Written By: Hans Appel “We build a culture of readers by establishing a school-wide learning community where students have equal access and opportunity to books, activities, adult models of readers, and reinforcement of the value of reading.” --Mandy Ellis In her landmark book, “Lead with Literacy”, Ellis makes a strong case urging educators to lead with: Passion, Immersion, Rapport, Ask & Analyze, Transformation, and Enthusiasm. Furthermore, she explains “If we as leaders and educators aren’t serving as strong models of lifelong reading, we cannot expect our students to become readers; they will follow our example far more readily than they will heed our words.” Following Ellis’ advice, I’ve been reading, writing and thinking A LOT about what makes an #AwardWinningCulture... Award Winning Culture thrives when educational leaders create special opportunities designed to promote personalized literacy exploration. At Enterprise Middle School, I’m fortunate to work with some outstanding literacy leaders including our incredible librarian, Michelle Lane. Michelle is a forward thinking literacy advocate who has created an absolutely epic annual event called Cavalcade of Authors (COA). Since 2007, Michelle and her team of volunteers have been planning, organizing, and leading a writing conference where secondary students across our region are given access to some of the best Young Adult authors of our modern era. There are writing contests, featured book talks, panel discussions and autograph sessions. COA provides students a chance to learn and interact with the very authors whose books they are reading.
The authors are given the full #WildcatNation VIP (Very Interesting Person) treatment with an adult event the night before, red carpet entrance, and all of their needs met with exceptional hospitality and service. But if all Michelle accomplished throughout the year was one incredible event, her passion for creating lifelong readers might fall short of Ellis’ push for consistent daily literacy opportunities. Instead, Michelle brings an unmatched enthusiasm for helping all students develop a love for reading and writing EVERYDAY! She creates incredible book talks for students, even facilitating student voice with student book recommendations. She creates crazy over the top activities like her March Madness book bracket, where students can vote on their top book. Furthermore, she’s committed to creating a safe, open space for all students. She meets with various student groups to ensure our library offers the type of literature that students desire and makes an intentional point of creating relationships with some of our most high needs students. By creating a warm, welcome place for all of #WildcatNation she ensures the library is a hub of literary diversity. With a school focused on Character, Excellence, and Community, I’m grateful to work with such an exceptional literacy leader. Armed with a summer of rest and reflection, I’m excited to see what #FutureDriven ideas Michelle has to keep reading and writing a school-wide obsession. How will you turn up the dial on your school’s passion for literacy? About the AuthorHans Appel, has been a school counselor in the Richland School District for the past 17 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness.
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Written By: Hans Appel 17+ years ago, when I began my career, I was a counselor who worked in education. But time, experience, and perspective have a funny way of changing your sense of self. Warning to educators reading this, you might be upset by what I’m about to say. Ok, here goes: In my experience SOME educators spend too much time focusing on what their title and/or role ‘should be’ and not enough time integrating into the school system. I know. I told you this would be controversial. But far to often I hear things like “that’s not my job” “they can’t make us do that” and “this is not what we really should be doing.” Don’t get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a 250 to 1 student/counselor ratio; which the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends. I fully believe in the ASCA national model of Academic, Personal Social, and College/Career focus. Additionally, I think it’s my job to educate students, staff, and parents how I fit into the school system. But, educating others about what I do isn’t enough and certainly doesn’t ensure me to “Be REAL” (Thanks Tara Martin!) within the school system. In her incredible book, Tara argues that educators might strive to being: -R Be Relatable -E Expose Vulnerability -A Always be Approachable -L Constantly Learn through real-life experiences If educators were more focused on being REAL, perhaps our profession would be even stronger! In Heidy LaFleur’s book “Hop on the Clue Bus”, LaFleur adroitly invites educators to a common sense approach to leadership. LaFleur inspires through age old futuristic concepts like listening, empathy, and relationships. She reminds us that integrating ourselves into a school system isn’t rocket science but instead: human science. Her style is transparently refreshing as she abandons games and mind tricks and falls back on compassion, accountability, and love. She’s the kind of educator who seems to have worn many hats throughout her experience and understands others’ roles expertly! One of my favorite educators, Meghan Lawson (who’s the Coordinator of Instructional Services at Hamilton County Educational Service District) recently started a new leadership position. She decided that prior to the first day of work she wanted to learn more about her teammates. She arranged coffee and casual time with co-workers prior to her official first day. WHY? Meghan is a positive leadership dynamo who understands the power of relationships and identifying individual strengths. By taking a little time to ask questions, learn about each person’s job, personal life, etc; Meghan is better prepared to support and serve her team into the future. What if we intentionally connected with new educators to help their transition to our schools and districts by learning about each other before the job started? In “Path 2 Serendipity,” Allyson Apsey reinforces this servant leadership approach to education as she explains “leading while walking alongside others is good for all of us.” She talks about the need to ask questions and learn about others work, when she started her principal position at Quincy Elementary School. Rather than focusing on her role being: 'I’m the principal and I need to have all the answers'; she integrated into the building by learning about others. She asked questions, learned about others' strengths and roles and slowly figured out how best to support: The Q. Why is our role or title so important to us? Who's 'role' is to create an #AwardWinningCulture? School culture is on all of us! These are OUR communities! These are OUR schools! These are OUR students! I recently read David Guerin’s epic book “Future Driven.” In “Future Driven”, David has perfectly modeled the premise of his book as he resists spoon feeding readers all the answers on creating optimal learning environments but instead creates conditions for educators to do real thinking about how to create learning experiences for the future. In the same vein as the “Innovator’s Mindset” by George Couros, "Future Driven" is the kind of book, I anticipate being relevant 30+ years from now. David succinctly inspires by saying “we must create schools that reflect the world we live in, not the one we grew up in.” My question to David: Shouldn’t this apply to educators’ own learning as well as student learning? While I’m confident that compartmentalized job roles served our school admirably for years, perhaps there’s a need for more overlap of roles than previously thought. Or at the very least, an overlap in understanding of said roles. After working through David’s powerful insights, I began to wrestle with the idea that perhaps some of our professional development might be better focused on learning outside of our present job title. In other words, empathy, proficiency, and competency of educators could be improved with a willing dive into other colleagues skill zones. Some forward districts are already allowing educators to personalize their professional development pathway... Imagine a teacher who can expertly meet a student’s emotional needs, within the classroom? How might student experience be different if the adults they worked with had varying skills? Are teachers the only educators in schools offering instruction? Would there be value in a counselor learning to use direct instruction when working with an at-risk student or group of students? Are counselors the only adults qualified to teach social emotional learning and or character ed? Many schools, have moved toward teaching the Whole Child through advisory and/or leadership curriculum such as Character Strong. These schools realize that an intentional focus of Social Emotional Learning and Character Ed, coupled with strong relationships (Teacher/Student) is a recipe for success. Think about it another way: is it reasonable to leave all leadership tasks for administrators? Perhaps the key to creating an #AwardWinningCulture isn’t about finding new or better people. Award Winning Culture fosters positive leaders at all educational levels. Students, Staff, and Community. We can’t sit back and put all the onus of leadership on the shoulders of a few people with the title: leader. How can we build leadership at all levels? Maybe it starts by creating an environment that encourages risk taking, leap jumping, and comfort breaking. Consider this, are coaches the only adults who need to give the occasional inspiring pep talk? Would other adults benefit from learning the customer service skills of our most talented administrative assistants? How might the overall school synergy change if we all had some greater range of skills in teaching, leading, serving, counseling, etc. Imagine #ThePepperEffect (Thanks Sean!) that could be generated with bandmates who possessed a diverse skill set. I guess the underlying question is: Are we willing to concede that all adults in the schoolhouse are “educators”? One of the best ways an educator can become “REAL” is through cross-training. **Cross training is the idea of training in one field with the purpose of raising one’s effectiveness in another field. We often understand cross training in terms of sports. Since I’m a huge football fan, and it’s nearing the end of summer, I’ll start with that “field” (pun intended) My favorite football player BY FAR was Walter Payton. When he retired, he was the all time NFL rushing leader and a sure fire 1st ballot hall of famer. They even named an award after him: The Walter Payton Man of Year, for his exceptional character. For years, people wanted to know the secrets to his stamina, agility, grit, and “sweetness” on the gridiron. Payton was legendary in his workout regime, which included running an intense hill each day...later renamed “Payton’s Hill.” By pushing himself beyond his limits running up and down, and even backwards, Payton stretched himself beyond what other running back were doing to establish new success in cross training. Ironically, running hills is now considered common place for running backs. But in the 1970’s and 1980’s this form of intense training was very cutting edge. In the past 10 years, football organizations are continuing to push the boundaries on cross training with ideas like ultimate fighting, boxing, and wrestling. Defensive and offensive lineman work on such hand to hand combat skills in an effort to develop an advantage when lined up against another gigantic athlete, across the line of scrimmage. It’s not that they will be physically assaulting the other team (although some have described football as an organized car accident). However, football coaches understand that games are won in the trenches. Essentially one man trying to impose his will on another man. One player trys to protect the person with the ball and the other player trys to tackle the person with the ball. Hand placement can be crucial to gaining leverage on another oversized human being. Teams have incorporated a host of physical cross training to strengthen key elements of the game. Perhaps the newest and most outside the box cross-training is mental conditioning. Athletes like Seattle Seahawk quarterback, Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson, have become synonymous with Mental conditioning coaches like Trevor Moawad. Moawad has been deemed the “best