Why Am I here?

What is the point? It is too cold? Break was too short? You fill in the blank. What other negative comments have you heard or worse yet spoke this week since returning.

We have all been given the opportunity to work in the most rewarding profession. We have been given the privilege of helping shape the minds of the children that will some day be running our county and the world.

Over the break I was able to step away from work for a while and I did not have any classwork to complete for my doctoral program so I spent a ton of time with my family. It was by far the best break I have ever had. Was it hard to get out of bed to come to work Monday? Absolutely. Not because I don't love my job, but because I wanted to stay home with my kids. With that said, I was here on time standing out front for 30 minutes with my wonderful car rider line troopers with a smile on my face. Why is the smile important? Because the students deserve that from me. The issues that come with running a school did not come back slowly. They all came rushing back the minute I walked in the door. We had to address teacher assistant reassignments, we have some staff members dealing with health issues, others having difficulties at home, children that were not taken care of over break, etc.

Why do I share all of this? Well that is simple because this week it has never been clearer to me that I am in the right place, doing the right thing. I have always loved working here, but this week cemented my love. I was able to listen to a few of you that were struggling with your home life and I was able to put a smile on the face of a few children that have been miserable the past few weeks while we were on vacation. Home is not as good for many of our students as it is for us. While dealing with the teacher assistant schedules I was able to make a decision that I believe in my heart is best for students. This was a tough process. I could have stuck to my decision and ignored the issues you all were seeing, but that would not have been best for students. I also could have made all teacher assistant placements with teachers' feelings in mind, but again that would not be best for students. I slept well last night knowing that I did what I believe was best for students. I have said this over and over and here I go again. I will not run Antioch by making decisions with what is best for parents, teachers, or administrators. I need to do what is best for the 800 students we serve each day.

I take you back to the quote from the weekly update "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work". We are a team and we all need to be committed if we are going to reach our goals. Whether you have the schedule, the partnership, or the plan that you wanted is not important at this point. What we all must do is step back take a breath and adjust. It is time that we all step-up and commit to the success of all students at Antioch. Ask yourself what that means for you. What can you do to better utilize your TA? to support your teachers? to improve the efficiency of operations? or whatever it is that will make Antioch the best school in Union County. I know I have the staff to accomplish this goal, but we must all commit.