Tips For A Successful 2015

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Well it is that time of the year again.  Christmas has passed and you are patiently waiting for the New Year. You are wondering why you ate as much as you did over the holiday, and you are contemplating about your 2015 New Year’s Resolution.

I don’t know about you but I find it very hard to fulfill resolutions.  I actually don’t like the word resolution when it comes to discussing the New Year.  Resolution is an answer to a problem.  I don’t like the word problem either.  We don’t have problems, we have setbacks.  Setbacks are temporary with the right mind set.  The right mindset requires a positive attitude.

I’m positive that positivity has a positive impact on our lives.  So I have decided that for 2015, I’m not going to have a resolution.  However, I’m challenging myself to simply be more positive.  I have come up with my own top 10 version of how to have a positive 2015.  I challenge each of you to follow these 10 simple tips and join me.

10. Seek out the good in everything.  It is easier to see negatives, so challenge yourself to find the positives  in every situation.

9.  Be a leader.  You do not have to have a leadership degree to do this.  We can all be leaders.

8.  Be healthy.  This is better than a resolution to lose weight.  Challenge yourself to eat healthier, and exercise more.  A healthy body equals a healthy mind and vice versa.

7.  Glorify good news.  If you are in the business of telling stories, tell positive ones.  The more positive stories the more positive people.  The more positive people equals a healthier society.

6.  Talk less and listen more.  I have nothing more to write here.

5.  Give more than you take.

4.  Compliment somebody every day.  It’s always nice to get a compliment and to know that you matter to someone.  You do matter – you know that right?

3.  Smile frequently. 

2.  Limit the time you spend on your technology gadgets and increase the time you spend with family.

1.  Have a conversation with somebody different every single day of 2015.  A simple hello can go a long ways.  

So instead of finding a resolution or fixing a problem, I challenge each of you to practice the ten things listed above for 2015.  I place strong emphasis on the word “practice,” as I’m fully aware that some days are just better than others.  I truly believe that if we strive to be better and do better the world in which we live will get better.  It's actually quite simple.

Have an excellent 2015!!

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Heroes

What is the definition of a hero?  Is a hero somebody who defies the odds?  Is it a professional athlete that you look up to?  Are your parents heroes?  The term hero has been tossed around for centuries and has come to mean many different things.

When I was younger, my brothers and I, along with a friend of ours were avid autograph collectors.  We wrote letter after letter to the people that were heroes in our eyes.  Of course many of these letters were scripted to professional athletes.  As a result, I think we could put the challenge out there to anybody to name a professional athlete who existed between the years of 1985 to 1999, and it would be a sure bet that we have his autograph.

This was my idea of a hero when I was growing up.  As I look back, I can’t help but laugh and think of how naïve I was.  However, I was a kid who thought he existed so he could be the next Michael Jordan.  I never once thought of my parents as heroes.  I never once thought of the people that fought/fight for our freedom as heroes.  Nor did I ever consider my teachers as heroes.

I completely understand that athletes and other members of famous groups can be considered heroes.  Many of these people do amazing things outside of their profession for people.  I think that’s admirable.  I also think that sometimes we fail in recognizing other heroes.   How about the people that have a positive impact on others every day of their lives?  God bless our soldiers.  God bless our police officers and fire fighters.  God bless our teachers.  God bless our parents.  These people are extraordinary heroes as well.  I can’t help but think sometimes that we have things a bit backwards in society.  A multi-million dollar contract to hit homeruns compared to what a soldier makes for walking through mine fields and fighting off those that are trying to take your freedom away just doesn’t compare in my eyes.

I’m not writing to criticize the entertainment world.  I believe it plays a vital role in our society.  I am writing however to pay tribute to some other heroes.  To the soldiers, the educators, parents, and all others who contribute to the betterment of our world each and every day: I say thank you.  I was never a soldier, but I know enough to respect one.  I was never an athlete, but I know the impact they have on youngsters.  I am however a teacher, and I know enough that teachers are heroes everyday.  I’m also a parent, and I understand the sacrifices parents make to ensure the best possible lives for their children.  To sum up what a hero is, I will leave you with a couple quotes.

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” Christopher Reeve

 

"Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary" Gerard Way

 

I think both of these individuals nail it down pretty well. Now if you will excuse me, I’m going to retire this post and begin writing a letter to my parents, asking them for their autographs.  Of course this time I will ask that it be on a check.

 

Travis Jordan

Superintendent

Twitter: @Supt_Jordan

Email: travis.jordan@k12.nd.us

Creatures of Imagination

It was the bottom of the ninth and the game was tied. With two outs and ghost runners on first and third I stepped to the plate.  I was no stranger to this situation.  I had played it over and over in my head.  "Wait for the right pitch," I told myself, as I anxiously approached the plate.

Would it be the fastball?  Maybe the slider?  A hanging curve? Nope, I decided to use a tee : ).  I swung like I would if a piñata full of tootsie rolls was sitting in front of me.  Side note - - - - > My first choice would have been Big League Chew Gum, but nobody ever thought to put that in a piñata did they?

The ball sailed to deep left.  As I rounded first (the sandbox) I saw the ball fly over the left field fence (the garden).  The game was over.  I was a hero.  And you might think that winning the game was the defining moment for me. It wasn't.  The fact that I hit it with my imaginary girlfriend watching on from the rooftop of our house was even sweeter.