brain trainer” by Sports Illustrated for delivering advanced mindset solutions to the most driven leaders in competitive sports. Moawad’s team simply help motivated individuals reach peak performance by training their minds. While I’m obsessed with football, cross training isn’t limited to my favorite sport. Basketball players like Kareem Abdul Jabbar prescribed to learning yoga to increase flexibility and recovery from the pounding their bodies take on the hardwood. Basketball coaches like Phil Jackson, even facilitated group meditation exercises during practices. Some baseball players have even been known to study ballet. Furthermore, gymnastics has been shown to be helpful to competitive swimmers. But cross training isn’t limited to athletes. Chess players are frequently encouraged to play soccer. Actors sign up for improv classes. And most educators are aware of the positive student connection between math ability and learning to play a musical instrument. Even the business world has jumped on board this future driven mindset. Companies routinely cross train employees by having cashiers and/or customer service representatives learn a variety of aspects of company operations to help ensure empathy for both fellow employees and customers. Some tech specific companies even pay employees with bonuses for becoming certified in branches of the business, outside of their daily work routine. Indeed, mega successful companies like Netflix, Starbucks, and Amazon are so passionate about training employees outside of their companies, their willing to lose good folks for the betterment of company morale. [Amazon even pays up to $12,000 for tuition, fees, and textbooks to allow employees to pursue education unrelated to Amazon]. I recently saw an enlightening post on Instagram from Danny Steele, principal at Thompson 6th grade. Danny had sent a picture of himself working with the custodial staff, as he "learned how to strip floors today." Danny has shared other inspiring tweets about his outstanding custodial staff. It's clear he has a servant leadership heart for his team! A cursory look at the Instagram picture may have yielded the conclusion that Danny’s time spent working with the custodial folks was a brilliant relationship building opportunity. Yes! I think that’s certainly true. But further interpretation of Danny’s experience also gave Danny an understanding of the complexity of his staff’s job. By being a lead learner, he gained insight and empathy into the custodial and maintenance world; therefore, Danny became an even stronger leader in his ability to anticipate and understand staff needs. A bonus of the activity is increased positive influence with key educational staff. Danny’s willingness to learn outside the “principal space” is certainly a brilliant expression of vulnerability and a perfect example of cross-training. What if administrators were willing to answer the phones for an hour, while the secretaries observed classrooms. What insights into the front office culture might be gleaned? What classroom takeaways might secretaries or admin assistance bring back to their everyday interactions with parents? At my school, our outstanding secretaries even cross train each other; thus, they ensure that they’re all capable of being the critical cog that makes the front office run smoothly. By being able to do each others jobs at a functional level, they ensure all stakeholders are met with exceptional customer service. Are we willing to integrate ourselves into the entire school system? Or are we DEFINED by our job title? Recently, at the National Principals conference in Chicago, no surprise to anyone...it was almost all principals. However, the experience and takeaways were pure M.A.G.I.C for a non-administrator like me. How incredible would it be to send a team of teacher leaders to a conference like this? Imagine the growth they might make? At a recent school counselor conference, most all participants were...school counselors. What if school psychologist or administrators were wrapped into these opportunities. What if we intentionally ventured to conferences outside of our job title or role? Imagine the learning.What books are you reading? Who do you follow on social media? Why not participate in a new twitter chat? OR...Locate a new educational blogger. I hear prominent educators speak glowingly about their TRIBE. But does a Tribe have to be made up of a homogenous group? If we’re only surrounding ourselves with people of similar educational experiences, we’re probably not pushing ourselves into uncharted waters. It’s ironic to me that as I’ve begun to build my own PLN, I’m mostly drawn to non-counselors. Invariably I love interacting and learning from teachers, coaches, administrators, para-professionals, authors, consultants, speakers, etc. Remember growth only occurs when we go beyond our comfort zones. Think about challenging yourself to learn a new skill or concept. This past week I’ve been learning amazing new concepts from the #HiveSummit with Michael Matera. He’s pushed virtual PD to epic levels with teachings from incredible educators on concepts like #BookSnaps #Gamification #Sketchnotes and much more. To be truthful, much of the content isn’t specific to counselors. But the chance to learn about cutting edge instructional tools, strategies, and outside the box thinking has been worth every minute! I’m a better counselor for my time spent BEE-ing in the HIVE! On the flip side, we need experts within a school building. The training, abilities, and specific talents that we all bring to the table should and could not be overlooked. I’m not suggesting that we all become interchangeable parts. We’ve all been drawn to certain aspects of education due to our own personality, education, and prior experience. But imagine if we all understood each other’s work on a deeper level. The type of service we might provide our students of the future could reach special heights. My challenge to educators is to learn our colleagues’ strengths, skills and needs so that we can effectively support the educational ecosystem. This only happens if we’re willing to listen, ask questions, engage, and occasionally cross train outside of our comfort zones. While it’s great to communicate your roll and how you fit into the school, it may be even more important for you to reach out and discover more about your peers and co-workers. Who knows maybe you’ll also discover something about yourself? Are you a Principal? Administrator? Coach? Teacher? Psychologist? Therapist? Etc? I urge you to NOT let your JOB TITLE define you! One of my favorite teachers to follow on social media is Nicholas Ferroni, his bio reads: “As a kid, I wanted to be a superhero, psychologist, philanthropist, philosopher, actor, and comedian...So I became a teacher.” I might add to Nicholas’ bio: Educator. After 17+ years in education, and a recent effort to cross-train, I no longer see myself as a counselor who works in education. I’m an EDUCATOR who works as a counselor. Who are you? About the AuthorHans Appel, has been a school counselor in the Richland School District for the past 17 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. Written By: Hans Appel I recently had the pleasure of reading Allyson Apsey’s OUTSTANDING book “Path 2 Serendipity,” Allyson has crafted a beautifully written guide to self-discovery, self actualization, and empowerment! In "Path 2 Serendipity", she weaves heart felt stories with humorous anecdotes to create a treasure trove of authentic life learnings that can only come from experience and introspection. It's the type of JOYFUL expression that inspires one to read, write, and strive to become a better person. I eagerly await Allyson's next literary journey but for now, inspired by Allyson's willingness to share her most vulnerable paths, I find myself compelled to write about a painful loss...and the character lessons I learned... Almost a year ago, I found myself sitting in a Character Strong training. I can sincerely tell you that in 17+ years of education, it was hands down the best professional development, I’ve ever been to. I came away energized, empowered, and eager to help turn Enterprise Middle School into an Award Winning Culture. Part way through the experience, John Norlin, asked us to think about who was the one person that had the most influence on our lives. Some people reflected on a family member, a coach, or even a teacher. But for me, the choice was obvious: Mom. As I worked through's John's leadership activity, I found myself thinking about some of the character lessons I associate with my mom. My mom was an exceptional person! We were close, my entire life, and we grew even closer as I morphed into adulthood. I know I’ll be sharing funny and touching stories about my mom in upcoming blogs but today I'll share some the character lessons I learned overcoming her loss. When I was in college, after my parents divorce, my mom moved back to Texas (her family and close childhood friends created a safe landing back for this southern belle). While we didn’t see each other nearly as often, as I was thousands of miles away in Washington State; our long phone calls kept us as connected as ever when I transitioned from college to professional school counselor. In May of 2003, I received a frightening phone call from my mom where she explained that she had stage 4 Breast Cancer and that they would be starting Chemo immediately. She explained that mastectomy was not an option as the cancer was highly aggressive and had already spread. I was 27 years old at the time, while mom would soon turn 54. While I knew almost nothing about breast cancer at the time, I was aware of one scary genetic fact. My mom’s mom died of breast cancer in her mid 30’s (when my mom was just a little girl). If I understood anything about this scary disease, it was that it was incredibly serious. During the next few months my wife (Jen) and I traveled to visit my mom. We knew there wasn’t a lot we could do from thousands of miles away but were confident that our presence provided a little positive energy for her to endure chemo. Those of you whose lives have been impacted by breast cancer, or for that matter, CANCER, know what kind of AWFUL disease it is. But the Chemo used to treat cancer can be almost equally damaging to the body. Upon our first visit, my mom had lost all her hair, looked very weak but was steadfast with her humor and passion for taking care of others. After much cajoling we convinced my mom to let us clean her house. She was very prideful and used to keeping her home up to a pristine state. But with the illness, her usual house routines had taken a back seat and we knew she needed help. While I visited and entertained mom, Jen took the next few hours and cleaned her entire home from top to bottom...inside and out. It was immaculate when Jen was finished! Afterwards, my mom began to cry and express gratitude; she shared that no one had ever done anything like that for her before. At first, we weren’t sure what she meant. Cleaning the house? No, “serving me in such a meaningful and loving way.” My mom and Jen spent the next few moments laughing and crying. That experience left a lasting bond for both of them and it taught me valuable lesson: Serving others can have a positive influence on everyone involved! As the weekend drew to a close, we committed to our next visit. Throughout that summer we spent as much time as possible with my mom. But at the end of August, school was starting and it was time to refocus on our lives in Washington. My wife had a classroom to get ready for students and I had schedules to prepare. Over the next few weeks, I kept tabs on her ups and downs of treatment from a far. On Friday September 12th, 2003, I received a phone call that my mom had passed away in the night due to complications of the cancer spreading to her brain and other organs. It was one day before her 54th birthday. Flooded with emotion, Jen and I boarded a plane and spent the next week and a half grieving, planning a funeral service, and dealing with decisions outside my emotional capability. For those who have lost a parent, you understand the complexity and multitude of tasks that need to be taken care of. Beyond the pain and loss there were dozens of decisions and items to be completed. Flowers and Casket to buy. A house to pack up. Calls to make. Financial decisions to be considered. Items to sell. Death certificates to obtain so that I could send them to various agencies. Being from out of state, provided additional challenges in dealing with the Will, estate, and