky part is, and like you said, the larger districts,
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 you have more flexibility.
00:20:41 --> 00:20:46 Smaller school districts that once you start putting your kids in a schedule
00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 and you try to tweak them and change them and everything,
00:20:48 --> 00:20:50 you know there really isn't a perfect schedule most of the
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 time no and we try our best to navigate what
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 that is one of the things i always think it's important for
00:20:56 --> 00:20:59 people to understand it when you're putting together a schedule as administrator
00:20:59 --> 00:21:06 we kind of are kind of have an idea how that works sure if you're a parent at
00:21:06 --> 00:21:10 home sure you have no clue how that works and it's scary when you're like talking
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 about your child and i'm trying to be the number one advocate for that child and i,
00:21:14 --> 00:21:17 I don't know how to navigate this as much as possible.
00:21:17 --> 00:21:21 I remember for our first kid, we were trying to probably like walk our hand
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 through the schedule. We would probably try to do that, even educators. Yeah, absolutely.
00:21:24 --> 00:21:27 For my third kid, 10 years different, I'm not even sure what classes he's taking
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 in that. That's right. And look, he's doing just fine.
00:21:31 --> 00:21:36 The more it doesn't matter because we have great counselors in schools and we
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 have great administrators.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 And you trust them to do their job. We trust them, but we have to teach our
00:21:39 --> 00:21:41 kid how to be an advocate for himself. Sure.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:45 Help him write that email help him go some problem
00:21:45 --> 00:21:49 solved within that which is once the child figures out how to do it they're
00:21:49 --> 00:21:54 gonna i mean i always go to mario brothers you know when they're playing mario
00:21:54 --> 00:21:59 kids fail numerous times all the time all the time yeah but once they kind of
00:21:59 --> 00:22:02 get the gist of it they can navigate to the next level that's good good analogy
00:22:02 --> 00:22:05 the next level yeah if we do the forum.
00:22:06 --> 00:22:08 They're not going to know how to get to the next level. So helping them navigate
00:22:08 --> 00:22:12 it and tell them, I believe in you. Like you were, you know, I believe in you.
00:22:12 --> 00:22:15 There's just some ways that you could help navigate that. So kind of putting it on there.
00:22:16 --> 00:22:19 And I think as administrators, we have to understand that parents are doing
00:22:19 --> 00:22:21 the best they know how. Sure. I mean, sure.
00:22:22 --> 00:22:25 If you haven't heard me say it, I think my, my kids will support this.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:28 I was, I'm a lot better principal. I was a lot better principal than parent.
00:22:28 --> 00:22:31 There's books on being a principal. Yeah.
00:22:32 --> 00:22:36 I'm fully guilty of that too. You know? Yeah. And I think we forget that because
00:22:36 --> 00:22:39 we're stressed with the adjustments and then a parent says, well,
00:22:39 --> 00:22:43 we got to understand they are supposed to be the number one advocate within that. Yeah.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:46 My favorite was the time that my wife called me out on something.
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 She said that was in an email.
00:22:48 --> 00:22:51 I'm like, what are you talking about? And she pulls it up on her phone.
00:22:51 --> 00:22:55 I sent the email and I didn't know what was really necessarily from a parent
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 lens. I knew it from a principal lens.
00:22:57 --> 00:23:02 You sent the email? I sent the email. She sent it with your name on it. No, it was my email.
00:23:02 --> 00:23:06 That's the sad part. It was my email and my piece, but I was thinking of it
00:23:06 --> 00:23:08 totally from the administrator lens.
00:23:09 --> 00:23:13 She was looking at it from the parent lens like, gosh, that's what I sent to
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 my poor parents out there. So you're just saying there was another email.
00:23:17 --> 00:23:20 Yeah, it was a follow-up email. Yeah. That's funny. That's good.
00:23:20 --> 00:23:24 But it's a lens we forget sometimes that we need to look through.
00:23:31 --> 00:23:35 So we talked about scheduling. We did. We talked about actually the setting
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 up the structure of the schedule.
