It has been a bit of a roller coaster at my school, so I
haven’t had much time or heart for blogging. Time for writing has flown away in the wind as our little
ship weathered a storm. Yet in
spite of the clouds, the people who most embody our mission, like our dear
Latin teacher, remind the rest of us why we are here through their evident joy
in our work.
This summer, my humanities partner, our Latin teacher, and I
met to try to more closely integrate what we teach. One example of this integration relates to the concepts of
rhetoric. This year as students
learn ancient rhetorical device in Latin, they will study Dr. King’s “I Have a
Dream” speech and JFK’s First Inaugural Address and examine how those old Greek
and Roman concepts are reflected in modern examples. One of the best practices in gifted education is to
integrate complexity, or big ideas, as an umbrella for our teaching, and that is
what we are attempting to do, working together toward accomplishment of our
mission to provide for the educational needs of gifted kids.
Just how important is the concept of a well-articulated
mission to a school, a faith community, other non-profit organization, or even
a political candidate? Most folks
believe that mission should inform and clarify decision making and behavior
(like curriculum planning), answer questions, and help resolve conflicts It should make life simpler. It is the core, the heart of an
organization, that same ideal I referenced when writing about Simon Sinek. If the folks who work for an
organization believe in the mission, then the work is easy and a source of joy. If they don’t, then perhaps they will
feel disconnected, and the organization will struggle. The clear mission of our school is the
reason I have stayed teaching so long.
While I may not have had time to write during this storm, the people
with whom I work most closely helped me never stop thinking about
the kids and the reason we all choose to be here. We are lucky to be in a place where the motivation is so
clear.