court system because I had been named executor. There were loans and liens to work through. (My mom was an amazing woman but not as financially prepared as one might hope). Through all the craziness my wife was an absolute rock! I couldn’t have gotten through all of it without her love and support. During one of the days, I felt compelled to write something to be read at my mom’s upcoming service. I had remembered back a few years earlier sitting in a district PD training with LA teacher and Richland High School Head Football Coach Mike Neidhold. (Side note: Mike just led his RHS Bombers to a State Championship this past season). During the ELA presentation, nearly 2 years prior to my mom's death, Mike talked about using vulnerability with his students and shared an essay he wrote about his father’s unexpected death. He read his moving and powerful tribute about his dad to us that day; in the same way he did for his students when sharing voice in writing. While he had had no idea the influence he might have on anyone (including me) that day, his words, actions, and thoughts stayed with me. Sitting on an unmade bed, in Texas, in a pile of tears and anger, I vividly remembered back to Neidhold sharing how cathartic the experience of writing was for him, when he had lost his dad. I figured, if it was good enough for Neidhold, I’d give it a try. I spent the next couple hours writing a short letter to my mom, that would be shared at the service. I think those were the first meaningful words I ever wrote. I agonized over every word in that letter. This was such a painful writing experience but incredibly helpful in my grieving process. My dear mom letter was well received as friends and family took delight in my brief tribute to who my mom really was. Having to put words to powerful emotions helped me work through pain in a way that aided my challenging journey. [Several months removed from the funeral, I decided to frame the letter and hang it near a picture of my mom, in my house. At first, I couldn’t read through that letter without getting choked up. But, over time, I began to look at both the letter and photo of mom with a warmth that filled my entire body. It was my way of staying connected to mom and now years later always makes me smile]. Coach Neidhold’s solution to grief was spot on and while everyone has to find their own “Path to Serendipity,” Neidhold had laid out a perfect blueprint for me to find peace. After a week and half in Texas with funeral service completed, it was time to return home and get back to school. My first day back fell on a Tuesday. Every Tuesday and Thursday a group of teachers/coaches got together at 6am to play morning hoops. I’m sure that sounds crazy to some of you non-morning folk but you’ll have to trust me that it was worth every minute. It was an exceptional way to release competitive juices and connect with colleagues. I never missed a Tuesday or Thursday. But my mom’s passing meant that I had been gone the previous week's hoop days and I was eager to get back to some sense of normalcy. My return to school that day meant that the guys at morning hoops would be my first contact with anyone in person, since I landed back in Washington, after an emotionally exhausting week. My typical routine was to show up about 15 minutes early to stretch, shoot baskets, and generally warm up before we started playing. Another competitor always arrived at about the same time with a similar warm up routine each day. Paul Mayer, was and still is the Head boys basketball coach and leadership teacher at Hanford High School. (Side Note: The Hanford High School Boys Basketball team was named the 2018 academic state champions with a 3.64 GPA.) Paul was as usual one of the first people in the gym that early morning. Paul and I had a highly competitive yet respectful matchup for years. He was a fierce competitor who left it all on the court! In 10+ years of playing ball together, I’m not sure that we ever got to play on the same team. We invariably found ourselves on different sides of this epic decade long battle and truth be told I loved nothing more than beating Paul's team. I have no doubt he felt equally satisfied, when they kicked our butts (which happened far more often than I wished). That morning, I remember feeling a little awkward about playing basketball and just generally how people would interact with me as students, co-workers, and morning hoopers had heard about me losing my mom. While I was sitting down stretching in this mostly empty gym, I looked up to see a long arm extended out toward me. Needless to say, it was Paul. “We missed you man. I’m so sorry for your loss, I can’t imagine losing my mom. I’m so happy you're back.” We shook hands, exchanged pleasantries and jumped into another typical basketball game. Paul’s kind words have stuck with me for years. It was exactly what I needed to hear that morning. He demonstrated empathy, humility, and respect. Many times, people don’t know what to say so they avoid difficult conversations. Sometimes people try and make a joke or ignore you. Coach Mayer communicated to me that he SAW ME, UNDERSTOOD on some level, and WELCOMED me back. Any doubt I had about getting back to normalcy quickly went out the window, as I was ready to jump back in to our weekly competition. Years removed from this, I can’t tell you how I played or who won that game but I know that this warm, positive exchange helped me transition back to school that day. This interaction has also made me very aware of how I greet and interact with students who return to school after going through something traumatic. What do you say to a student who has recently been through tragedy? How do you show compassion and empathy? Paul's words and actions provide a perfect outline for reconnecting after a loss. Fast forward to last summer, as I sat and thought about my mom’s influence on my life during the Character Strong training last August. I began to reminisce about all the people who helped me overcome her passing. Who else sat across the library, learning about leadership, culture, and character? Paul Mayer. The irony isn’t lost on me. As I write all of this, I’m not exactly sure what I hope you take away. Ideally, you recognize how a simple act of service can positively flip someone's spirits. Perhaps, I want you to consider the influence you have on others. Maybe, I hope that you’ll share gratitude for the influence that some special individuals have had on your life. You might also feel compelled to say thank-you to someone who helped you overcome something challenging. I will tell you that I’ve shared all parts of this story with various students over the years. I’ve described the grit and toughness that it takes to work through Chemo. I’ve expressed how powerful serving someone can be for both you and the person you serve. I’ve told them about Coach Neidhold’s impact on me using writing to work through grief and showed them my dear mom letter (see below). I’ve detailed what a student or teacher can say to someone who’s transitioning back from trauma or tragedy by reflecting back Coach Mayer’s kind words. And most importantly I've tried to model the Character I've observed from my mom, my wife, Paul, Mike...and countless others. Recently, I heard that CharacterStrong had branched out into the Coaching/Athletics world. Thinking about the Character and influence of Coach Mayer, Coach Neidhold, and all my own coaches growing up...it felt like a natural extension of an amazing mission. The fit between teaching athletics and raising high character athletes feels like a symbiotic relationship. I certainly hope to bring this branch to Richland School District real soon. I’ve left out a few funny stories, touching moments and some additional takeaways from losing my mom but with time and space limitations, I wanted to share the most salient lessons relating to Character and Influence. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll be lucky enough to receive a book deal to share my full vision of the magic behind an Award Winning Culture. But until that wish is granted, I’ll leave you with this... Perhaps, the biggest lesson learned through persevering through the loss of my mom is that: We have an opportunity to give others a magical gift of positive influence if we’re willing to be vulnerable, kind, and compassionate while serving their needs. **I think Award Winning Cultures recognize the influence that strong Character can have on EVERYONE. Sometimes I try and imagine all the people that my mom influenced in her almost 54 years. On my hardest days as an educator, I focus on the hope that I’ve influenced a few people in such a positive way. As a new school year begins, I know that Mayer, Neidhold, Jen and other coaches and educators around the country will continue to have a profound influence on students. So, will you take their lead? Will you head Allyson Apsey's advice, "There is no greater blessing than to appreciate the gift of love and life." And when thinking about challenging times, please remember Allyson's suggestion, "Just one strong, healthy, positive relationship can help pull you through. Just one." Will you be that 'one' for someone this year? Who might YOU positively influence this year? About the AuthorHans Appel, has been a school counselor in the Richland School District for the past 17 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. Written By: Hans Appel This fall I’m launching a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture. Students will be talking about topics like Character, Excellence, and Community all under the Wildcat Nation umbrella. They’ll have a chance to dig deep into concepts like kindness, empathy, and service and understand how these impact student learning. As part of this project, I’ve set up interviews with authors, business leaders, educators, and cultural experts. Additionally, they’ll have the opportunity to chat with leadership students around the country. As you can imagine, this is a HUGELY ambitious project that’s inherently fraught with a gigantic learning curve. I assure you that we’ll be making mistakes all along the way. Did I mention, I know almost nothing about creating a podcast? I mean, I've certainly enjoyed listening to them but until recently, I had no idea how to put one together. Yes, I've gotten a few eye rolls and a couple collegues have asked me questions like: “don’t you already have enough on your plate?” Yes! I certainly don’t need anything else. And if I was less passionate about this adventure, I would and maybe SHOULD have a healthy dose of fear about creating something with students that I have no expertise in. So, why would I venture into the unknown for our students this year? Successful Leaders As human beings, were drawn to successful influential people. We study them, watch them, and try and be near them; all along hoping to learn the secrets of life. People watch documentaries and interviews all to garner a glimmer of insight into what makes successful people tick. We read autobiographies, stalk them on social media and aspire to figure out how they became a success. Even the most successful people in the world love to surround themselves with other successful folks in hopes of taking a tiny nugget of wisdom. At an early age, I was drawn to watching, listening to people. I come from a long line of people watchers. My mom loved observing folks. My mom’s dad (my grandpa) would plop himself down in the middle of the mall (as my grandmother would shop) and just watch people...for hours. I’m the same way. I’m absolutely fascinated with understanding people. But without a doubt my favorite people to understand have one thing in common: Success. And I’m not just talking the wealthy, successful celebrity type of success. I’m talking the everyday full of joy, living your WHY type of success. There’s a lady who works the deli counter at Yoke’s (my neighborhood fresh market). She’s a heavy set, older hispanic bundle of passion! She smiles, and greets all her customers and treats EVERYONE LIKE FAMILY! She remembers people’s names, usual orders and family dynamics. If I go in there without my wife, she’ll invariably ask me questions about Jen, my dogs, my students at work, etc. She’s an outgoing people-person who LOVES serving others! She never misses a day of work as she can’t comprehend, not being there. This woman absolutely fascinates me. She is a success by all accounts and I love being around her. How did she become this positive force of nature? Where did her passion for choosing love and kindness come from? Has she always been a