"I don't want anyone to experience that."

This week, we interviewed for a scholarship awarded to a student wanting to enter the field of education. It is always a highlight of my year when we have the opportunity to talk with students who want to become teachers. It is a bucket filler kind of day.

I want to share a comment on this blog post that stuck with me, even days after the interviews.

When asked why they wanted to enter the field of education, a student shared the following.

During her educational career, she noted that she had teachers that truly inspired her to teach. She followed that up with, “I have had teachers that I could tell didn’t like their job, and I don’t want any kid to experience that.”

We were speechless.

An 18-year-old dropped a significant truth on a panel of educators. My reaction to her comments inspired my blog post this week.

First, “I have had teachers that I could tell didn’t like their job, and I don’t want any kid to experience that.” This needs to be on a t-shirt somewhere.

Now, for this post, I will change “teachers” to “administrators” as I discuss this.

We are lucky to serve in our role as school leaders. When we interviewed for the position, it was our dream job and all we could think about. We talked about all the joys that the job would bring.

As Jimmy Casas' podcast, The Interview Chair, preaches, we sometimes lose our way and need to return to the interview chair, as that is the actual version of who we are. This post is not pointing fingers at anyone I know because I have also found myself on the edge, questioning what I was doing or the effectiveness of my work.

This week, I challenge you to consider how you carry yourself on campus. Do you show joy in your job? Do you start your day welcoming students and staff to campus and letting them know how excited you are to be there? Do you smile? Laugh? Do you take time to stop and talk? Do you listen?

This week, I challenge you to look for joy in your hallways and classrooms. I encourage you to interact intentionally with students and staff members this week. Sit at a lunch table and discuss music, fashion, or sports with the students. Ask what your teachers did over the weekend or how their children are doing as you have the doorway conversations.

After every game or performance, don’t be in such a hurry to leave. Instead, find the coaches and students who just gave everything they could and let them know how proud you are of them.

I will follow up with the student who inspired my blog post this week. I want to know how often she experienced this while on campus. I hope that she will be honest with me as I work to ensure every child has an excellent experience on my campus.

^^^

In Bloomer News, I recorded the first episode of my podcast on Monday. The One Minute Blueprint is designed to provide insight and inspiration quickly. The podcast's premise is that I will have one educator on the show, ask them one question, and then ask them to answer in about a minute.

My first guest is the President of the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, Dr. Lee Vi Mose. Dr. Moses opines on the importance of being active in your state organizations.

I hope to have it released next week.