Helping Educators In The Art Of Being Remarkable

Jake & Max

They’re brothers. Their mother is my daughter, Renae. That makes them my grand-sons.

As Max, the oldest, prepares for kindergarten next year, education has been quite the topic in the last year. Well, it really started even earlier.

My daughter is a certified Spanish high school teacher who left the classroom to be a fulltime mom. She’ll become an associate professor at a local college in January because she can do it twice weekly and still focus on mommydom.

We’re not Hispanic, but we do live in Texas. Renae wants her boys to be bi-lingual. That’s why, a couple of years ago, she and her husband looked to relocate to a school district that had a Spanish immersion program. Her boys will hopefully be bilingually fluent by the time they leave elementary school. It’s a goal for their family. Why? Because it’s about the kids. It’s about putting them in the best position possible for a bright, high-value future.

You could argue that being bi-lingual in English and Spanish is uniquely valuable in Texas, but it transcends our connection to Mexico. It’s about a mind that is capable of learning to communicate in two completely different languages, something I know nothing about. It’s about exposing these boys to a language – and all that goes with it – not native to them. It’s about sharpening their minds. And I suppose mostly, it’s about the possibilities for today and tomorrow.

Why We’ve Not Been Around Here Much

2011 has been a year like most…fraught with political upheaval, especially in education. I’m not political. At all. Sure, I have opinions and leanings, but I don’t enjoy or busy myself with politics. Unless you count listening to Rush Limbaugh, who I find wildly entertaining.

I am a Christian. I am conservative in my views. I’m a capitalist. I’m a proponent of individual responsibility and accountability. I’m in favor of small government getting out of my way so I can achieve whatever success might be possible for me.

In most areas of the country, I’m not at all what many down-the-line educators are, politically liberal. In the summer of 2011 I grew weary with all the Twitter streams, blog posts and articles at Huffington-Puffington (as Rush appropriately calls it) lamenting the politics of public education.

I’m not naive to politics and the impact they have on our lives. I’m thankful to live in America. I’m thankful for our quality of life, our way of life and our freedoms. Yes, I fear they’re eroding. Fast. But, still I’m thankful daily to live in America. And to have been born here, something beyond my control.

My life has been spent leading people in business. I know people. I believe in people.

My career has endured Presidents Nixon, Carter, Clinton and Obama. It’s also endured a Ford and two men named Bush. I respect the office, but often disagree with the actions of the men. Me and millions more. So what?

No American President has ever deterred me from doing work that meant something to me.

No American Congress has ever stopped me from going to work and doing my best to make a positive difference.

No American governmental agency has stopped me from trying my hardest to elevate my own knowledge, my own learning and my own ability to impact my family’s future.

Maybe it’s because my focus hasn’t been on American government, looking at them to answer the problems in my life. Maybe it’s because I’ve always felt I owed my family and myself to do my very best work. To give it everything I’ve got.

Maybe it’s because my wife and I have always focused on making the wisest decisions possible to put our family in a good position for today – and tomorrow. No, we’ve not always made the wisest choice, but still we try.

Perhaps that’s why my daughter took control of her goals for her boys. Maybe that’s why she and her husband decided to put their sons in a position to become bilingually fluent by the time they reach 4th grade. President Obama and the U.S. Congress didn’t decide that for them.

Like so many families in America – perhaps around the world – my daughter’s family is taking aim at helping the kids, their own. Because it’s about the kids.

Teachers and administrators can continue to fill the Internet with political drivel. They can take sides on every issue facing education. And they do.

Because for some (I said, some), it’s not about the kids. It’s about lazy work. It’s about not taking responsibility. It’s about not being held accountable. It’s not about the kids. It’s about winning an argument. It’s about a pension. It’s about health benefits. It’s about finding others to blame for everything. And it’s exhausting work leaving little energy left to focus on the kids.

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Looking Into The Future

The debate will always be about how we prepare our children for an uncertain future. We’ll never have a very clear picture of what the future will look like. The citizens of the future – today’s kids – will not all find success. Some will fail miserably. Others will be wildly successful. The future will contain more than its share of both, just as the past has.

Other than luck, which some refuse to acknowledge, there are some components of fundamental, foundational knowledge which can lead to success. Even so, success isn’t formulaic. For every person who achieves wild success one way, there are perhaps millions who go about it in similar fashion only to fall on their face in defeat. Success never has been a one-size-fit-all deal.

Standing on a hilltop a grandfather shows his grandson the farmland, representing a past life for America. Sure, there are farms and ranches today, but it’s no longer the way of life for most Americans. Before that, we hunted and gathered. After that, we moved to the city to work in factories.

Today, the farm is twice removed from being our economic engine. We are now in an age where knowledge and information rule the day. And our jobs. Along with our way of life.

The future of our children demands what of our present schools? Quite a lot actually. Much of it is still unknown and under development for the simple reason that the future is unfolding before us as a live event. As with every generation before, we’re having to make it up as we go.

There is, however, a skill that I believe is going to be required of our children (and our grandchildren) if they’re going to have the opportunities to achieve. Accomplishment, achievement, fulfillment, happiness – all those things we consider part of success – have always required this skill. History is a wonderful teacher. It shows us our future like nothing else.

No matter the technological advancements, this one skill will help our children grow up into responsible adults capable of tackling the challenges of their day. Listen to today’s show and see if you don’t agree.

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