success? Who inspired her to be her best self? Why is she so committed to living such an authentic existence? Why does she treat every customer with the same respect and patience as a dear family member? These are just a few questions I have for her? Clearly, my underlying question is where did her Character come from? We may be drawn to someone’s personality, appearance, or talent but we stay because of their character. Think about some of the people in your life. Initially, we become friends with folks because we have things in common, similar personalities, or even proximity. We’ll say things like “she makes me laugh”, “he’s just fun to be around”, “we like to do the same things.” But if a new friendship is going to last, I’ll bet Character becomes important. Can I be myself with them? Do we have mutual trust? Forgiveness? Do we respect one another? Beyond friendships, lasting romantic relationships often hinge on character. While severe character flaws might be the doom of a marriage or partnership, a high character spouse is incredibly desirable for investing one’s self, raising children, and or merging lives. With trust, respect, and intimacy comes the real magic of a romantic relationship. This magic certainly needs a spark and or chemistry but the effort to #ChooseLove through life’s challenges requires a strong character. Passion for other’s character isn’t restricted to people we know personally. Think about those celebrities I mentioned earlier. We all have famous people we admire or look up to. And most of the time our interest is purely surface level. Maybe their attractive, or funny, or we envy their talent in some way. Perhaps, they entertain us with their skill and ability. But every once in while, we become fascinated with a successful person because we think we understand their Character. Here’s the litmus test I use to determine people’s true interest in a celebrity: How much would a famous person’s fall from grace bother you, at your core? Most people wouldn’t be surprised or impacted if a Reality Star was mixed up in something ugly. Some fans might be temporarily upset but for most a revealed character flaw wouldn’t be a deal breaker. Why? Because people don’t follow these celebrities because of their perceived character? In fact, many times we’re drawn to personalities like these because of the drama and sensationalism that’s connected to them. Character is not even in the conversation. Thus, a fall from grace would have little impact to us as fans. However, let’s examine the outcry of passionate disgust that people like Tiger Woods, Bill Cosby, and Joe Paterno have garnered. Without even getting into specific cases with these three men, why did their fall from grace create such a lasting powerful thud? Because society didn’t just love them for their talent, humor, or greatness. People loved them because they thought they knew something meaningful about their Character. An entire generation grew up with Bill Cosby as the perfect father on TV. Joe Paterno was celebrated for his grit, commitment, and toughness as a football coach. We watched Tiger grow up on the biggest stage, right in front of our eyes...with his huge smile and powerful charisma. We felt like we knew something about them...but maybe we were wrong. Understanding successful people’s Character makeup can be illuminating and inspiring. A few months ago, I had the pleasure of organizing a group of students to attend the SERVUS conference in Western Washington. It’s an incredibly powerful event being surrounded by 5000+ students and educators who are all equally passionate and talented with servant leadership. Imagine creating a space for some of the most highly successful and motivated individuals, putting them all in a room, and saying….now learn from one another. It’s EPIC! There are world class speakers, storytellers, and athletes with inspiring messages for all attendees. At this year’s event one of the headliners was Naomi Ban, a 95 year old, award winning teacher, holocaust survivor and living legend. Here's a clip from a recent interview with Naomi. With her broken english, humor, and incredible life story she held the room captive. Perhaps the most powerful takeaway from her speech for us centered around the importance of forgiveness. Despite everything this hero had been through, she said "if I have hate in my heart I'm not free. I'm being a prisoner of my own heart." During her 90 minute presentation, she detailed for our students what it meant to demonstrate forgiveness, grit, and love. Part way through her presentation, I asked myself a question: What is the common link between all of the incredible speakers, I had enjoyed listening to that day? Character. Every speaker we listened to that day had unbelievably strong character and were eager to share their life’s insights into becoming successful to an arena sized group of character-focused leaders. The truth is people love learning and understanding what makes successful people...well...Successful. And invariably...very often success can be traced back to Character. Robert Half says that “hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.” People love to surround themselves with successful people. At that moment, as I hung on every word Naomi spoke, I had an ephiany. What if we could create a space….a format if you will...that would allow our students to surround themselves with successful people, even if it was only for a few moments? What if they could ask insightful questions to help them understand the Character, Excellence, and Community behind leadership, service, and success? Imagine the personal growth that some students could gain by learning what makes these individuals tick. And beyond that...what if we could make this available to other students, educators, and people interested in successful people? I guess the benefits outweigh any internal fear or anxiety I may have about not being able to deliver an incredibly rich platform. Our students deserve the opportunity to learn from some of the most successful people around. Since that day at the conference, I've been diligently tracking down funding for equipment, scheduling interviews, creating a branding platform, and teaching myself how to podcast. Because our kids deserve a platform like this. Award Winning Culture should provide students the opportunity to learn, interact and share with successful CharacterStrong individuals. My promise to you, is to share the highs and lows of this Award Winning Culture podcast, in upcoming blogs. But until then, how might you use student voice, integration of technology, and/or step outside YOUR comfort zone to help your students find success? In the end, maybe the 'successful leaders' that I spoke about aren't the individuals being interviewed...they're not the authors, adult educators and experts...perhaps, through this podcasting experience, the 'successful leaders' are indeed our students. Imagine what an intentional focus on creating student leaders might do for our school, community and world. About the AuthorHans Appel has been a school counselor in the Richland School District for the past 17 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. Written By: Hans Appel I recently got back from the National Principals Conference (#NPC18) in Chicago. As a pizza loving die-hard Bears fan, Chicago provided the perfect backdrop to some summer learning. And despite the fact that I’m a school counselor...I can assure you it will not be my last Principal’s Conference. It was pretty incredible! I came away inspired, empowered, and full of hope for our profession. 5 distinct themes presented themselves throughout the week. Let me share with you the M.A.G.I.C of #NPC18.. Media: A recurring theme throughout the conference was media….as in social media. The ever increasing need to tell our school's story. Lots of folks shared this sentiment but none better than Beth Houf, principal at Fulton Middle School in Missouri. After enjoying Beth’s landmark book "Lead Like a Pirate", I was eager to meet, listen, and interact with Beth. She simply did NOT disappoint! Her FACETWEETINSTASNAP presentation was a master class in how to effectively use social media to tell your school’s story. And her title of “Rethinking Social Media to BOOST School Culture” is the perfect introduction for schools to either take the plunge or reinvigorate their efforts to share their school’s message. She shared a litany of ideas, thoughts, resources that can only come from someone who has been in the trenches reimagining their own school’s story. I look forward to sharing the next chapter of #WildcatNation with our community. Awesomizers: To steal Jimmy Casas word, I was blown away by the number of “awesomizers” I met. Starting with Jimmy! Coming on the heels of reading his outstanding book "Culturize", I had the chance to hear him speak on a couple of occasions at #NPC18 and he absolutely lived up to all expectations. He makes no apologies for wanting to take education to incredible heights of excellence and has the passion, experience, and credibility to help lead the way. I have so many notes from his book and presentation that his work will be sprinkled out over numerous blogs I write this year. Great stuff! But beyond that, there were too many awesomizers to pick just one. The #Relentless passionate Hamish Brewer took the house down with his intensely special mantra: “Don’t Live in Fear of What Others May Think.” Message received Hamish! I was also lucky enough to meet Allyson Apsey. Allyson is a rockstar principal from Michigan and the author of "Path 2 Serendipity" (which I’ll be sharing thoughts from in the coming weeks). Wonderful book! She was smart, sweet, and sassy all while being humble about her fantastic book. She’s just one of those people that you enjoy being around. One of my favorite awesomizer was Jennifer Hoggan. Jennifer is a National Assistant Principal of the Year nominee from Alabama, avid blogger, and uber compelled educator. She’s got a confident energy that makes you feel comfortable and a passion to inspire others to reach for next level special. She oozes authenticity, kindness, and integrity. I look forward to learning more from all of these awesomizers in the future… Growth: I was trying to think of one word to describe all the incredible people I met and listened to…..Passionate? Excellence? Leadership? It finally dawned on me that everyone at the conference was focused on Growth. Why else would educators from around the country, flock to Chicago in the middle of the summer? This common Growth Mindset came through in questions raised, collegial collaboration, and learning outcomes. Folks were not there to go through the motions. Everyone wanted to get better and strive toward excellence. This was not the conference where attendees skipped sessions or left a day early. The session I attended at 7:30a.m on the last day of the conference was packed with eager learners! Administrators were there to improve, share, and connect and this growth mindset was on display throughout the week. It was like a 2000 person live demonstration of the #ThePepperEffect (Thanks Sean Gaillard!) By modeling this growth mindset, these leaders are sure to create positive spheres of influence in their teams, schools, and communities. Innovation: George Curous would have been proud! “The Innovator's Mindset” was ever present at #NPC18. There were companies like PBIS Rewards simply changing the game in how to Reward, Track, and Redeem positive behaviors with cutting edge technology. I learned the in’s and outs of flexible seating from Virco Manufacturing Corporation and Ergotron Incorporated. But beyond the exhibits and companies administrators like David Guerin reminded us that “most schools are designed to prepare kids for a world that no longer exists.” David is the principal of Bolvar High School in Missouri and the author of “Future Driven.” David encouraged all leaders to be risk taking difference makers by creating a culture of YES!!! My favorite message that he shared was if our classrooms look like they did from 20 years ago, we’re probably not teaching to the future. I’m confident that David and many other forward thinking administrators at #NPC18 would agree with Curous heartfelt plea to move from a culture of compliance to a culture of empowerment. I’m eager to share my innovation takeaways with my team at EMS! Character: Perhaps, no innovative concept permeated the conference more than the idea of teaching our students to become Character Strong. Almost every speaker, keynote, and attendee that I came in contact with was sharing