April 22nd

The Supt Dish           

                                                              April 22, 2016

Springtime is my favorite season of the year. Flowers begin to bloom, birds are chirping, the lawn is green, and the weather is very comfortable. It is also a time when I usually tune in to the Masters’ Golf Tournament held at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Even if you are not a golf enthusiast, you may want to watch this tournament just to view the beauty of the course with the dogwoods, magnolias and azaleas in full bloom.

Going in to this year’s tournament, Jordan Spieth, a native Texan, was the defending champion. As I watched the tournament, Jordan led the first three days and through the first nine holes on the last day. Leading by five strokes with nine holes to play, Jordan had a major collapse playing through the legendary “Amen Corner” including hitting his ball in the water twice on one hole. One had to feel sorry to see such a nice young man suffer through an embarrassing four-hole stretch with the world watching. When asked by a reporter what happened, Jordan replied “it hurt.”

I use this illustration because in our business as educators, we witness many times a student “hurts” when they are not successful. Sometimes a student hurts after an extra-curricular activity when they do not perform successfully. Sometimes a student “hurts” when they thought they did well on a test, but did not. When we see the hurt in these students, we are in a position to work with them so they can perform better the next time they compete or take an exam. The relationships we form with students have a tremendous impact on our students.

Jordan Spieth fell on that Sunday afternoon at Augusta National. Like all professional athletes, he surrounds himself with good people, family and friends, who will assist him in “bouncing back”.  He relies on those close to him to encourage and support him in his quest to be the best. Our students rely on us to continue to teach, mentor, and support them in their quest for knowledge and to be the best. Through your relationships, our students can “bounce back” quickly after facing adversity.

We are having a great year at Goliad ISD. With GHS currently in 2^nd place for the UIL’s prestigious Lone Star Cup, our students continue to perform at a high level. Our One Act Play has advanced to State! Danielle Garza is advancing to State in tennis for the second consecutive year! We have several students and teams advancing in district and area competition. Our students continue to benefit from your leadership and mentoring. May the spring continue to bring memorable experiences for all. 

April 1, 2016

The Supt Dish                 

                                                                    April 1, 2016

It is a busy time of the year this spring as it is every spring. Students and staff are involved in several extra-curricular activities from track, baseball, softball, tennis, and golf to FFA, One Act Play, UIL Academics and upcoming field trips. We are very proud of how our students are performing at these activities. This is also the time of year in which we begin administering state assessments.

I would like to commend students and staff for their perseverance during the recent STAAR and EOC exams this week. In particular, our students and teachers who were involved with the English I EOC administered on Tuesday. These students and teachers experienced several technology glitches in which the students lost all their answers, some more than once. This was very frustrating and I commend you for your perseverance.

I was quite pleased to see our new commissioner of education, Mike Morath, respond to what was a state-wide problem through the new assessment vendor, Educational Testing Service (ETS). Commissioner Morath, who is a former Dallas ISD school board member, stated that these technical issues where “unacceptable and undermine the hard work of our students and teachers.”  I commend the commissioner for his quick response. Whatever the problem was, we are glad that our students taking the EOC English II exam did not experience many “glitches.”

As we continue to move forward and plan for next year, we have several professional development activities that some of our administrators will be attending in the next several weeks. These include “Digital Learning Design-Transforming Our Schools” with Alan November and “Embracing Transformational Leadership.” Our leadership team looks forward to bringing back several strategies to assist in 2016-17.

Thank you students and staff for working tirelessly in the pursuit of excellence. You continue to overcome daily challenges through teamwork and a willingness to succeed. Educator Angela Maiers (AngelaMaiers.com) once said, “When we dwell in possibility, we help others to do the same. This helps them dream, hope, and plan for a brighter future.”

March 24, 2016

The Supt Dish                   

                                                                                                                   March 24, 2016

During spring break, Kristi and I entertained some friends and family for a few days and spent time unpacking the last few boxes from our move.  We also caught up with our reading and watched some of our favorite shows. We saw an advertisement for a new show, Little Big Shots, with Steve Harvey as the host and decided to watch it. For those of you who have not watched this show, Steve brings out children who have special talents and talks with them. Some of the things the children say are amazing!

All of us in education know that our students say some amazing things. After watching one of the Little Big Shots episodes, I reflected on a story about our granddaughter, Chloe, from two years ago.  Our daughter, Monica along with Chloe were living in Seoul, South Korea, as our son-in-law was stationed there in the Army.  When Monica became pregnant she and Chloe came to live with us to have the baby in the U.S.

Thus, “Papa” as I am called, was going to have a granddaughter attending our elementary school as she was in pre-kindergarten at the time. Chloe had visited us several times prior to going to Korea and spent time at my office, and going to the playgrounds. She was now proud to say she is going to “Papa’s school”.  It had been a long time since I walked a child to school. It was a special moment as Monica and I walked Chloe to her classroom her first day.

