Panther Connection

  “Positive energy is like a muscle. The more you use it the stronger it gets. The stronger it gets the more powerful you become. Repetition is the key and the more you focus on positive energy the more it becomes your natural state.” ― Jon Gordon Positivity takes practice. As Jon Gordon states, “positive energy is like a muscle.” We have to practice and exercise to make it easier and more natural. While this is my favorite action of my leadership vision, positivity is embedded in each of the actions and the foundation for my personal vision. Having a positive outlook keeps us focused on hope and the good in people. Finding the good in others and ourselves helps us find the purpose to make a difference. Positivity is a lifestyle change. Life has its ups and downs. How we choose to keep going during the down times matters. The power of positivity lives inside me! It lives inside all of us. We just have to nurture it. Being positive not only promotes happiness, it leads to better healt

  DeWitt Public Schools is excited to post several new jobs to better support students, teachers, teaching, and learning in the district. One thing that I have learned in my discovery over the past month is that the district has been growing and many departments and people are doing more with less. This discovery, combined with the challenges from the past two years, made us evaluate what could do to put people and measures into place to maintain the focus on excellence and provide the necessary supports to do so.  In addition to several hires to replace employee attrition, we have posted the following positions: 4 Specialists will serve as instructional coaches with both MTSS and curriculum. Elementary (K-5) Academic Specialist Elementary (K-6) MTSS/Behavior Specialist Secondary (6-12) STEM Specialist Secondary (6-12) ELA/Humanities Specialist 4 Instructional Assistants to support academics 3 Elementary (one per building) 1 Middle School These eight positions will work closely with Br

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” -- Robert Kennedy Taking big risks can have the biggest return   on investment.  Growing and becoming better comes from taking risks and pushing ourselves to do what sometimes feels impossible. The biggest, most rewarding growth comes from the most challenging tasks. If I want my administrators and teachers to take these types of risks, I, as the lead learner, need to model it, encourage them, and create an environment where it is not only acceptable to do something different, but it is expected. Servant and transformational leadership styles help support this leadership action of taking and defending risks. This also means that failure, reflecting, and growing are a part of that culture. Carol Dweck’s work around growth mindset is helpful with this leadership action as well.  Dr. Dweck speaks about the power of yet in her research and writings. This is one of many reasons why I support standards-based grading. Just be

  State testing, reporting, and school rankings are a fact of education. Using data to guide instruction and progress monitoring to determine where students are and what they need is crucial to academic success, but achievement goes so much deeper than that. We must also focus on the whole student. Character, relationships, social-emotional well-being, and most importantly safety, security, and love are crucial to helping students (and staff) achieve their fullest potential. The work we put into achieving our goals, and the journey of both success and failure builds character. It is not just about the outcome; it is the process where true learning takes place.  For the action of achieving, more of a Transformational style of leadership is needed. Through this type of leadership, leaders will inspire and motivate others to implement a vision or achieve school improvement goals. Leaders and teachers have to not only have charisma, but we need several behaviors to motivate our student

  As a leader, I try and empower my teachers and staff, as well encourage them to empower our students. One of my leadership styles is servant leadership. Peter Northouse, the author of Leadership: Theory and Practice , which is the text I used for my Leadership Theory graduate class, explains that servant leaders empower their followers and build their capacity.  Initiatives and outcomes are usually even better than what I have ever expected when limits are removed, people are empowered, and creativity is unleashed. Many of my actions of leadership vision are used in combination with one another and not in isolation.  S uccessful teams, buildings, and districts take a great deal of hard work, and it is work that we cannot do alone. To maximize our efforts, we must empower our staff, and we need to work with our staff to empower our students. John Spencer and A. J. Juliani wrote a great book, Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning. This is a great resource to help tak

L ove, learn, and laugh are the first set of actions that make up my leadership vision. This collection of actions is to remind me of the importance of loving people with whom I serve and work, learning alongside them, and taking time to laugh with them--and sometimes at myself. People go above and beyond when they feel loved. Making our students and staff feel loved is the most important action we can do. Servant leadership is about putting our students and staff first, creating value, and also sharing the journey with them by creating collective leadership. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, once our basic physiological needs such as oxygen, food and water, and safety are satisfied, the interpersonal need of belonging and love must be met. Love can be fostered and developed in several ways, but it is something that takes time and trust to develop. Team building is a great way to help others feel that they belong. Team building is important in all aspects as well: admin t

During the transition into a new leadership role, challenges exist for the leader and the stakeholders. While I am both thrilled and excited to serve DeWitt Public Schools, I also know that several challenges exist. Not only is it a new role, but it's a new county, community, and district which comes with meeting a lot of new people and learning a great deal about all aspects of the community, district, and programming. However, I know that I am not the only one transitioning.  Staff, families, students, and even community members are often uneasy about changes a new leader to the district may bring. To help with this transition, and even shine some insight into who I am as a leader, I will spend the next few weeks sharing more about my leadership vision and how I aim to serve the district. While the vision of the district is done in collaboration with the Board, staff, and stakeholders, a leadership vision is more specific and personal to the leader. While it may evolve over time,