Today was the first day back for all of the teachers in the district. We had two "convocations" at Gilbert High to welcome everyone back. It was the most amazing day and I am so proud to be a GPS Governing Board member.
Suzanne Zentner, our interim superintendent, did a fabulous job of recreating the feeling of community and caring. She asked our former superintendent, Wally Delecki, to be the keynote speaker. He is and will always be one of the most influential people in my life. He said that this was the first time he had been really back in the district since he retired 16 years ago. At both convocations, he got a standing ovation and well that he should.
Nick Cornell, the GPS teacher of the year, started it off with a great speech. I was able to speak for the Governing Board. Between Dr. D, Nick, Suzanne and I, one would have thought that we had talked about what we were going to say and we didn't. But the them was the same--caring about people and relationships. It was AMAZING.
Here is my speech just for posterity:
On behalf of the Gilbert
Unified School Board, I would like to welcome you back for the 2017-18 school
year!
Martin Luther King once
said, “No work is insignificant. All
labor that lifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken
with painstaking excellence.
Each and everyone one of
us in this auditorium today works to lift humanity because we work for the
future of this great country and the promise of a better tomorrow. There is no more important job than being an
educator. And when I use the term
educator, I mean everyone involved the education of our children!
Several years ago I was
able to welcome back all of the GPS teachers. I told a story that most of you probably
cannot even imagine. When I started teaching
at Gilbert, there were only about 800 students in K-8. I usually drove down Elliot Road which was
a two lane road with only stop signs.
There was no housing, only fields.
In the winter, the sheep herders from northern Arizona brought their
sheep to Gilbert. Every now and then
they we herd them down Elliot. One
time, I got caught in the middle of the sheep herd. If you have ever experienced anything like
this, it can be a bit scary. However,
for me the scariest part is that I knew
I was going to be late for school because there were a lot of sheep. We had no cell phones to call and let the
school now. I was about 15 minutes late
and someone was covering my class. This happened every now then so they were
prepared.
That is hard to imagine
today when we have 40 schools. Growth
has brought change. In addition,
teaching has changed with so many mandates coming from both the federal and
state levels. The one constant no
matter what happens with growth or mandates, no one can take away the caring
for children and the importance of relationships. I absolutely believe that all children can
be successful and building relationships is the single most important thing
that educators can do to make that happen.
Helen Keller said, “Once
I knew only darkness and stillness…my life was without a past or a future…but a
little word from the fingers of a teacher fell into my hand that clutched at
emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living!
Each of you have the power to ensure the rapture of living and what can be more powerful than that?
I know how important
your time is and that you all want to get back to your schools to get ready for
the students.
So I will end with a
quote from Kid President (I had never heard about Kid President until learning about him from Chip Pettit.)
“You don’t need a
cape to be a hero; you just need to care.”
Each morning you put
on your “invisible” cape and set off to “care” for your kiddos and make a
difference. You are all heroes in my book!!
Thank you to the new
employees for choosing Gilbert Public Schools and thank you to all of the loyal
employees who continue to help make this the best District anywhere!
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