SMS Principal Blog

"Everything ends; you just have to figure out a way to push to the finish line." -Jesse Itzler Here we are. I am writing this post in an empty building the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Anything could happen in the next 6 days, but right now, we are scheduled to return to school for the final 12 days of the semester. It has been the most difficult semester any of us have ever experienced, but that has been the case for every educator everywhere. In fact, that has been the case for just about everyone in every profession the last few months, so rather than spending time belaboring the point about the stressors we are all facing, I want to spend some time highlighting what I think make us different.  We are 12 days away from completing an entire semester of in-person instruction when most people believed doing this for a week was impossible. We are 12 days away from giving our students something that less than 10% of students in the state of Illinois have been afforded. We are 1...

To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.  -Tony Robins Communication is a tough game. It's tougher during a crisis, and even tougher when trying to communicate with so many different people. Over the last several months, I have tried to communicate with all of you as effectively as I can. I have attempted to be inspirational and supportive as we face these challenges. I'm afraid I have been ineffective in a lot of ways. I assure you this ineffectiveness is not due to a lack of desire to be effective. I am, by nature, a positive person. It isn't to say that I don't have negative thoughts, moments, days, weeks. I do. I simply try to avoid staying in that place for very long. I am also, by nature, a fixer. When I am in a negative place, I attempt to fix it. When those around me are in a negative place, I attempt to fix that too. I suppose th...