I get to go back to work tomorrow! I don’t have to go back to work… I get to go back to work. Okay… I have to go back. Wells Fargo and my wife say I have to go back.
That is not why I go back… I go back because I get to. I get to do what many people on the face of this earth only dream of… I get to make a difference.
Four years ago I was standing in the hallway of Birdville High School talking to a parent of an incoming 9th grader. He didn’t know me… I didn’t know him. He wanted some special treatment for his daughter. He had spoken to her counselor and her assistant principal… and didn’t get what he wanted. I was his next stop.
He only wanted his daughter to take six classes instead of the required seven. With her selection of classes this would not allow her to have an open class at either end of the day… the opening would be smack dab in the middle. He only wanted her to take six classes because that seventh one… the one in question… she couldn’t find anything that interested her. I felt for her.
I told Dad that school board policy required all 9th graders to take seven classes… but I would look at her schedule to see what we could do. Before I got the chance… he called me a paper pushing bureaucrat… A PAPER PUSHING BEURACRAT…
Obviously Mr. Man (not his real name) had never been to my office… paper wasn’t pushed… it sat… gathering dust… until it was needed… or there was nothing else to do. I was not a bureaucrat… I see the world in shades of gray… not black and white… policy smolicy… we have to look out for the best interests of kids. He didn’t know me…
No… he didn’t know me… but he just assumed that I was just some old has been coach who got into administration… I was never a has been coach… I made a difference in the lives of kids on the athletic field… bureaucrat…
I tried to find a solution for Mr. Man… couldn’t find one that was acceptable to him… couldn’t find one that would fit for his daughter… but I looked… I looked hard.
As I start my second full year at the helm of my elementary school… I continue to have that hope… that I can make a difference in the life of a kid… or 450 of them.
I GET to work with a wonderful staff. Count them all up and there are about 70 of them… I hired 1/2 of them… not 35… half of one. In my time there I have hired only a part time position. No one ever leaves!
I GET to go to school and make a difference. I don’t push paper… (it just sits on my desk… unless you are reading this Dr. Waddell… it is filed neatly and in triplicate where applicable)… I am not a bureaucrat.
In my district we love to look at data… we add it up… we subtract it… divide it… use some weird formulas to figure stuff out with it…
One thing that data doesn’t have is a face… the kids have faces… and for that I am truly grateful…
I GET to go back to work tomorrow… and I am so excited… I can’t wait…
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I hope you have a great first day back at work. Smithfield is blessed to have you, still.
Are you kidding me?
Have a good school year! ;’)
Oh, come on….where is the rest of my comment?
As a rule, I do not post anonymous comments. If you would like to expose your real identity to the world, both of my readers, then you have to add your name. If you want to remain anonymous, even though we both know who you are, your comments will be edited. It may not be fair… but it is my blog. Besides, you misspelled two words.
Have a good school year!
Greg,
I see you have an “Anonymous” post-er who claims to be a truth “sayer”???? Did they mean “Slayer”? “Slander”? Just curious… AND they can’t spell??? OUCH! And we thought no one reads these blogs. HA HA!
Good post on your part though. I met one of your fans earlier today. She owns a shop close to your school. LOVES YOU! Said you are the greatest… I told her I agreed and have yet to meet someone who thinks otherwise. Hope there’s enough of you to go around to all of us who admire you!!!
You are so kind. If it’s the lady I’m thinking of she is truly a great person. Thanks for the post.
What? How does someone know I was “slaying” you if they couldn’t read my whole comment? Does anyone else comment on your site besides your wife anyway???? Thank you for pointing out my spelling errors. I guess I was typing so fast (had a lot to say), I failed to proofread my work.
Anyway, I have no doubt that you would edit the comment for your blog, since you don’t seem to take criticism very well. Anyway, I wish Smithfield a superior year in spite your leadership (or lack there of).
**Why should I provide my name if we both know whom this is, and you wouldn’t post the whole comment anyway? You always meet my expectations about you… thanks for not letting me down.
Greg,
Thank you for starting the year with such a positive staff meeting. I loved the U tube on customer service. I think a few of the quotes in the video may come back to haunt you this school year:)
Annette
“Truth Sayer”,
Well, I am violating a basic tenet of mine… but you got your wish on this one. Your entire post made it this time.
Annette,
Thanks for the kind words. I do enjoy working with you guys. You make it fun to come to work everyday. I look forward to you leading one of the ALT groups. The sky is the limit.
Wow Greg, I love reading these comments. I was wondering if I was right about the truth slayer and I was! You can always read “into” the posts of the cowards who don’t sign their name and post “Oh, come on….where is the rest of my comment?” What a sad and bitter person this slayer is. Hope you don’t let a pitiful person like that ruin the attitude of the true man you are! There are just some that are this way. Concentrate and put your energy into those who are worth it!
NOT your wife,
~S
Hello “S” ~ Where is your identity? You obviously have not had the same experience with Mr. B that I have, but I understand. He is quite the chameleon in different circumstances. I believe that that there are two sides to every story, don’t you? I am just telling mine. Why would this offend YOU anyway????
You don’t “offend” me. My identity is there… S. Houston. My question is why you choose to attack a man on his blog? Why not approach him face to face? Better yet- why not let it go and realize that you weren’t a fit in whatever capacity your relationship is with Greg? We write these things for fun. If you don’t like him and he doesn’t matter to you, why do you keep coming back?
Shannon,
Retract the claws. I think she is gone.