Sometimes I lay awake at night thinking of my responsibility, as a leader, for the safety of over 1,300 students. With serving 2 sites, it is impossible for me to be at each site everyday. I am thankful for the close relationship and constant communication I have with my principals. However, a "Columbine" situation could happen at any time, any where.
After reading chapter 3 in Leadership Connectors (Hensley, Burmeister), I spent a few hours thinking about how each staff member may feel and what can I do to ensure everyone feels safe. I went through each of the suggestions from pages 68-69 and developed a system to try each of them this week. I have so much to learn and each week I find more useful information from this book.
As a teacher, I worked to create a safe learning environment with consistent structure, routine, and expectations. My challenge now as a leader is to create, not only a safe learning environment, but also a safe working environment for our staff. It is important that I maintain a culture of caring, respect, trust, communication, safety, and support. I am thankful to my mentors who model this for me daily and who check in with me often.
Our best opportunity to be creative and innovative thinkers is when we feel relaxed and safe. Our students deserve and environment that is calm and relaxed, that promotes creative thinking and problem solving, and where they know that we believe in their success. As Doc often said, "a fair break for every kid!"
Carrie- great post. Your staff is so fortunate to have an administrator who cares so much or them. We had a parent who came into our office showing extreme concern about the fact that our campus didn't have up fences/ gates yet (they had just moved from Las Vegas). I explained to her that our founding father (Doc) actually took down fences and wanted the schools to be a part of the community. Here we are 50 years later and still no fences.....that mom stayed on campus all day, and came by during recesses and lunch the remainder of the week. She finally stopped coming by and even told me that our campus was so peaceful. I'm so glad our students don't have to be "caged in". :-)
ReplyDeleteCarrie- I totally agree with you! The best opportunity for everyone to reach their maximum potential is when they feel that it is safe enough to take risks. P.S. I am certain that you are doing an amazing job- don't lose sleep over it... easier said than done ;)
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