00:23:36 --> 00:23:39 I talked about getting the students in there. I really think it's beneficial
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 when the counselors put out, here's my email.
00:23:41 --> 00:23:44 If you feel like a Google form, if you have any sweat, that,
00:23:44 --> 00:23:47 that again, it gives you a chance as a scheduler to jump in there if you have
00:23:47 --> 00:23:52 a time or when they come back and start working, they can just get it after it and dig in and go.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:56 I do like the form piece because I've done, I did this for a lot of years.
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 I don't as much anymore. I do for a little, a group that I work with now,
00:23:59 --> 00:24:02 very small group. So it's not really as big of a deal, but.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 There are times where you would, you know, if you wait until the very,
00:24:05 --> 00:24:08 to the end, you hope you got it pretty darn right. Right. Okay.
00:24:08 --> 00:24:11 But if I can get some feedback now, you'll see themes.
00:24:11 --> 00:24:15 You'll have where all of a sudden I'm getting a whole lot of people asking for this.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:19 Like, wait a minute, maybe I've got a couple of classes that are conflicting
00:24:19 --> 00:24:21 here, especially at like the high school level.
00:24:21 --> 00:24:26 I might have this one section of an AP course and one section of this AP course.
00:24:26 --> 00:24:30 And this is really interesting to that same group of kids. But if I've got them
00:24:30 --> 00:24:34 at the same spot, maybe I anticipated it. Maybe I didn't, but like you said,
00:24:35 --> 00:24:37 that information that's coming in throughout the course of the summer.
00:24:38 --> 00:24:40 I don't know. You probably, probably should talk about what form we're talking
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 about. I just didn't think about that.
00:24:42 --> 00:24:46 So like counselors will put out an email to all the students.
00:24:46 --> 00:24:51 If you have any adjustments or questions in scheduling, fill out this form,
00:24:51 --> 00:24:53 that form pops back into a spreadsheet.
00:24:53 --> 00:24:56 Everybody gets to see it. Then you get to see your theme. As a scheduler,
00:24:56 --> 00:25:00 you can see what, yeah, you can see what your, your stakeholders are giving
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 you in feedback, which is, is huge.
00:25:02 --> 00:25:05 Cause again, if, if we all got it perfect the first time, we're not sitting
00:25:05 --> 00:25:09 around listening to a podcast, we're traveling around the world, selling our secrets.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:15 So that's actually another good point to bring up is someone asked me,
00:25:15 --> 00:25:19 you know, I don't know if I've got, if I've quite got this principle thing figured out.
00:25:20 --> 00:25:23 So my point with that question is if you're asking that question,
00:25:24 --> 00:25:29 you got it figured out because like you said, we are all humans trying to navigate it.
00:25:29 --> 00:25:32 So we are susceptible to mistakes, but we're going to find them.
00:25:32 --> 00:25:35 We're going to resolve it. We're going to do the best we can.
00:25:35 --> 00:25:39 And as administrators, I think that the best thing we can do is be honest with
00:25:39 --> 00:25:41 ourselves, be honest with our colleagues and be honest with our parents.
00:25:42 --> 00:25:46 Hey, we see the problem. We got to navigate it. We're not completely sure yet
00:25:46 --> 00:25:48 how to do that, but trust me, we're going to work on that.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:52 And I think people, like I do some basketball refereeing and one of the things
00:25:52 --> 00:25:56 I learned from a veteran official years ago was said, you must have called us to admit it.
00:25:57 --> 00:26:01 I'll tell you what, coach was like, yeah, I blew that call. Oh, okay.
00:26:02 --> 00:26:05 Like then you remember that it's a human at that point and
00:26:05 --> 00:26:08 sometimes as an administrator there's times where like yeah you know what i
00:26:08 --> 00:26:12 could have done different we should probably have a podcast talked about administrator
00:26:12 --> 00:26:16 mistakes oh i'm just sitting there thinking about one that i was about 30 minutes
00:26:16 --> 00:26:20 of groveling to a parent and all it was was some sorry and at the end of the
00:26:20 --> 00:26:23 conversation she said thank you and then we were done yeah,
00:26:23 --> 00:26:27 But it was a bad mistake. It was a silly mistake. Anyway. That's probably another
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 podcast another day. That's true. That's true.
