People Don’t Buy What You Sell, They Buy Why You Do It: What Are We Selling in 2021?

 As we enter the New Year, most people set resolutions or goals to accomplish.  This has been an annual ritual since the inception of time, yet most years the greatest percentage of people fail at most of their resolutions.   The best times to set the tone as a principal or leader is at the very beginning or after an extended break, such as Christmas.  As I reflect on potential resolutions, I go back to our purpose, mission, and vision as an organization. 

 

What is our purpose?  To provide the best possible education in a physically, mentally, and emotionally safe environment.  Our mission of “Commitment to Excellence” and our vision of “Every Student Every Day” require that students always come first in our decision-making and everything we do in school.  What is our product or what are we selling and who are our consumers?  Consumers are our students, parents, and community, but what do they buy?  Many people would say that they buy or consume the best possible education for their child.  While this statement is true to a point, I’d argue that our parents buy much more than that and something far simpler than that.  The average parent isn’t super well-versed in the latest education jargon, instructional concept, or technological advance in education.  What they buy from us is trust and confidence in the people that are working with their children and confidence from the students that the adults in the building will do every possible thing they can to help them learn and be successful. 

In talking with a good friend and colleague who sends their child to our school, they told me they planned to leave their child at the school even if their job location changed.  They didn’t speak of the push to go 1:1 or the renovations to the building or the extensive programs we offer.  Instead, he only talked about “who” was working with his child.  He had trust and confidence in the teachers and staff at the school, the coaches, the administration, and the adults in the building to prepare and care for his child.  In thinking about the decision of where we would send our own kids to school, I remember the number one reason we sent our kids to the high school they went to was because I had a profound confidence in the teachers, principal, guidance counselor, and staff at the school.  I trusted them to treat our kids like they were their own.  I had worked with many of the teachers and staff at other schools and knew how good they were instructionally and how much they went above and beyond for kids.  The principal was my former assistant principal at my first principalship and I had so much confidence in her to look after my kids that we moved our kids across a state border to send them to school in the district where I worked with people that we trusted. 

 

If I could have a couple of wishes for 2021 they’d be that students were better off because of my being there, that teachers and staff were more effective and enjoyed their work to a greater degree because of my being there, that our parents and students are confident in us to do everything we can to help students be successful, that my supervisors are confident in our abilities and performance to give us autonomy to be able to do whatever it takes to help ALL students be successful, that our students and parents are confident in us to do what's best for students and put students first, that our school is better off because I'm there, and that we always remember that every decision in our building is based on what’s best for our students and not what’s easiest for the adults in the building.  Simply put……without students, they wouldn’t need any of the adults in the building. 

 

In going back and forth with a colleague in South Carolina, we were talking about grading and how many schools have failed so many students this past fall semester.  Grading could be a whole book in itself, but what matters most is learning.  As we go into 2021, we must revisit our purpose of what we do and be able to see the bigger picture of our work.  Is our work about compliance or commitment, doing or learning?  Great schools are learning institutions, where everyone in the building is constantly building capacity and building tomorrow through learning today.   As we go into a new calendar year, we must remember who are our consumers, what are they buying, and why do they buy it?  What they are buying is trust and confidence in us to do what’s best for children because they trust the people in the building.  We don’t have the right to break this trust.  We have a responsibility to live up to the expectations of our consumers.  We have a responsibility to always do what’s best for students!

While some districts are moving to remote learning full-time or part-time to begin the new semester, we have to ask if this decision was made in doing what’s best for students or what’s most comfortable for the adults?  Almost 83% of our students chose to return on a face-to-face basis this semester.  We all know that most of our students need to be back in school, both for safety and for learning.  While a percentage of students can be served effectively through online learning, the impact of a great classroom teacher can’t be denied.  The relationships and rapport teachers have with students is critical for student success.  The responsibility of the school and district to act in parenti loco is critical for students to be safe physically, mentally, and emotionally.  I’m one that fully supports the decision of our district in returning to learning in two days with both face-to-face and online options.  I whole heartedly believe that the decisions made in how we return to school for the Spring semester and how we will navigate the Spring semester will all be made with the best interests of students at the forefront.  That’s what our parents and students are buying…..trust and confidence in us to always make this the basis of all of our decisions!