a similar message for the need to teach Character and SEL in our schools. Researcher, Author, and speaker, Scott Barry Kaufman outlined the 4 character traits most predictive of well being in life as: gratitude, curiosity, hope, and love and his work with Angela Duckworth’s Grit are well documented. Dr. Adolph Brown cited Character as a key to preparing tomorrow’s youth. John Norlin presented his SERVE model to administrators to infuse social emotional learning into the fabric of our schools. Indeed, it felt like everywhere I turned around, people were talking about how they might weave these critical factors or traits of student success into their learning communities. Hanging out at the Character Strong booth felt very much like what I imagine it was like to see Lebron James play basketball as a senior in high school. Anyone who watched Lebron as an 18 year budding superstar knew they were witnessing a generational game changer. In only a few short months, Lebron would take the NBA by storm. I would also liken the booth experience to what it may have felt like if you were lucky enough to hold Netflix stock, prior to streaming (you know...back when they just did mail order DVD’s) or to get a sneak peak at the Iphone, prior to launch. It’s an amazing feeling being aware that something or someone is about to turn the world upside down. My wife and I love seeing stand-up comedy live and in person. And while we enjoy headliners (folks from TV/Movies) there’s something epic about going to a comedy club and discovering someone that is not quite a household name. We take great pleasure in coming across comedic actors and saying “Hey, wait...didn’t we see them at the comedy club last year.” It’s pretty cool to watch others reaction to what you’ve already identified as greatness. While Character Strong probably won’t get their own shoe deal or may never trade publicly on the stock exchange, make no mistake….the team at Character Strong have created an education-changing Whole Child program that is quickly making competitors obsolete. Attendees who came by for a demonstration, listened to John speak or have followed Character Strong’s meteoric rise are clamoring to see how they can fit this gem into their schools. Character Strong was so populated with administrative attendees other vendors were coming down to see what the buzz was all about. In the world of Social Emotional Learning and Character Ed….the gauntlet has officially been thrown down and the game has been changed forever. Now the real question for me and all attendees...how can we bottle up this Synergy from #NPC18 and take it back to our buildings? After all, an Award Winning Culture is possible when we intentionally infuse M.A.G.I.C into our schools? About the AuthorHans Appel has been a school counselor in the Richland School District for the past 17 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. Written By: Hans Appel A few years ago, I remember having a conversation with a friend who shared that he would NEVER leave education because of the students. We all have those students who push us to our core. They test our patience. They require us to learn new skills and strategies. They’re...just...not...easy. In fact, some days we’re not sure we’re making a difference at all. But, no matter how challenging a student might be, the successes and overall mission always inspire us to keep moving forward. We remember the students who come back and share incredible stories of success. We hold dear letters, e-mails, and conversations of how we made a difference in some young person’s life. Years ago, my former assistant principal encouraged me to create a file folder of these memories. Keeping a running record of gratitude and joy kept me grounded in the bigger mission. Educators all over the globe have some version of this well documented reminder of what this profession is all about. On those, less than stellar days, I can look back and recall how I impacted someone. Check out this heartwarming video from Sumner School District and John Norlin on “The Heart of Teaching.” Good luck not getting choked up! Go Ahead...I’ll wait. However, my friend went on to explain that the one variable that could drive him out of education might be the ADULTS. Teachers that are less passionate than we wish them to be. Politicians who just seem to “care” a little less about education than everyone else. Or maybe it’s the parent who disagrees with everything we believe. Perhaps, it’s a district level administrator shoving some new initiative down our throat. He was convinced that there would never be a time that students would push him to leave a profession he loved but that the adults……….might….So I started thinking. Educator turnover is at alarming rates! In a recent blog by Mandy Froelich, she sites all of the following reasons for teacher disengagement: personal hurt, professional hurt, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Educators begin their careers as inspiring change agents and many walk away because of systems, peers, boses, politics, stress, distrust, and workplace culture. Kristin Souers and Pete Hall would remind us of the criticalness of using selfcare in their outstanding book: "Fostering Resilient Learners." If my friend was right about adults being the root of disengagement; Perhaps, gratitude could be the ultimate guide to self care. Indeed, few adults ever leave the profession because of the kids. I wanted to find a new way to #chooselove for the adults I interacted with because as Dr. Jessica Stephens says #LoveWorks. On the other hand, I’m lucky to work at a school with an award winning culture. We’ve got rockstar teachers, administrators, and support staff. Let me tell you about a few of them: **We have a science teacher who might very well be the KINDEST, sweetest teacher in America. She’s like a warm blanket on a rainy day! She oozes comfort and compassion as she connects with her students. She frequently gives up her student-free lunch to share her time and classroom with students who may not fit in with their peers. She’s universally loved and I feel so lucky to have her at EMS. **Or maybe I should tell you about a math teacher who works with our struggling students with equal success to the brightest of the bright. His classload consists of gifted math students and students who have such low skills they hate math. He’s that teacher who refuses to give up on a student. He gets to school at 5 a.m….when school doesn’t start until 7:55. His COMMITMENT is unmatched. He believes in the power of education, has a passion for math, and the art and skill to coax out greatness in his students. Check out this incredible blog he wrote on: Getting Gritty with math students. **I should definitely mention our veteran PE teacher….who was incidentally MY middle school PE teacher. She has more energy in her little finger than I have in my entire body. She’s a positive force who is the poster child of HUMILITY! It’s impossible not to smile when you’re around her. She sings happy birthday to each individual student throughout the school year and then relishes in demonstrating her badminton or b-ball skills. In 30 years knowing this woman, I’ve never heard anyone say a negative word about her. **Our speech therapist who provides humor, PATIENCE, and high expectations all rolled into a 5 foot frame. She works with all levels of students with ease and grace and instills hope in each student. They simply leave middle school with a belief in themselves because of this woman. She brings “IT” everyday and treats each student with the respect and dignity they deserve. #Thankyou **We have a leadership teacher who we simply give the toughest students in the school and tell her….”turn them into leaders.” She has a knack for RESPECTING those challenging, hyperactive boys in the same way that she can gently connect with the quiet anxiety ridden girl. She’s all in on teaching kindness, service and empathy in and out of her classroom by modeling what it means to be Character Strong. She has no kids of her own so her students are her children. **I’m not ashamed to admit that one of our ELA teachers recently brought me to tears as he presented and celebrated his students outstanding growth on a recent standardized test. His heartfelt, intentional, HONEST words had everyone in the room, reaching for the nearest tissue. He’s the guy who greets every student at his door with unique handshake and personalized hello. He’s special because he recognizes the need to put relationships first and then focus on challenging the best out of his kids. #Authentic **There’s a 20-ish year old history teacher who infuses technology and innovation in the coolest ways. He’s always trying something new or pushing himself and his students in an exciting new direction. He makes history come to life with stories, personality, humor, and conviction. Beyond that he’s SELFLESS when helping others learn how to integrate technology in the classroom. And EMS is better off for having him. **We have a special education teacher who works with our most behaviorally challenged students, in the entire district. He chooses FORGIVENESS every day for the choices they make by giving them a fresh start to make it a great day. His laid back style of relationship building ensures these students have the best possible chance for success. Any parent would be thrilled to have their child connected to these incredible educators and countless others…..I’m leaving out stories about our team-focused relationship-driven principal, school board recognized secretary, and hard working custodian. There simply isn’t enough time to share about a teddy bear-like science teacher, a college inspiring counselor who leads our College/Career Day, or our award winning jazz band conductor. I definitely should have shared about the PE teacher who overcame his wife’s health scare to flourish as our new athletic director, a math teacher who helped save our science teachers life with CPR, and a history teacher demonstrating GRIT by showing up to work everyday as she fought and survived breast cancer, while undergoing Chemo treatments. But here’s what’s truly interesting….these teachers, educators, and support folks aren’t unique to EMS. They aren’t even unique to Richland School District or Washington State. While they are special and amazing people...these types of heroes aren’t unique to our profession. These outstanding adults exist all around the country. Educators like this are in La Crosse, Wisconsin…..Westfield, New Jersey...and….Chicago, Illinois. In fact, they exist outside of our country as well. There are dedicated educational leaders in every city, country, and community around the globe. They might have different names, faces or personalities but I’d be willing to bet that you recognize some of the character traits in these heroes that you have in your own buildings. Schools around the world are filled with incredible Edu Superstars that make the difference in kids’ lives. They bring out the best in their peers and push education to new heights. One outstanding principal from Texas is using his platform to share how "Every Story Matters," when it comes to these educators. In addition to being the principal at Webb Elementary school, Todd Nesloney is a speaker author and champion of sharing his teachers' "Stories from Webb." His work reminds us all of incredible heroes in our profession. Furthermore, Luis Ortega believes that "change starts with your story." The question is, are we brave enough to share our story? And...more importantly, are you willing to listen and truly hear others stories.... Isn’t it funny that an educator will stay committed to this profession for life with the occasional student success story as the catalyst to continue on this path. Because the truth is, we never know how many student lives we touch. Despite all the challenging students, through the years, these successes keep us moving forward. But that same educator is willing to walk away from their “life’s work” because of the “adults” even though so many of our peers are doing such outstanding work. Perhaps, we need a way to recall the amazingness from our profession. Something we can refer back to and use as a beacon of hope to help keep us on track during times of collaborative frustration. But, wait….I can already hear the outcry. Those folks saying ‘Hans, you got the wrong adult….it’s not about our peers’. The adults that are driving us out of education are the PARENTS! I get it. In 17 years in education, I’ve run into my fair share of difficult parents. I’ve received more than enough