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 So one of the other things I was thinking as we were talking about,
00:26:31 --> 00:26:36 we're in the month of May. Okay. And again, the end of the school year is rapidly approaching.
00:26:37 --> 00:26:42 This is also the time though, where I know on my checklist of May things to
00:26:42 --> 00:26:46 do, I'm already starting to think about summer really into the planning piece.
00:26:46 --> 00:26:49 Cause that is that moment where people away from the building,
00:26:49 --> 00:26:52 you know, I always say the joke, like if it wasn't for parents and teachers
00:26:52 --> 00:26:55 and kids, this job would be great. Yeah. Be really easy.
00:26:56 --> 00:26:59 That's really boring. Really boring. That's true. I wouldn't get a paycheck
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 for that one, I'm guessing.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:04 But, you know, but that summer moment of time that we have is where we have
00:27:04 --> 00:27:10 that ability to reset, focus, reset, mission, vision, all of those things that
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 we want to try to accomplish.
00:27:12 --> 00:27:15 Think back to your days when you were doing that. And yes, we have all of this
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 other stuff we were just talking about.
00:27:17 --> 00:27:21 Mm-hmm. And how do you start planning for what summer is going?
00:27:21 --> 00:27:26 Because you're going to have very limited time with the people you need to have
00:27:26 --> 00:27:29 there, whether it's a leadership team or whoever that's going to be.
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 So you got to get it right.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:33 You got to get it right. You got to get it right. Early in my career,
00:27:33 --> 00:27:37 I would say, oh, I don't have to do that till May. Yeah. Right?
00:27:37 --> 00:27:40 Yeah. People are already planning and so forth. So to be honest with you,
00:27:41 --> 00:27:44 I surround myself with great people who help me keep that structure in place.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:49 I had a counselor that taught me some strategy, a lot of strategies, kind of see that.
00:27:49 --> 00:27:52 And that's one thing I would point out is principals don't always have it figured out.
00:27:54 --> 00:28:01 The best thing I did was hire great people and I had great people around me along the way.
00:28:01 --> 00:28:05 So setting up the time and the structure with that, but that planning for that
00:28:05 --> 00:28:08 summer retreat with your building leadership team or whatever the case might be,
00:28:08 --> 00:28:12 that probably is starting in January and we're
00:28:12 --> 00:28:14 putting the field ideally it should so we have
00:28:14 --> 00:28:17 some kind of vibes that when everybody leaves in May whether it
00:28:17 --> 00:28:21 be the leadership team or even the teachers coming back they know what August
00:28:21 --> 00:28:26 is it's not coming back in August thinking when the book Jim read this summer
00:28:26 --> 00:28:31 so that we're gonna do it is sure business is normal no surprises so with the
00:28:31 --> 00:28:35 building leadership team it is how do we maximize our time so that when teachers
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 come back it's business is normal Yeah.
00:28:37 --> 00:28:39 Pick up where we left off. Pick up where we left off and the growth.
00:28:39 --> 00:28:42 Yeah, sure. We always said something in a standards mindset.
00:28:43 --> 00:28:47 And standards in mindset isn't necessarily a, what is the academics and so forth.
00:28:47 --> 00:28:51 The standards is, what is the, what we want to have happen? What we want the
00:28:51 --> 00:28:53 students to learn, how the students to behave.
00:28:54 --> 00:28:56 How are we going to measure that? What does it look like? Yeah.
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 And then what are we going to do?
00:28:57 --> 00:28:59 You know, the four is four questions, really, is what it is.
00:29:00 --> 00:29:02 Yeah. So that's kind of where our operating focus is there.
00:29:02 --> 00:29:05 And some of the behavior is, we want every student to come to school and have
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07 at least one adult at that school that they trust.
