Our Strength is Found Within!
District Goal Setting Process Begins.
February 22, 2008
This article is not ending up anything like I planned. I planned to let folks know about the beginning of our School Board’s goal setting and planning process Monday night. But, as often happens, what my head “was about to” say did not match what my heart “had” to say.
I wanted to begin this article with a good quote related to the importance of taking heed of where our school district has been in order to do our planning for the future. You know…….something like this – “Reviewing the Past in order to Plan for the Future”. I didn’t expect my search to bring me face-to-face with one of my favorite quotes that always stirs my soul. Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden and Civil Disobedience - required reading for a college student in the early ‘70s, wrote and said, “What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
When I read this meaningful quote again this morning my brain jumped from thought to thought to thought. Finally, after several moments of silent meditation this quote inspired me to reach this conclusion – the process of goal setting and planning is extremely important for the success of an organization such as our school district; however, the most important ingredient for organizational success are the people who live and work “within” the organization.
Our school district is very fortunate to have the dedicated, caring employees and school board members that we currently have. It is very difficult for a small, rural district such as ours to hire and retain outstanding teachers and staff members and it is even harder to find community members willing to volunteer to do the work of a school board. Most of them could go to work elsewhere for a potentially larger salary, but they choose to stay here where they make a significant difference in the lives of our students and our children every single day. What a wonderful gift they give to our school and our community!
Yes, next article I will be reporting to you the efforts of our School Board to set future goals for our school district, but for today, I want you to understand how fortunate we are to have the wonderful people working and volunteering to make our school district outstanding. If you agree, I encourage you to let them know.