anger, frustration and rage. Although, most counselors will tell you the parents that keep us up….late at night….are the ones who don’t seem to care. You contact them regarding their suicidal child and they don’t get it. Or you report a badly assaulted victim to Child Protective Services and nothing changes. These absent, neglectful unknowing parents are incredibly deflating. But the truth is...this is only a small fraction of the parents out there. In the same way that I might detail amazing teachers at EMS, I could do the same thing for parents. If we had time, I’d share about a mom who drives her child 30 minutes one way EVERYDAY to attend EMS. Or the dad who takes off his migrant field work to come speak with his kids’ teachers. I’d tell you how humbling it is to see a dad donate money to our school for every 3 point shot the basketball team makes. You’d probably love to hear about the mom who whips up an elaborate luncheon for staff appreciation week. I’ll bet you’d be inspired by the mom who supports her son’s quest for equality in schools. I’d certainly want you to see an email from a mom/dad thanking a history teacher for both loving their daughter and holding her accountable. We all can identify amazing parents who understand the value of education, deeply love their child, and would do ANYTHING to ensure success. These parents exist in every school and in every community. So, why do we hold on so tightly to a few challenging adults? I think a key to creating an award winning culture is to assume the best in both students AND ADULTS! Choosing Love is sometimes easier with students than adults, but it’s no less important. Sure, from time to time….we’ll be let down. But perhaps the key to persevering through these challenging adult relationships is an intentional focus on all the amazingness around us. What if….rather than leaving our “life calling” behind.....we instead intentionally and regularly demonstrated gratitude for the incredible people in our lives. Perhaps, this positive mindset would allow us to reset more quickly when dealing with that difficult adult and create increased joy in our profession. Brene Brown, author, speaker, and researcher believes in the connection between joy and gratitude. In this video clip from Brown, she explains how “practicing gratitude invites joy into our lives." On the other hand, assuming the BEST in others doesn’t mean we should simply be a doormat. We still have to hold others accountable, speak our truth, and advocate for students at the highest of levels. I don’t think assuming good in adults opts us out of difficult conversations or challenging paths. What it does, however; is keep us aware of gratitude. Gratitude keeps us grounded to the mission and confident in our own ability to stay Character Strong in the face of adversity. Because students are worth it! We're worth it! My challenge to our profession is to seek out and celebrate the adults around us. Create files, lists, pictures, videos that document all the magic you witness. Your co-workers, colleagues, and parents are doing unbelievable things for education. Recognize them. Appreciate them. Remember them. Maybe you’ll start to #ChooseLove Written By: Hans Appel In November, our school brought in West Richland police officer, David Veloz to speak about his time in the military, as part of our Veteran’s Day Assembly. He’s a smart engaging man full of energy and life with a spirit of making a difference. Beyond all of the inspiring takeaways from his presentation to our students, the one that stuck most with me had little to do with his time on the front lines. He told a brief story about a chance encounter with a man who paid for him to ride in first class on a airplane. It was David’s first and only experience riding in first class. This random act of kindness belonged to NBA owner Marc Cuban, on a plane ride home from one of David’s military missions. At the time, he had no idea who Cuban was but enjoyed talking with the outgoing fellow from Texas. Cuban was beyond interested and respectful of David while he sat in his full military uniform. David explained how the billionaire asked him insightful questions, demonstrated significant respect and interest and clearly thought the world of David's service to our country. David’s story about Cuban’s kind words that day struck me in a way that got me thinking…. Character is revealed by what you do when you think no one else is watching. But here’s the thing….often times...someone is watching and we’re just unaware. We often naively believe that we truly know a celebrity. Like….because we’ve watched them on TV, listened to their song, or follow them on social media….that we somehow are a part of their life. But the truth is, celebrities often reveal only a perfectly scripted look of their world. Rare is the famous being who authentically lets it all hang out. A few years ago, a group of buddies and I drove down to the Lake Tahoe for the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament. It’s a fabulous way to spend a weekend. There’s opportunity to mingle with sports and television stars as they play in a fun low key tournament. Great food, fun events, all in small little casino town. We all had a blast! We took pictures, got autographs and shook hands with lots a well known people. Some folks were exactly what you might expect and others were completely different. In a few of these moments away from cameras, media, and crowds we were able to get a peak behind the curtain at some of these famous folks. Our observations were proof, that someone is always watching when your famous. We saw athletes throw the football around with fans, hug small children, and visit with regular folk for long periods of time. Several of these rich and famous truly seemed to live up to our expectations. Of course, people watching isn’t limited to celebrities. Years ago, when I had grandiose dreams of being a professional magician, I found myself in a situation that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I was hired to perform magic at a grand opening at a Walmart in a small town in Oregon. Essentially, I was hired to walk around the store and perform magic up close as new customers shopped, for the first time. (Yes, you guessed it….this was a strange and sometimes awkward encounter). But I had a good time meeting lots of unsuspecting families throughout the store. Just before I was about to finish up for the day a young man pushed an older gentleman’s wheelchair into my path. Naturally, I did a quick bit of magic for the young man. While he seemed to have fun, I noticed that the wheelchair bound fellow, was not reacting. To be honest, he was wearing sunglasses and so I wasn’t really sure what his reactions to my magic were….but he seemed less than enthused. As I turned to move past them, the young man explained that his grandfather was blind and had never been able to see magic before but that he had described a few things to his grandfather from television shows featuring David Copperfield. He explained that they understood that I wouldn’t be able to show him anything but that they appreciate me being at the grand opening. I smiled, took a step to the side and mentally planned to pack up, say goodbye to the manager, and drive home. I was certainly under no obligation or expectation to perform magic for a vision impaired man. Plus, I had another gig that evening and needed to leave immediately to be ready in time for the next event. But then I stopped, whipped around with idea in mind, and said very casually “can I try just one thing.” I proceeded to do a simple trick with two sponge balls in the man’s hands. The sponge balls disappeared, multiplied, and jumped around while his grandson provided commentary of what was happening. He smiled, laughed, and genuinely had a few beautiful moments of wonder. And while he couldn’t see anything, he SAW EVERYTHING. He certainly got to feel both in his hands and heart that magic was happening. The entire interaction lasted maybe 3 minutes. I said my goodbyes, headed back to the front manager’s office and proceeded to pack up. Just before I left, a teary-eyed mom, stopped me on the way out and informed me “that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” In talking with her, she had apparently been standing at the far end of the aisle watching me perform magic for this visually impaired man. She was moved to tears, knowing that I included the older gentleman into my world of wonder. Now, if I’m being REAL with myself, at 22 years old, Character was the last thing on my mind! I wasn't trying to impress anyone or make some equal rights statement. Being a highly competitive, former athlete who was presented with a challenge, I simply wanted to figure out a way to entertain the man. It certainly wasn’t any higher noble purpose. I was completely unaware of the emotionally moved mom, but she was watching. Truthfully, someone is almost always watching. On a few recent occasions, I’ve had the pleasure of being the one witnessing when true Character is revealed. In January, this year, we brought in Houston Kraft to do an assembly on Kindness followed by a leadership workshop. The assembly was to last an hour in the gym, then we’d usher about 100 leadership students into the Commons to work with Houston on some more in depth Character development for another hour or so. The assembly was outstanding! Afterwards, we began sending students back to class and/or grabbing leadership students to head into the commons. We probably hadn’t allowed enough time in transition but we knew we could make it work. As the gym cleared out, a handful of adults began to escort Houston to the next location when we noticed a student was crying off in the corner. Now mind you, there were about 5-6 educators there. Guess who was the first person to make contact with the tearful teenager? Houston. He ended up sitting on the floor with her for the next 20 minutes listening, validating, and being present for her. Meanwhile, adults were getting antsy as 100 leadership students were ready to explode with anticipation of Houston’s arrival, down the hallway. As he kindly helped the student regain emotional control and finally made his way down to the leadership group, it struck me...that this guy really believes what he’s talking about. He has true conviction to “make kindness normal.” And even more importantly he acts with high character even when it’s not convenient. It would have been nice to have his technology equipment set up for the following leadership workshop. He certainly felt all the adult energy rise with each passing moment that he wasn’t on his way to the next activity. But Houston reinforced with me a valuable lesson that day, people are more important than agendas. People are more valuable than plans and timelines. In that moment, that student needed Houston and he was there for her. There’s something magical about witnessing a Character Strong moment. A few months later, I found myself at an educator conference presenting and hanging out with John Norlin (Character Strong). Near the end of the day, I was helping him pack up….the vendor area was pretty empty. All of the educators had left the area and were onto the evening’s events. A custodian stopped by, clearly drawn in by the bright colorful images at the Character Strong booth. He asked John a simple question as he began cleaning up near us. Without missing a beat, John began to share about Character Strong, his mission, and even his WHY. We probably stood there another 10 minutes visiting with this nice fellow as he went about his job. Now make no mistake, there was NOTHING in it for John to engage this man. He was neither educator, nor potential customer of a school culture program. But John treated him with the utmost interest and respect as he openly shared with this man. Afterwards, I mentioned to John how I noticed this interaction and thought it was pretty cool that he put himself out there with someone who had no means or interest in benefiting John. His response was a simple “that’s just how I was raised.” How ARE we “raising” our students? How are we TEACHING them Character? Who’s observing our Character? And what might they notice? Are you willing to engage someone who can’t possibly benefit you? Are you capable of putting your agenda aside for someone else in need? Who are you...when you think no one’s paying attention? Award Winning Culture is only REAL, when Character exists in the absence of observation. Maybe it's best to imagine that someone’s always watching. Years removed from my magic encounter with the