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12 Through their words not our words you know what i mean we can't
00:29:12 --> 00:29:15 force that and so that's really what it is so
00:29:15 --> 00:29:18 putting into that we we kind of talk about our focuses we
00:29:18 --> 00:29:20 set a date and we kind of map it out so i i
00:29:20 --> 00:29:24 use a couple of support staff from the building leadership team whether it be
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 instructional coaches some of the teachers that volunteered and we kind of plan
00:29:27 --> 00:29:31 it out what's going to be more meaningful and manageable i've had days where
00:29:31 --> 00:29:36 it's been me planning it all out and it's just like yeah i've had days where
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 everybody plans it out it's been pretty dang good Yeah, sure.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:41 We'll do that. Yeah. Good conversation. How about you?
00:29:42 --> 00:29:46 Well, you bring up a good point. We're waiting until now. We've waited too long.
00:29:47 --> 00:29:51 That's very true. And if I have, okay, I can still get caught up.
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 I can still put some meaning to that.
00:29:53 --> 00:29:58 I think an area that maybe some of us might get caught up in is that we're just
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 so worried about the end of the year.
00:29:59 --> 00:30:02 Like, I'm just going to do that first. Just let me focus on that first.
00:30:03 --> 00:30:06 I'd love to say we have the luxury to be able to do that, but that's just not true.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:10 That's just not true. I mean, a good part of this week for me and my current
00:30:10 --> 00:30:15 daily gig is way ahead to next year, maybe even to a year past that,
00:30:15 --> 00:30:19 trying to set that foundation. And I'm now in a district office role.
00:30:19 --> 00:30:23 So that's really my role is that overarching piece and that overarching theme.
00:30:23 --> 00:30:27 But even in the building role for the building piece that I do lead,
00:30:27 --> 00:30:32 we're trying to wrap up what we're already all thinking about what next year could be.
00:30:32 --> 00:30:35 Because we've learned a lot from this year. We've learned the pieces that we
00:30:35 --> 00:30:37 want to try to tweak and we want to try to get better.
00:30:38 --> 00:30:41 We don't necessarily want to have to wait. So if we can pilot a little bit of
00:30:41 --> 00:30:47 that right now, so we can figure out if that's going to be where we truly want to go.
00:30:47 --> 00:30:52 But again, I think the idea of that last day of whether it's kids or without
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 kids and it's PD, whatever that's going to be at the end of the year,
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58 I like that concept of it.
00:30:58 --> 00:31:01 We're just going to move on and pick it right back. No more start, stop.
00:31:01 --> 00:31:05 Yeah, that's huge. And I think that should be the goal we want to try to get
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 to, that it's just ongoing.
00:31:07 --> 00:31:11 It's this, it's that continued growth. No spiraling up there. Right.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:18 Music.
00:31:18 --> 00:31:24 So when we think about the last days of school, I think back to what,
00:31:24 --> 00:31:27 what's been the coolest moments for me on all the last days.
00:31:28 --> 00:31:33 And there's been two, I think it would stand out the most on the second to last day of school.
00:31:34 --> 00:31:38 Kids come down this main hallway of the last school I was at and I would stand
00:31:38 --> 00:31:47 there and I would probably get no joke, 900 high fives, handshakes, hugs, or fist bumps.
00:31:48 --> 00:31:51 And seeing everybody say, see you tomorrow, Mr. Witchman, or see,
00:31:51 --> 00:31:53 those are cool memories that I've had as a principal.
00:31:55 --> 00:32:00 Second is signing yearbooks. And I try to personalize every one of them and
00:32:00 --> 00:32:01 I feel honored that they're there.
00:32:02 --> 00:32:05 And then you see the people that don't always have a yearbook.
00:32:06 --> 00:32:09 So we make sure they have a yearbook. They have a yearbook.
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 So if I was a parent, I would say, well, we do.
00:32:12 --> 00:32:17 Maybe I buy two yearbooks to make sure that that one person gets a yearbook.
