Blessed, not Stressed

Blessed, not Stressed

As I sat and pondered on what to write about for my next article, the Nightly News was on NBC.  While watching, I noticed that just about everything that was reported on was negative in some way, shape, or form: plane crash in Russia, destruction from a storm in the Philippines, tornadoes in Illinois, etcetera.   The negative continued on and suddenly it hit me.  I have no reason whatsoever to feel stressed.  I soon realized how good I have it, and started to think about all the things that have blessed me in my life.  I couldn’t stop.

Why is it that we tend to be more stressed than blessed?  Why is it that our stressors tend to outweigh our blessors (pretty sure that is not a word, but it works).   Why is it easier to see the negative things that surround us rather than the positive things that stare us in the face?  We can change this.

This time of year is all about family and thanksgiving.  After we feast on our turkeys (or other foods) next Thursday, we will begin to focus our attention on Christmas.  Christmas is a joyous time of year because we get to spend more time with our families doing the things that we love to do. 

This holiday season, count your blessings and be thankful for all of the good in your life.  If you sit down and think about it, you can probably come up with a million and one reasons to feel blessed.   I challenge you to feel blessed and not stressed!

What does this have to do with school?  Why is a superintendent telling you this?  Well, you know the old saying… “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”  The same applies for students.   Stress in the home can directly lead to stress at school.   Talk with your children each and every day about the positives in their lives.  One thing that I’ve started to do is ask my kids the same question every night before they go to bed:  “what was your favorite part of the day?”   Now they go to bed thinking about something positive. 

In any event – I will end with a short poem written by yours truly:

Are you feeling crabby?

Things in your life a little shabby?

Are you walking with a frown?

Well, it’s time to turn it upside down.

                               

Now put on your smile

Even if it’s for a two-minute trial.

You will feel better

And your life will feel like it’s coming back together.

If you are still feeling stressed after reading this article, think of the this:  you could be a turkey!

Proud Superintendent

Proud Superintendent

What makes a school great?  This is obviously an overloaded question, which would most likely yield and overloaded answer.  I will keep it simple.

The answer….it depends on who you’re asking.  If you ask the legislator’s that passed the No Child Left Behind legislation the answer is high test scores.  If your students do well on the State test; then you are a great school.   We have to focus on the parts that make up the whole in order to achieve such greatness.   

Have you ever made Rice Crispy Bars but forgot the Marshmallow’s?  How about Spaghetti and forgot the sauce?  Do you know where I’m going with this?

Certainly the ingredients to a great school include more than just test scores, and I can tell you at GCC we are whipping up a great batch of school each and everyday.  I’m proud to be the Superintendent of such a great school.  We often focus on the negative in this world and we tend to overlook the positives.  This is wrong.  We should take pride in our positives, and learn from our negatives. 

I recently read a great article about how Golf applies to our lives.  What does a golfer remember after a round of golf?  The simple answer is – the great shot he/she hit on that one hole.  Of course a golfer hits a number of bad shots, but the one thing he/she remembers is the great one, and it’s the great shot that keeps them going back out for more golf.  Why can’t we apply this to our lives today?   The answer is……..drum roll please………..I said drum roll please…………… we can, and we need to start today.  

So lets begin.

The pride that the communities of Cooperstown and Hannaford have in their school goes unmatched by any other.  I’m willing to take bets on it.  If you have ever wondered why students don’t cheer, or even don’t attend school events anymore – wonder no more.  Please come to a GCC event.   Sportsmanship and Pride are two things that our patrons and students take with them to all of our events.    The support that our communities have for our kids, and the support that our kids have for each other is a site to see. 

The Cooperstown gymnasium is maybe the only place where you could play “If your happy and you know it” at a sporting event and the entire crowd takes part (including teenagers :).  Yep, they put their right foot in and then they take their right foot out, and you better watch out because they shake it all about.   They do the hokey pokey and they cheer and support one another. 

What makes a great school?  It is more than test scores.  It is a pride in doing what we do.  We live, we learn, we play.  We lift each other up.  We lend a helping hand, and we take pride in everything we do.  This is what makes a great school.   As for tests scores making a great school…I think of it like this.  Making progress in our scores should be a major goal for our student’s and teachers.  Supporting each other in everything we do is a major activity of reaching that goal.  If we can motivate, inspire, and support each and every day – we cannot do wrong, and we will continue to see progress.

Thank you to the communities of Cooperstown and Hannaford for supporting our students in all that they do.  I look forward to doing the Hokey Pokey with you real soon.