visually impaired man, I recognize that despite his loss of sight he too was watching that day in Walmart. I’d bet our students and co-workers are watching, even when we don’t realize their presence. I wonder what they’d say about me…… Character Strong? Written By: Hans Appel For the past 6 months, I’ve been slowly working through a book called “Find Your Why”, by Simon Sinek. I’d seen Simon’s powerful Ted Talk years ago and like millions of other people, I devoured “Start with Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better”, etc. At 41 years old, I thought I was pretty in touch with my WHY. But then a funny little thing entered my life this year….a whole child, school culture program called: Character Strong. But perhaps I should back up... Those that know me well, know that I knew what I wanted to do when I was quite young. By the age of 5, I had moved past NBA basketball player and settled in on professional magician. Yes, long before thoughts of education, school counseling and helping young people; I was focused on the art of deception. I spent hours reading magic books at the public library and more time than I’d care to admit standing in front of a mirror practicing some secret sleight of hand maneuver, that I’d hope you’d never see. While I had other detours of interest like basketball, video games, and girls….magic was my first real obsession. I spent the next 15+ years studying things like misdirection, inattentional blindness, and emotional conviction. (BTW, a very strange set of skills to have at this point in my life). After high school, I went off to college...in part to appease my parents but also to study psychology and business, all along knowing that I’d eventually move to Los Angeles or Vegas and announce my claim as David Blaine’s successor. (What can I say, I was a cocky 18 year old who who had illusions of grandeur.) I became a member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood, (Side note, I’m still a member. If you're ever in the LA area and want a guest pass) was invited twice to the Las Vegas Magic Invitational, and even did a brief lecture tour, for magicians, in Texas/Louisiana on Restaurant Magic. In fact, I even proposed to my wife during a magic show, in which I was performing (Yes there is video out there, NO! I will not share) By all accounts magic dominated my life and all signs pointed towards the challenging world of entertainment, for my future. But show biz is a strange gig and despite my passion, it was never quite a perfect fit for me. It requires long hours away from friends and family as you travel from gig to gig. There's little stability unless your lucky and talented enough to make it big. Plus, it's really all about you and only you. It has nothing to do with helping people. Deep down, I yearned for a way to give back to people in a more meaningful way. Additionally, for those that know me, I’m generally a quiet, somewhat reserved...even shy individual who would much rather listen than talk. As a performer, you’re expected and paid to be “ON” 24/7. This is fun for me at times but can be truly exhausting to keep up that level of intense energy. Teachers can relate to this feeling. When you’re a teacher, at school, you’re always “On”. It’s like your work life is constantly on stage for all to see. I think many great teachers have a little bit of performer inside of them. But that’s not me. Along the way, that girl, that I mentioned proposing to earlier, was studying to become a teacher. In fact, she came from a long line of educators. The more time I spent with them, in this new education world and the more psychology classes I took….the more I began to realize, I had a gift for helping others. [I'm skipping over a couple other key family events, on my path toward counseling but I'll save that for a future blog.] While practicing magic can be very isolating, education has the ability to be collaborative like few adventures. (See the Pepper Effect by Sean Gaillard). In Magic there is no cast. There is no team. There is no PLC. It’s just you. I quickly began to enjoy listening, empathizing, and helping adolescents become their best self, all with the ability to consult with other professionals to ensure student success. This was a career path that fit my personality, passion, and purpose. As I shifted from College to Career, I jumped head first into the world of education and spent the past 17 years loving it. I think my close friends and family probably thought I’d bail on education, those first few years, to pursue magic. But knowing that I’d found my WHY, was completely satisfying! And I happily established roots for a career in education. But then a funny little thing came along. Our school began an incredible program this past year which was exciting, engaging, and meaningful. Character Strong has been like nothing I’ve seen in education. It’s simply changing the game of Whole Child work. By combining Social Emotional Learning with Character, the creators have melded the best of both worlds into something that’s absolutely unique. By teaching our students, staff, and community the power of kindness, service, and empathy we’ve turned our school into an award winning culture. A few months into this journey, I realized that I was feeling something stronger than magic, and deeper than counseling. But, if I was already following my WHY and living the dream, why did this new work with Character Strong feel like something even more intense. To be honest this confused me, I thought I had successfully identified my WHY but this passion for helping others discover their WHY was somehow even more intoxicating. After several more months of re-exploring my WHY, I finally discovered how magic, counseling, and culture all fit together.... One Word: JOY I’m not talking about a temporary state of happiness. I’m talking real fulfillment on a deep level! Joy. Like when we share a bit of kindness toward a complete stranger. Or when we’re aware of our purposeful learning on a visceral level. Meaningful personal growth creates Joy inside of us. It’s a special feeling and once you have it, you don’t want to let go. For me, bringing the wonder of magic into people’s hearts and minds created Joy for me. Counseling students to discover their best self, brought me even greater Joy. But creating a culture where others can find purpose and passion by bringing amazingness into the world through Character Strong, helped OTHERS DISCOVER REAL JOY. Beyond this, with the help of Character Strong, I was helping others share their JOY. And isn’t that where the highest learning really occurs. Check out one of our leadership students on the local news talk about finding purpose...FYI: It’s all about JOY! Shouldn’t teaching students, the power of real Joy, be apart of our school’s mission? There’s a principal, author in McMinnville, Oregon named Amy Fast. She writes, speaks, and tweets her ideal world of education. And thousands of educators around the country, like myself, hang on every word she shares. She’s an absolute rockstar and I have no doubt will be highly sought after within the highest ranks of education. In, “It’s the Mission, Not the Mandates”, Amy encourages us all to re-examine how we’re empowering students/teachers, the power of bringing hope and purpose to our work, and in essence, reminds us of the great life gift we’re able to give our students….Joy. I don’t believe that Education is just about learning math, science, and history. Perhaps, that’s too low of a bar to set. I think education...at it's highest level...is about helping students find their JOY. Did you think it’s an accident that the bus driver in Jon Gordon’s critically acclaimed book, “The Energy Bus”, is named “Joy.” I assure you this is well thought out, as Jon is a world wide expert in using positive energy to motivate, inspire, and influence the best out of people. Or maybe you’ve overlooked the genius behind one of the most successful educational hashtags created: #JoyfulLeaders. When superstar principal, Bethany Hill, from Cabot, Arkansas introduced the world to her now famous hashtag, you better believe she knew the magic behind the word: Joy. Watching a video clip of Danny Steele, principal of Thompson Sixth Grade Center in Alabaster, Alabama, freestyle rap for his students offers a visual demonstration of the Joy of SteeleThoughts, come to life. His jest for students, teachers, and culture are the catalyst for copious amounts of educators choosing to strive toward teaching beyond mandates. Of course, we still have mandates, obligations, and essentials to teach. So, if we take Simon Sinek’s advice on helping people discover their WHY and ultimately find real JOY….how do we do that with-in a school setting? I’m NOT an educational expert. And I would defer to much smarter, more talented folks to guide our profession forward. But, if we listen….very closely…..there’s a group of educational heroes who are lighting a path to pursue, the magical gift of JOY. In addition to some of the educators already mentioned, here’s a couple more that inspire me to create a culture of JOY: **George Couros, “The Innovator’s Mindset”, presents strategies for becoming a masterful forward thinking leader who promotes creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking. A path that’s filled with teaching the Joy of learning. **Aaron Hogan, “Shattering the Perfect Teacher Myth”, encourages readers to "THRIVE" by destroying some of the myths that education inherently promotes. His work provides a blueprint for how to make learning a joy , for our students. #TeacherMyth **Chris Butler & Erin Dickey, Project Based Awesome, are two of the best kept secrets in educational podcasts. Their focus on combining great teaching, project based learning, and instructional technology are inspiring a group of educators in the pacific northwest. They make PBL approachable for educators with the guidance to allow students to pursue their own learning in new and enriching formats. **Dave Burgess, “Teach like a Pirate”, provides inspirational techniques and ideas to engage your students into lessons with creativity, relationships, and passion. Dave’s style and practical advice help you create a joy of teaching and in turn a joy for your students. He’s gone on to publish many outstanding books with other talented EduHeroes. Many of which I’ll be sharing bits of learning from in future blogs. Must Read! #TLAP **Kim Snodgrass, is a creative, joy-filled innovative teacher from York, NE. She has a gift for GIF’s and loves helping her students find joy in all things education. She's an out of the box thinker and thrives in challenging educational status quo, in the pursuit of student learning. **Tara Martin, is an educator, author, administrator from Kansas who believes in educating from the Heart by being "REAL." She’s the founder of #BookSnaps and loves collaborating with other joyful educators. #REALedu **Katie Martin, is an educator, author, and lead learner. She believes in arming teachers with tools, ideas and inspiration to empower them to establish new roles as educators. She's a huge fan of creating risk-taking learning environments, helping students build connections through personalized learning, using innovation to establish learner-centered best practices.#LCInnovation **John Norlin and Houston Kraft, have literally created a recipe for students to discover their WHY through experiential hands on lessons, character dares, and intentional teaching with Character Strong. They’ve taken servant leadership principles, which have long been the bedrock of successful businesses and applied those same concepts to education, athletics, and life. Absolutely Groundbreaking! Their trainings, curriculum, and writings are quickly becoming the gold standard in this Whole Child work. I urge you to re-evaluate whatever you're currently using to teach these soft skills and figure out how to bring #CharacterStrong to your students, staff, and communities. My challenge to the education world is to reach for a magical new standard. Something more life changing than traditional education parameters have provided. As I closed out this spring talking with our 8th grade students about their takeaways from middle school, I was struck that perhaps the real secret to our award winning culture was our teachers ability to help our students discover their WHY. And armed with a deep understanding of themselves, our students are prepared to pursue a life of JOY. How will you help your students find the real magic in: coming to school, helping others, contributing to their communities, and…..LEARNING?