00:32:17 --> 00:32:23 Sure. absolutely because i want everybody to walk away like you had said walk away from that day,
00:32:24 --> 00:32:27 so thankful that they got to be a part of the
00:32:27 --> 00:32:32 school where i was a principal and and and i think those are just precious memories
00:32:32 --> 00:32:37 they'll never leave my brain because of how gratifying it was because you could
00:32:37 --> 00:32:40 see in their voice you can hear in their voices see in their faces it meant
00:32:40 --> 00:32:44 something and that's something absolutely yeah how about you well the one that
00:32:44 --> 00:32:45 as you were talking about that.
00:32:45 --> 00:32:50 It's not anything that, I mean, this is a real subtle one, but it has always stuck with me.
00:32:51 --> 00:32:55 You were talking before about having kids in your office the last part of the year, right?
00:32:55 --> 00:32:59 And especially at the high school level, if you've got juniors and seniors,
00:32:59 --> 00:33:03 there are some where we are literally dragging them across the finish line, right?
00:33:03 --> 00:33:07 And I can think of one particular kid that the struggle to get to the finish
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09 line was, I mean, that was really hard.
00:33:09 --> 00:33:15 It was really difficult. And probably the last two weeks of school were pretty much in my office.
00:33:16 --> 00:33:18 And it was, let's get work. Let's get work done.
00:33:18 --> 00:33:23 Teachers were amazing. They'd pop down during a planned time and try to work
00:33:23 --> 00:33:25 with his kids because they wanted this kid to get to the end.
00:33:26 --> 00:33:28 We get to the last day of school.
00:33:29 --> 00:33:33 Unfortunately, he had not made progress to be able to walk at graduation.
00:33:33 --> 00:33:37 Graduation was about a week before the last day of school. Hadn't made that
00:33:37 --> 00:33:39 mark yet. But he didn't quit. He kept going.
00:33:40 --> 00:33:44 So about four more days of school was what he needed and he used all four days
00:33:44 --> 00:33:49 of school and as the other kids were leaving and everyone's high-fiving and
00:33:49 --> 00:33:52 cleaning out the lockers and high school that's you know that's that's its own
00:33:52 --> 00:33:54 disaster when you're cleaning out lockers yep,
00:33:55 --> 00:33:59 and i'm seeing i'm doing my parking lot duty and kids are driving away and all
00:33:59 --> 00:34:04 of that stuff and then i walk back and here's this kid sitting in my office
00:34:04 --> 00:34:06 and he's done he'd been done for a little on it,
00:34:07 --> 00:34:10 but he wanted to wait because I had been too busy.
00:34:10 --> 00:34:14 He hadn't had a chance to shake my hand and say, thank you.
00:34:15 --> 00:34:20 For just hearing. So first kid to graduate from high school.
00:34:21 --> 00:34:25 First kid in his family to graduate from high school. Parents were both high school dropouts.
00:34:26 --> 00:34:31 Grandparents were both high school dropouts or never even remotely attended.
00:34:31 --> 00:34:36 Life was different back then. He was the first person in his family to graduate high school.
00:34:36 --> 00:34:40 And it was a trek to get to graduation.
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 Like a handshake.
00:34:43 --> 00:34:47 So you're telling me a kid that a lot of people say he's lazy a lot of people
00:34:47 --> 00:34:52 say he didn't care all these things because he wasn't being compliant doing his schoolwork,
00:34:53 --> 00:34:59 stayed after on his own to say thank you the best part about it is because he
00:34:59 --> 00:35:03 works in this area i've seen him a handful of times since that day and he goes
00:35:03 --> 00:35:05 out of his way to come up and say let me swoosh,
00:35:06 --> 00:35:08 let me swoosh, hey, hey. I've met his wife.
00:35:09 --> 00:35:13 I've met his kids or probably, I'm trying to think now, I've met, he's probably got one.
00:35:14 --> 00:35:17 Oh, well, that one's got to be in school. I'm getting old. So yeah, he's got one in school.
00:35:17 --> 00:35:19 I met him when they were teeny, teeny tiny, right? Yeah, yeah.
