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Volume 4, No. 1
Fall/Winter, 2010 Exclusively online at
www.EducationHall.com
"Is the juice worth the squeeze?" Three years ago I sat in an oversized meeting room in a downtown hotel with a small group of up-and-coming administrators listening to legal jargon about issues I intended never to have to deal with. It was about two and a half hours into the session when the lawyers rested while one of our district administrators, a mentor of mine, took a moment to do some motivational speaking. “Harry” was a big guy with many years of experience and an immense love for this business. He began talking about his path in education and how he admired us for embarking on this administrative journey. He warned us, “There will be bumps in the road. There will be good days and bad days, successes and failures but in the end, only you can decide…” and that’s when he did it. He nonchalantly picked up two ordinary oranges, previously disguised as a healthy snack waiting to be eaten, and demolished them in his hands. Squeezing them so quickly and so violently that the juice covered his suit jacket, his tie and the floor around him, he bellowed, “…if the juice is worth the squeeze!” I didn’t immediately comprehend what had just happened. At the time, it was difficult for me to get past the fact that he had ruined, or at least stained, a perfectly good suit. This was important to me as I only owned, and still own, just one dark gray suit that works for all occasions. It wasn’t until recently that I had a legitimate response to and a genuine understanding of his statement. The occasion in question was when I received this email from the Parent Involvement Facilitator who works at my previous school: Dear Mr. Cordell, How are you? We miss you over here. You’ll never guess who came back as a Jr.ROTC cadet last week…Sophia Rodriguez. She looked great in her uniform and is passing all of her classes! Her life is back on track and she is even ahead of schedule for graduation! Anyway, I thought you would want to know. Mrs. M I believe I literally gasped. Sophia? Really? Sophia Rodriguez? The same Sophia we had tracked to the park, chased down the street, searched bathroom stalls, made home visits, sat through truancy meetings, typed hundreds of referrals, watched her stare at the ceiling while we were trying to lead her back to the “right path,” laid awake at night wondering if her mom has heard from her, helped her with homework and just sat while trying to listen to a pretty young lady explain why and how she is where she is in only 13 years of life? The last time I had seen her was two years ago when she was being escorted out of our building and driven to a facility where she could receive more intense counseling and guidance. To me, it seemed hopeless as, even with this wonderful opportunity for her to turn her life around, the facility was voluntary and she could simply walk out the front door if she chose to…but she didn’t. It was then, alone in my office after most of my current staff had gone home that I read my email and, with tears in my eyes I realized that I had a part, however small, in saving her life. The meetings and conversations, the phone calls from her mom, the truck rides around the neighborhood and the many “what are we going to do with her” conferences all flashed through my mind. I didn’t see her in her uniform or talk to her that day but I could definitely picture her as a success, just as we had tried so hard to do many times before with her. Finally, I had an answer. So…is the juice worth the squeeze? Hell yes it is! It’s just common sense.
Bring Derek
Cordell to your school or district: Click
http://www.EducationHall.com/contact.htm for more information. |
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