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In retirement, my “start of the school year” looks different than it did for most of my career. I am not reviewing opening-day schedules, preparing for faculty meetings, checking staffing lists, worrying about transportation, troubleshooting technology, or wondering what completely unexpected issue might appear before the first bell. My mission and purpose have not changed. I still believe deeply in the work of schools. I still believe in children, in educators, in the power

“There is courage in rising without knowing exactly where the wind will take you.” ~ Dr. Catherine V. Addor We spend a lot of time wanting certainty. A clear plan. A guaranteed outcome. A map that tells us exactly where we are going and how we will get there. Some of the most important moments in our lives begin before we have all of that. Sometimes courage is simply choosing to rise anyway. To try the new thing. To say yes. To let go of what is familiar. To trust that even i

Helping Families Understand the Portrait of a Graduate and Outcomes-Based Education For generations, families have understood school through a familiar set of structures. Students attend school for a certain number of days, complete a prescribed collection of courses, earn credits, take required examinations, and, if they meet those requirements, receive a diploma. That system is familiar. Familiar does not always mean sufficient. A diploma indicates that a student has comple

Turn Toward the Light Sunflowers do not spend their days searching for perfect conditions. They root themselves where they are, grow through whatever weather arrives, and keep turning toward the light. This week, remember that you can acknowledge what is difficult without allowing it to become your only focus. Notice what is good. Make room for hope. Turn toward the people, possibilities, and small moments that help you grow. You do not need to have everything figured out. Yo

“Men of genius are thrown together thick as bees, and the honey of intellectual accomplishment is produced.” - March by Geraldine Brooks Most of us know the March family through Little Women. We know the sisters, their ambitions, their conflicts, and the small joys and disappointments that shape their lives. In March, Geraldine Brooks takes a story we believe we know and allows us to experience it through someone else’s eyes. The familiar becomes unfamiliar. The background mo

Today is my birthday, which makes it a natural time to think about what birthdays represent. They are moments to celebrate, but they also offer an opportunity to pause, reflect, take stock, and consider how we want to use the year ahead. In schools, we often measure time by calendars that are not our own. We count marking periods, semesters, school years, testing windows, and graduation dates. Birthdays remind us that growth also happens on a deeply personal timeline. A birth

“Strong women stand up for themselves, and stronger women stand up for others.” ~Leslie Higgins, Ted Lasso (Season 4, Episode 2) Strength is not only measured by how firmly we advocate for ourselves. It is also revealed in how willingly we use our voices, influence, experience, and access to support someone else. Standing up for others can look like speaking their name in a room they have not yet entered, opening a door that once felt closed, challenging an unfair assumption,

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” ~ Dolly Parton There are celebrity deaths that make you sad because you loved the music, the movies, or the memories attached to them. Then there are people whose passing feels like we lost something bigger. Dolly Parton feels bigger. Maybe because she was one of those increasingly rare people who seemed to belong to everybody without ever changing herself to belong to anybody. Years ago, I listened to the podcast Dolly Parton’s Am

’Twas the night before the county fair, and all through the house, no one was resting. Record books were being checked. Show clothes were being located. Projects needed one final touch. Water bottles, folding chairs, extension cords, snacks, grooming supplies, and countless items that someone was certain had already been packed were spread across every available surface. In the barn, hutches, garage, and driveway, animals were being fed, watered, groomed, and checked one more

Agricultural education is sometimes treated as a specialized opportunity reserved for rural schools, career and technical education programs, or communities surrounded by farmland. In reality, every community is connected to agriculture through its food systems, land use, environmental conditions, local businesses, cultural traditions, workforce needs, and patterns of access. For school and district leaders, fostering agricultural education does not necessarily require buildi

When we hear “agricultural education,” we may picture high school electives, large school gardens, barns, or students preparing for careers in farming. But agriculture is already woven into nearly every part of the traditional Pre-K–12 curriculum, from the food students eat and the clothes they wear to science, economics, technology, history, environmental responsibility, and community life. Including agricultural education does not require classroom teachers to abandon exist

“Agricultural education teaches more than how things grow. It helps young people understand responsibility, stewardship, innovation, and their role in sustaining a community.” ~Dr. Catherine V. Addor Walk through an agricultural barn at a county fair, and you will see far more than animals waiting to be shown. You will see young people checking water, cleaning pens, answering questions, solving problems, and caring for something that depends on them. You will see patience dev

What Are You Contributing? We often think of contribution as something big. Leading an initiative. Solving a difficult problem. Creating something new. Receiving recognition for work that made a visible difference. Contribution is not always loud, formal, or easy to measure. Sometimes it is asking the question no one else has considered. Sometimes it is sharing an idea, offering encouragement, or helping a colleague see another possibility. It may be creating space for someon

The first article I ever had published was a really big deal to me. This was back in the day, when I was working as a Model Schools Staff Specialist at our "County" BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services). I had written something; someone thought it was worthy of publishing, and there it was. My name. My words. My ideas. In print. When the editor asked for my byline, I included my name, title, and the organization I worked for. The article was published, and when I

In this video (https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1K9qf3DAXu/?mibextid=wwXIfr), a successful musician tells the story of deciding to leave New York and move to Nashville to pursue music. His guidance counselor thought he was making a huge mistake. They cared about him, wanted him to be successful, and was giving him advice based on what she understood about stability, careers, and the world. For a moment, he almost believed them. Of course, we know the story differently because

“Breathe the sweetness that hovers in August.” ~ Denise Levertov The last few weeks before school starts carry a sweetness all their own. There is excitement building, but also a quiet sense that summer is beginning to slip away. The calendars start filling. The school supplies appear in every store. Families begin shifting bedtimes, making plans, and preparing for new routines. But before we rush into the backpacks, schedules, meetings, and first-day expectations, August rem

Flexibility Is a Practice A flexibility class is built around a simple idea: we become more flexible by practicing flexibility. We stretch carefully. We pay attention to resistance. We learn when to push a little farther and when to pause. We understand that progress cannot always be rushed or forced. The same is true in life and leadership. Flexibility does not mean having no boundaries. It does not mean bending until we break, changing our values, or adjusting ourselves to

Educational leadership rarely comes with the luxury of addressing one issue at a time. There are state mandates to interpret, reports to submit, initiatives to implement, budgets to monitor, meetings to attend, deadlines to meet, and emergencies that arrive without warning. Most days, nearly everything placed in front of us is important. Important and priority are not always the same thing. Something can be important without requiring our immediate attention. Something can be

In my presentations about teacher leadership, I often return to the idea that strong schools do not grow from leadership that sits in one office. They grow when leadership is intentionally cultivated, shared, supported, and sustained throughout the organization. I have also asked participants to consider whether we are truly creating more leadership or simply distributing more work. That distinction matters. Teacher leadership should not be about extracting more from capable

Fall in Love with the Problem, Briefly “Fall in love with the problem, not the solution” is powerful advice. It reminds us to slow down, remain curious, and understand what is really happening before rushing to fix it. We should not live inside the problem forever. Give the problem your full attention for 90 seconds. Ask what is happening beneath the surface. Consider who is affected, what assumptions you may be making, and whether you are addressing the real issue or simply