Ms. Wyble is a wonderful pre-kindergarten teacher and has spent most of her career in pre- kindergarten. During Chloe’s first day, the children were on the playground during recess. All of a sudden, Ms. Wyble saw all the children gathering around Chloe. Ms. Wyble very quickly ran to the children thinking the students were bullying the superintendent’s granddaughter on her first day. When Ms. Wyble approached the students she asked one of the boys, “what are you doing?” The young child responded, “we are lining up.” Ms. Wyble asked the child “why” and the child responded “because Chloe told us to!”  Chloe thought it would be cool to help Ms. Wyble as she had heard her Papa say many times that he is here to help the teachers.

Children are always listening. As educators we have a tremendous responsibility in shaping their lives to be productive in their adult lives. You never know how children will interpret things, as you see in the story about my granddaughter or in some of the things on the TV show Little Big Shots.  The late Rita Pierson spoke at a TED conference last year and stated “every child deserves a champion, an adult who insists that they become the best they can possibly be.”   Thank you for being the champion our students deserve!

Happy Easter!

March 11, 2016

          The Supt Dish                

                                                                             March 11,  2016

It is hard to believe that spring break is upon us. It seems like yesterday Kristi and I arrived in Goliad. I guess one of the reasons I feel the first ten weeks of the semester have flown by is that we have had so many outstanding performances by our students and we have tried to attend many of them. From UIL Academics, spelling bees, One Act Play, FFA, basketball and powerlifting; our students have performed admirably. These performances would not be possible without outstanding teachers and staff who have prepared students for success. And of course our parents and community have attended these performances encouraging our students.

There is an old saying, “A good education can change anyone, but a good teacher can change everything.” When I became a teacher, I wanted to be that teacher that when my students look back on their education they feel love in their hearts, have a smile on their face, and can truly say they knew that I cared!  Most recently, I had dinner and attended the boys’ basketball playoff game in Seguin with one of my former students and his wife. It is very rewarding to see how former students succeed in their adult lives and remain in contact with me.

We are blessed to have such an impact on young lives. Last month I tweeted out a slide from edutopia entitled “5 Habits of an Effective Teacher.” I would like to share these 5 Habits:

1.     Enjoys Teaching – all of us probably became teachers simply for the joy of teaching and making a difference in young lives. We wake up each morning with the opportunity to mold students to be successful as adults.

2.     Embraces Change – our profession has changed tremendously in the last 16 years. As technology changes, our profession as well as all professions change. Do you realize that the Kindergarten class, the class of 2028, we are preparing this class for jobs that may not exist? It is important that we embrace change and we know that change is coming next year with the new teacher evaluation system. T-TESS will prove to be a more collaborative tool between teachers and campus administrators as we work together for the success of our students.

3.     Spreads Positivity – a colleague once told me that negativity brings failure and that we are not trying to fail we are trying to succeed. When we are positive, those around us are positive.  It is important that in our daily interactions with students and colleagues, we spread positive attitudes towards the success of our students and campuses.

4.     Finds Inspiration – we must be inspired every day as we have the opportunity to mold young lives. Someone recently shared a slide with me that states, “I teach because knowledge is the most powerful tool a person can have to create the life they have always imagined.” This statement should inspire us all.

5.     Makes a Difference – I stated above in “Enjoys Teaching” that one of the reasons I became a teacher was to make a difference in young lives. This is such a huge opportunity for us. Every day, we have the opportunity to inspire students to embrace education for each of them to make a difference now and in their adult lives.

As we leave for spring break, may each of you relax and come back “recharged” to inspire and make a difference in the young lives of our students. Have a safe spring break!

February 12, 2015

          

  The Supt Dish                                      February 12, 2016

Over the last two days, Mrs. Helmer, Mrs. Huber, Mrs. Gohmert and I had the honor of attending a leadership conference at Whataburger headquarters in San Antonio. This was the last of a three part series we have attended. Whataburger has never shared any information before with any group, thus we were honored they chose Texas school administrators inside their headquarters.

Chairman Tom Dobson, son of founder Harmon Dobson, welcomed us and gave us a brief history of the company. Preston Atkinson, president of Whataburger, followed Mr. Dobson and had all of us dancing in the aisles! Both Mr. Dobson and Mr. Atkinson shared their philosophy to be successful. Here are just a few things to keep in mind:

Chairman Tom Dobson:

• 1.     Listen before you talk – listening skills seem to be a lost art. We must listen to our employees and our customers.
• 2.      Passion – we must have a passion for what we are doing.
• 3.    Be truthful/Integrity – we must be truthful in everything we do and conduct ourselves with the utmost integrity.

When asked what skills Whataburger needed in prospective employees, Mr. Atkinson shared this:

• 1.    Must be willing to work – work ethic is very important. When hiring high school students, students must assume responsibility to be on time and be a team member of the organization.
• 2.    Have a willingess to serve – servant leadership. We must be willing to do  whatever it takes to have a happy customer.
• 3.    Be willing to learn – learning is a lifelong trait. About 75% of Whataburger leaders are developed from within the company. Mr. Atkinson concluded his speech that Whataburger wants to be “a handoff from what educators do for students to what they can add.”

These are all things that we can apply in our lives and in the lives of our students. We left Whataburger refreshed with strategies that we can use in making Goliad ISD more successful.  Several strategies will be used as we embark on developing a Strategic Plan soon. We will unveil one item our team developed during our luncheon in celebrating Public Schools Week.

Happy Valentine’s Day!