Sweet were the moments such as this during my childhood.  We would play for hours, taking breaks only to hydrate ourselves from the garden hose.  When we finished baseball, we switched to basketball, and then football, and yes our imaginary girlfriends sat atop the roof as we showed them what real men do.

You see, we are all creatures of our imaginations.  We make up games and have great ideas all the time.  Although it saddens me that children now days don't see a sandbox as a base or a garden hose as a thirst quencher, I'm excited to see what the imaginations of my own children have to offer.  As an educator and father - the greatest gift I can give to children is the freedom to let them explore their own imaginations and creativity.   

Even though generational thoughts are quite a bit different from when I was younger – we still need to embrace our children’s ideas and passions.  Just because we built cities in the sandbox, or out of freshly wet snow, does not mean children today are deprived as they build cities via Minecraft.   Things such as Minecraft exist because people were allowed to explore their own creativity.  How many people could have been the best at something, or invent the next big thing – if we would have just supported their ideas?  The possibilities in this world are endless and we need to allow our children the freedom to explore the world through their own minds.

Let's give our children the gift of exploration.

I may have been the hero that day in my backyard, but my children will be the heroes tomorrow.  Also, (in case you were wondering) I eventually found someone even better than I could have imagined (even though she would rather go shopping than watch me play baseball).

Missed Opportunities

I can remember the day as if it were yesterday.

I was in my second month in my new position as a school administrator.  The day was no different than any other day.  The foot traffic in and out of my office was consistent with days prior.  Sometime in the middle of the afternoon, a sophomore girl visited me.  I knew this girl fairly well, as she and her family were about to be our new neighbors.  I could tell from the minute she walked in that she was quite distraught.  I proceeded to quiz her about what was bothering her.  She eventually told me that she was getting picked on, but would not give me any names or particular instances.  I offered guidance and was empathetic to her emotions.  She, however, would not tell me the who, what, and when the misbehavior towards her was occurring.  I made a few phone calls and was able to connect her with our school counselor, yet I also advised her that my door was always open.

Fast-forward to later that evening. My family and I were about to spend the first night together in our new home.  I was cooking supper when a knock came to our door.  It was the sophomore student who I had visited with earlier that afternoon.  She was crying.  She told me that she was ready to give me names and specifics on the negative behavior she was facing.  I asked her to come by my office first thing in the morning, and we would get it all straightened out for her. I was conflicted as to whether I should have allowed her to come in and talk.  My education preparation was telling me I did the right thing, but my conscious was telling me differently.    As she walked down the stairs of my deck I wondered if I had done the right thing.  Questions filled my head.  Should I have let her into my home?  Was she going to hurt herself before tomorrow morning?  I had these conversations with my wife, and I called the superintendent at the time to let him know what had happened and to receive his guidance.

I went to bed that night worried, but yet ready to help this girl in the morning.  As I was getting ready for school the next day, I received the call that I will never forget.  It was the school superintendent.  He informed me that this particular student had taken her own life early that same morning.  I started to cry, and I could not stop.  I cried myself to school.  I called my brother as I knew he could talk me through this.  I got to school, shut my office door, and continued to cry.  Questions began to fill my head.  My heart was aching for her family and friends, and my mind was in a million different places.  What could I have done to ensure this did not happen?  Should I have let her in my house?  Did I miss an opportunity to help a child?

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my actions.  That occurrence has completely changed who I am as a person and as a school administrator.  It is precisely the reason I blog.  I can’t help but wonder how many students and opportunities we miss.   How many students are fighting internal battles but look completely fine on the outside?  How many students would like to reach out, but have no one to grab on to?

We need to realize that mental illnesses are diseases like any others.  Just because they cannot always be seen does not mean that they don’t exist.  Sometimes we get carried away with our daily routines and become fixated on taking care of ourselves.  We forget about the people around us.  I’m telling you today, and I’ve said it in previous blogs – take some time to help others.  Sometimes it takes us helping others to ultimately help ourselves.  Every one of us has a story.  We are all fighting something inside us.  What if you could be the one to alleviate that burden for someone else?  What if you took the time to have a simple conversation with someone?  Take the time to hear somebody else’s story, and you never know, it may help you write yours.  You might also save a life.  

I think back to the eleven years I’ve been in education, and I’m reminded of many instances in which a student was trying to reach out to me.  I also know that many of these times I did not give the situation as much attention as I should have.  I have no excuses for that.  I can’t take those moments back.  I now know that every child is worth my time.  I also know that as educators, we make differences every day in the lives of our students, and we often don’t know we’re doing it.  Every moment of every day we need to treat kids as if they are our own.  We need to let students know that we care about them.  We care about their schooling, we care about their dreams, and we will help create possibilities for them.  

This blog has been written with permission from the family of Cassidy Andel.  It has also been written in her memory with the hopes that it encourages people to make a difference in someone’s life.  Please share this message with your colleagues, friends, and loved ones.  Help bring awareness to mental illness.  Don’t miss out on the opportunities to hear someone’s story.

If you or someone you know is suffering from mental illness and/or is contemplating suicide – please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Travis Jordan

Superintendent

Twitter: @Supt_Jordan

Email: travis.jordan@k12.nd.us

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