Inspiration is where you find it. This post is to be shared with all my colleagues, who, whether they realize it or not, make this kind of a difference in kids lives every day they come to work. This is what it's all about.
I had just come off a day that was a great day overall. We now have four teams on campus at The Academy, so the teachers and staff are busier than ever. I had made promises to myself this semester that I wasn't going to make promises to students and their parents that we couldn't realistically fulfill. Yet I also made many promises to students and their parents that I felt we could fulfill, and we needed to fulfill, to be truly success oriented for our kids.
This day, this semester even. I hadn't felt as organized as I usually do, but I was deep in the trenches every minute of every day, working with kids, connecting with kids, and helping them recognize their Personal Legends. We were working with students grade 6 - 12 and some Post- graduates, helping them get ready for their next steps. It was all starting to gel.
But it isn't easy, and just because you work hard and feel like you're being successful doesn't mean that you can make all of the people happy all of the time. I have always maintained that I am there for the families as much as I am for the kids, but today was a challenge to that conviction. For this day I was embroiled with a parent over what was best for their child. As a parent myself, I always try to look at things from both an educators perspective and a parents, because I know what a difficult job it is to be a parent. The gist of the conversation centered around a common theme I have encountered during my career; parents wanting a certain thing, and calling into question my professional judgment because they feel that they know what is better, educationally for their child. In this case, I held strong to my convictions as to what was better educationally, and emotionally for the child, as we held our phone conference, and the child was brought to tears because the parents wasn't truly hearing what the child needed from their parent. I wish that parents and families would truly trust the educators whom their entrust their children to. I understand from a parent's perspective that that respect has to be earned.
At the end of our conversation, the child was emotionally distraught, and we hadn't yet reached a mutually acceptable solution to the issue. I tried to convey to the parent that growth and self-realization was what we were after in this moment, not perfection, and that we had achieved both of those things. I tried to get this parent to acknowledge the positives in their child and in their child's work, and to realize, as was stated in a recent contemporary movie, " Everything will be all right in the end... so if everything is not all right, we haven't yet reached the end." At the end of the conversation, we hadn't agreed to disagree, and the parent's next step was to contact my supervisors Joe, and John Willson. This is ok, because I feel, from a parent's perspective, if you don't get the answers you want or feel you need, you need to go to the top.
At the end of the day, as I was packing to go home for the weekend, I decided to check Facebook, as I do rarely now, as I simply don't have the time. I was surprised by a message from an old student of mine from the inner city projects, who I first taught in 1st grade, back almost 20 years ago. He, obviously, is an adult now. It affirmed for me the idea that "Everything will be all right in the end... so if everything is not all right, we haven't yet reached the end." As parents and educators we may not always get the answers or results that we feel we want or we need at the time, and that the fruits of our labor may not be seen until years to come. I think what he says sums it up best, so I wanted to share it with you. This, again, is dedicated to all the educators I work with, who do, infact make this same difference every day. "R" writes:
Thought about you often over the years.
Hey Mr Lefko im been doing good over the years i finish school i even went back to school to build houses and i
finish that now im in college now doing very well still shy but alot better. You was the best teacher i ever had ever
now as i grow up you was the best you never look down on me i hope the kids you are working with see how
wonderful you are and see that they got a great teacher and friend. Got alot of respect and love for you, be great
like you are and get back at me when you can.
Grammatical errors aside, I hope you see that in school, it isn't always the academics that are the most important. I can't wait to write him back, and maybe meet him for coffee or something.
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