00:35:19 --> 00:35:23 Because he was so proud and wanted them to know me.
00:35:25 --> 00:35:28 And it wasn't like I did a lot. I just didn't give up on him.
00:35:29 --> 00:35:33 Which is what? Yeah. He saw you as a human because you saw him as a human.
00:35:34 --> 00:35:40 Yep. Crazy. So that's my last day of, of school memory that I can remember.
00:35:40 --> 00:35:43 And it's, it's always going to stick with me, but it also just reminds me there'll
00:35:43 --> 00:35:46 be another one. There's going to be another kid that just never know.
00:35:47 --> 00:35:50 Yep. So maybe, so you're, to the viewers out there, the listeners and wherever
00:35:50 --> 00:35:55 the case is out there, maybe it's time to just pause and reflect in May.
00:35:56 --> 00:36:01 What was your favorite last day? What was that moment that you had as your last
00:36:01 --> 00:36:02 day of school that mattered?
00:36:03 --> 00:36:06 And then share it with someone. Don't keep it inside. Share it with someone.
00:36:06 --> 00:36:09 Because I never knew this about you, Adam. That was a really cool story. Yeah.
00:36:09 --> 00:36:13 Yeah. I mean, you got me teary-eyed. Remember, I'm the sappy one in the group
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 here. So we got to make sure.
00:36:14 --> 00:36:20 Doing my best. It kind of goes to what I would say, what I believe in wholeheartedly if I move on is.
00:36:22 --> 00:36:26 We work really hard. We forget that administration is only as lonely as we want it to be.
00:36:27 --> 00:36:33 So no matter what, under any circumstances, you're never alone. And that we matter.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:39 And we cannot ever forget that more than anything else. It's been great.
00:36:39 --> 00:36:43 I love this conversation. You know, starting off, we weren't really sure how
00:36:43 --> 00:36:46 this is going to go. We kind of float into things that really matter.
00:36:46 --> 00:36:50 I'd be interested in hearing more from the viewers out there about what were
00:36:50 --> 00:36:54 some of those memories you had or what are some other things in May that you
00:36:54 --> 00:36:58 have to navigate that we probably probably forgot within that,
00:36:58 --> 00:37:00 but it's been great. So I appreciate this time.
00:37:00 --> 00:37:04 Yeah, same thing. And again, like Jim was saying, I mean, share with your colleagues.
00:37:04 --> 00:37:07 This is a good opportunity for you to reflect with each other about this struggle.
00:37:08 --> 00:37:12 It's a struggle, but it's also a, it's a great opportunity. And I think having
00:37:12 --> 00:37:15 that opportunity to, to work through that with your colleagues,
00:37:15 --> 00:37:16 it's going to be worth your time.
00:37:16 --> 00:37:20 And again, And I'd love to hear from you. Love to hear, drop your suggestions
00:37:20 --> 00:37:24 in the chat or drop your stories in the chat as well on social media.
00:37:24 --> 00:37:26 Connect with us here. Look for us again.
00:37:26 --> 00:37:30 We'll come back again in June with another episode here. We can talk about the
00:37:30 --> 00:37:34 next phases as we continue to move through this journey that is leading a school,
00:37:34 --> 00:37:37 leading a district, or certainly anything within school leadership.
00:37:37 --> 00:37:42 Thank you for joining us on Control Shift Lead, brought to you by AWB Education.
00:37:43 --> 00:37:48 Please check back next month for another lighthearted and honest look into the
00:37:48 --> 00:37:50 monthly mindset of school leaders.
00:37:50 --> 00:37:54 Please take a moment to like, comment, rate, or review our show.
00:37:55 --> 00:37:59 We would love to hear the feedback and your stories of school leadership.
00:37:59 --> 00:38:03 If you want to find out more about Jim and Adam's work, please check out the
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04 links in the show notes to get connected.
00:38:05 --> 00:38:09 Otherwise, thank you for doing the work that only a few are strong enough to do.
00:38:10 --> 00:38:12 We will talk with you again next time.