Day 2: School Visit and General Session

What do you stand for? If yesterday was a lot to take in…. today was the dessert you ordered before you realized how full you were. My mind is reeling. Having been to Leadership Day at AB Combs Elementary School, it wasn’t so much the novelty or wow factor of what children are more than capable of doing as leaders that overwhelmed me. Although, I wish every.single.person. I love could experience a school visit like this just to be exposed to that paradigm shifting culture. Each would walk away saying “oooooh, I get it. I see why you love this.”

“Leadership is communicating to people their WORTH and POTENTIAL so clearly that they come to see it in themselves.” – Stephen R. Covey

Today it was the abundance of in-your-face reminders: banners, student speeches, student panels, thought provoking speakers and true leadership culture that motivated my brain to overdrive. Everything I saw and heard I was funneling through a filter of do we? can we? will we?

I’m looking forward to sharing these experiences and driving questions with my team and my school community. It is encouraging to recognize the same kind of leadership culture developing in our school. I saw many of our own students today in the little ones who shook my hand, stood with courageous smiles on their faces, and bravely projected sweet voices out to a huge audience of eager adults.

All symposium attendants split up onto 8 buses to travel to 5 different elementary schools. I was on bus #1 and headed to Naomi Pasemann Elementary School. This school is made up of over 600 students in only the first, second, and third grades, and the student population is quite different from either of my own school campus experiences as a teacher. (The specific statistics were delivered to us by a very sincere gentleman with a handsome polo shirt and a microphone. He is currently in third grade.)

Following our welcome in the library, we were divided into tour groups and ferried politely and earnestly around the clean, busy, and welcoming building to various classrooms and stops to admire hallway content by a second grade and third grade student. The students in the first grade classroom I visited wore necklaces with tags that read: “ask me about ________”. They were prepared to share their data notebooks (lots of great ideas), classroom jobs, student work, and classroom routines. The young man who shared his data binder with me explained his ultimate success goal for this year is winning the principal’s award (for citizenship) because of “that AMAZING pencil comes with it!!” We visited a classroom at each grade level before wrapping things back up in the library and returning to the symposium site.

The second half of the day was filled with guest speakers and a student panel. I have some great thoughts to come back and share with my grade level team and leadership team. I left feeling tired, but positive. I also left… my water bottle.

Tomorrow I will: seek out the lost and found (please have one), reaffirm my respect and admiration of Muriel Summers (keynote speaker!) and participate in 3 break out sessions of my choosing. There are so many good ones- how to decide?!?!