Joy Written By: Hans Appel TIME. How often do you think about time? For the past month I’ve been thinking about it…...A LOT! A couple years ago, our office team knew it was time to make a serious overhaul to our SEL, PBIS, and School Culture. After an exhaustive search we found dynamic programs and people to help us usher in a new an improved Enterprise Middle School. In January of 2017, we began creating a vision and plan for how, when, and why to carry out these much needed changes. During the next 7 months, we took an inordinate amount of time to prepare our staff, students, and community for real….meaningful change. My friend, John Norlin says “sometimes you have to walk slow in order to run fast." And that’s certainly what we did. The cultural results have been incredible! Since implementing Character Strong and PBIS Rewards we’ve gone on to rebrand our school as #WildcatNation with a unified focus on Character, Excellence, and Community. If you were to ask many of our students, staff, and community….they might tell you that this intentional effort to promote kindness, service, and empathy have resulted in one of the best school years they’ve been involved with. In a recent survey, 100% of staff said they’ve seen acts of kindness increase at EMS. 95% of staff have observed students demonstrating greater empathy towards others this year. Furthermore, 98% of staff surveyed said they had seen CharacterStrong positively impact the culture and climate of EMS. On top of all of this, our school took on 1:1 devices, established a strong social media presence with our community, established a PBIS matrix, and made a concerted effort to increase school/home connectedness with home visits, collaborative events, and transparent communication. In fact, this school wide focus has been so wildly successful that we were selected to receive the 2018 ASCD Whole Child Award for the State of Washington. Naturally, the most common question we’ve received from educators, schools, and districts…..HOW DID YOU GET PEOPLE TO BUY-IN? Universally, this continues to be asked over and over. We’ve met with educators and schools, blogged about it and even presented at a recent educator conference. Our answers have been, what you might already expect...some combination of vision, planning, training, ongoing PD, etc. But a couple months ago, my counseling partner and friend, Nicole, reminded me that perhaps the biggest reason for our successful buy-in was…….TIME. As a staff, we discussed the new programs for months and allowed people the opportunity to ask questions, think about the changes, and process where we were all heading. Clearly, time had been crucial to the successful launch of all these new changes at EMS. As Maya Angelou reminded us “All great achievements require time.” And while our office team had talked about the importance of TIME, I’m not sure it really sunk in for me completely until last month. Riding the wave of successful buy-in, our office team suggested our school apply for a tech grant, this past May. With a unified school, focused on doing what’s best for students this new tech opportunity seemed like a natural fit. It was presented at a staff meeting...staff voted….and ballets were tallied. It was UNEQUIVOCALLY shot down! Staff wanted no part of buying in to this new tech journey. There would be more money, professional development, and additional staffing. This felt like a can’t lose proposition. But it failed.........miserably! WHY? Time. We simply forgot the power of time. Indeed, Time influences a person’s opportunity to buy-in. Less you think this is just an educational specific phenomenon, I would suggest to you that the power of Time isn’t just limited to schools. Indeed, the power of time shows up in other aspects of life. As a counselor or therapist one of our first lessons in a clinical setting is the use of “silence” in session. Counselors learn that a client, student or patient can accomplish much personal growth when the counselor simply shuts up and allows the room to fill with silence. While this can be highly uncomfortable for the rookie counselor, with practice this becomes a powerful strategy to help others look inwardly, for the purpose of meaningful change. Time even shows up as a powerful construct at the end of therapy sessions. Any experienced therapist will tell you that sometimes the most impactful revealings are shared by folks in the last 5 minutes of a session. Why? Often times, people have had time to warm up to the idea of bringing up the subject matter that they most want to talk about. Plus, they realize that their time is almost up for the session and feel compelled to share something that they’ve been holding back the entire period. Additionally, the person feels safe knowing they won't have to talk in great detail about the last minute subject they've revealed until next week. They've essentially bought themselves more....time. For this reason, therapist will sometimes point out to clients that they only have a few minutes left to remind them of the time; and thus, compel them to share what they've been reluctant to share. Furthermore, there’s a theoretical orientation among some therapist that believe that counseling should only be short-term. Rather than having clients or patients for years and years, these experts believe that an endless number of counseling sessions make it less desirable for people to make the changes and growth they seek. Thus, well planned termination of counseling can trigger amazing results, when handled appropriately by a talented therapist because people can anticipate and time their capacity to do necessary work for themselves. Beyond therapy, time's impact on our lives shows up as a critical part of learning a new skill (i.e. juggling, golf, coding, studying for a test, or lifting weights). You simply can’t get great at anything all in one day. For instance, if you work on your golf game for hours and hours on one lone Saturday, you will NOT become a good golfer overnight. Believe me...I’ve tried! You may remember cramming for a test, the night before, only to later forget some key details. The research is clear: small, bite-sized chunks of sustained effort are far superior to learning new concepts. Successful people know that a growth mindset focused on a little bit of work each day over an extended amount of TIME, makes for greater outcomes. Wouldn’t it be glorious if we could get in shape in just one really intense work out session. Of course, we all know that’s not how it works. It takes several months for your mind and body to “buy-in” to the process and start seeing results. Whether working out, learning a skill or working toward personal growth, people need time to see real change...and ultimately buy in. The influence of time also shows up in people’s buy-in or conviction, when watching performance art. Great musicians, comics, speakers, and magicians intentionally build into their act “applause breaks.” Applause breaks provide an opportunity for the audience to emotionally catch up and process what they’ve seen or heard. These scheduled breaks allow audience members to take a few moments to demonstrate their appreciation for the performer and allow their own enthusiasm to build. But great performers know that building in 1 big applause cue at the end of the show isn’t enough. These moments of time need to be sprinkled throughout a performance to build toward a natural crescendo, in the form of a standing ovation. And perhaps you’ve been witness to the most moving example of the intentional use of time in the form of an Encore. An encore is another planned longer applause break which provides one final opportunity for an audience to crystallize their intensity of buy-in for the performance. World class performers recognize the influence of time. As you start to recognize the influence of time, you may start to identify ways in which you already bend time to influence others. Teachers use a strategy commonly referred to as Wait Time in order to allow students processing ability. This standard class activity shows up everyday in schools around the country because teachers know that learning occurs during these moments of silence. Of course, the use of time isn't limited to teachers in education. Administrators can benefit as well. I recently had the pleasure of reading Sean Gaillard’s, The Pepper Effect, which is a masterful book which I found both inspiring and illuminating...all while grounded in practical educational strategy. Absolute must read for all educators (Beatles fan or not)! Sean details the concept of “Visible Listening.” Visible listening occurs when we “visit classrooms and engage students and staff.” The purpose of this is to put our finger on the pulse of the school by being authentically interested in learning more about what makes the school tick. Of course the implication of visible listening is that we have to intentionally set aside….Time. A few students or staff are not enough. It’s not like visiting one classroom or talking with a handful of students/staff will help us gather the necessary buy-in to create our “masterpiece.” I would postulate that Sean uses visible listening regularly as he forges new connections around the school and further develops his relationships. Perhaps, the look of these interactions change over the course of a relationship but the heart of intentionally setting aside time to listen and connect is always a part of great leadership. Rome wasn't built in a day! So, if we all understand and agree that time has a powerful influence on others capacity to buy-in to something new, then why isn’t the use of Time to implement new ideas, thoughts, or programs already widely considered best practice? *Are we providing the silence for our folks to ask us the really hard questions? (I.E. Why now? Why This? What makes you think this will work?, etc.) *Are we willing to truly listen to divergent thinking in an effort to allow everyone time to gather excitement for the necessary growth? *Are we transparent with our hopes and dreams for the school? AND Are we willing to communicate our goals, vision, and TIME-LINE to achieve those hopes/dreams? *Are we allowing time for people to process and make connections to the “New”? *Are we willing to demonstrate humility, when students, staff, and community remind us that we didn’t allow enough time? In the end, our teachers were right to reject the new tech initiative, as this gave us a great gift of feedback. It’s also given us time to relook, re-listen, and remind all of us what’s most important with any new movement: How will this benefit our students? We all need Time to buy-in to new ideas, thoughts or ways of looking at the world. Even places with award-winning culture need TIME. Whether your a teacher, administrator, or counselor.....How might you use TIME, with your next great idea, program, or initiative? About the Author:Hans Appel has been a school counselor in the Richland School District for the past 17 years and at Enterprise Middle School since it opened. He's passionate about school culture, servant leadership, and kindness. |
#WILDCATNation
Enterprise Middle School received the 2018 ASCD Whole Child Award in Washington, for its award winning culture and the 2018 Global "Class Act Award" for Kindness. By creating a culture of kindness, service, and empathy we've taken student leadership to an epic level. aRCHIVES
January 2019
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