I was just thinking....

1. You can’t make a difference … unless… you are different.
2. Change is scary. Just ask anyone who knew Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, or Dr. Robert Oppenheimer.
3. NCLB (No Child Left Behind) was a glamorous ideal. However, let’s balance the vision with a taste of reality. A few people are going to design the buildings and many are going to lay the bricks.
4. Discipline strengthens purpose…Respect builds trust…Courage produces results!
5. Weak parents negotiate curfews...strong parents say, "Be home by 10".
6. Trees never lose focus…Sunlight baby, Sunlight!!
7. You are never lost…you are always somewhere!

Ten Words worth Defining...

Ten Words worth Defining…
1. Parental Love: Actions, responses, feelings, and decisions in which on several occasions the correct word is simply, “No”.
2. Integrity: Actions that you see on the outside are the same as what the person is thinking on the inside.
3. Winning: A moment in time to be cherished and remembered… not to be embellished, or placed on the same platform of importance as the process necessary to attain that win.
4. Losing: Events in life from which you should draw strength, wisdom, patience, perseverance, grace, humor, and vision.
5. Role Model: An imperfect human being whose outstanding skills, charisma, charm, looks and appeal is minimized by the immensity of his or her morality.
6. Education: A lifelong pursuit down a perilous potholed path with several open doors lining the route. Another easier parallel path exists, but the doors are closing quickly, barricaded or locked.
7. Courage: Actions leading to lasting positive changes; with clear expectations of being pummeled, and the joy of recognizing our true friends.
8. Discipline: Holding back in order to move forward.
9. Respect: The foundation upon which all interactions with my parents and teachers were built.
10. Happiness: Looking in the mirror and walking away with an internal warm smile.

Has it been worth it?

When I was a young adult, I was such a quiet guy. I didn't share my view and kept most things inside. During my first seven years as a teacher I kept my views guarded. When I shifted to administration in 1998, the passion I had towards facilitating outstanding educational opportunities for all kids, really began to intensify. By the time I took my first principalship in 2002, I was fired up and had a lot to say. My vision for community and academic success drove me forward. So I passionately expressed my views.

I found out that change and strength of character scares people.

1. I went to the school board and superintendent in my second year as principal at Epping Middle high School and presented a vision to turn the Epping school communities into one of the finest in the country. I told them that it would be hard and some would fight the change. I told them I was willing to take all the hits. The superintendent and the board agreed to support me 100%. The school board offered me a four year extension on the spot to validate their support. The superintendent and I came up with a plan for implementation. The process began, people got scared and the superintendent collapsed. She allowed the old guard, that she agreed was the crux of the problem, to take control of the school.

2. I took a position as Head of School for a private education institution on HHI. The owner was a tyrant. When I arrived the teachers had sub-standard pay and no medical benefits. The curriculum was questionable. Half the classes did not have textbooks. SCISA was challenging our legitimacy as a secondary school. The NCAA was challenging the credibility of our graduates. I fought for students and teachers for three years. In the third year the owner called me in and said... "without question this is a better quality school now then when you arrived over two years ago. However, I liked it better when it was a lousy school and I was making more money." Then he convinced the new investors that I was spending over budget when in actuality he had cooked the books shifting other business venture expenditures into my lines. The result, I was convinced to agree to a mutual arrangement that sent me on my way.

3. The superintendent of schools in Beaufort County told me I was the kind of administrator she was looking for. She toldme that I would be a principal in the system in no time. She also told me I could always talk to her if I had concerns. Seven months later I had a concern, so I spoke. I was transferred, demoted and many attempts were made to get me to quit. I expressed my concerns and the papers got a hold of my e-mail to all my colleagues. Between e-mails, phone and personal conversation, over 400 employees in the district have expressed their support for what I said. The standard component of every conversation was a piece in which these people expressed concern about losing their job if they publicly supported me. In the last year I was given a negative review, (I got an attorney. They conducted a new review and I received excellent marks...the district also agreed to shred the bad review.)and not given the opportunity to return to an administrative position despite the fact that I am one of the most experienced administrators in the district.

4. I have been an HHBA little league baseball coach for three years. It has been a joy to coach so many fine young boys and particularly to coach my son. This year I stood up to the chairman of the HHBA committee and to another coach. The chairman is a bully and the other coach is sneaky and demonstrates questionable ethics as a coach. I simply stood up in front of them and called them on the carpet. The vast majority of the other coaches and parents know about these guys and have witnessed their actions. Because of my honesty, I have been banned from coaching my son and was even asked not to come on the field when my son's all-star team was practicing. Never have I ever seen a parent not welcomed onto a field to help out. I have seniority as an HHBA coach and twenty years experience as a high school coach, athletic director, teacher and principal. It would be difficult to find a parent that did not support my philosophy and actions as a coach for their kids.

So I ask myself the question, "Has it been worth it?" Absolutely!!!

No matter how people react, my children will always know and believe that Dad stood up for what he believed in...that he cared deeply about kids...and that he followed the right path, not the easy one!

Triad of Academic Success

Triad of Academic Success

I believe that every child can learn. I believe that every child can embrace the joy of feeling successful. I believe that the bar of academic rigor can be continually raised. However, for too many of our kids, these things do not happen. These children will not enjoy these benefits until a drastic overhaul occurs within our educational system.

First we have got to clear the air, get out of the box, start from scratch, reorganize the bus and incorporate every other cliché that exists in society. All the guidelines that are in place as of today need to be shredded and cleared out. The philosophy of “politically correct” needs to fall off a cliff, lawyers need to go to hell, and parents need to start being parents through actions not just in name. The changes necessary to provide outstanding academic performance will take guts and courage.

The key to success involves the triad model. This is a dynamic triangular relationship existing between students, parents and the school. The only way that effective academic rigor can be implemented is if the links between the three points are tight and strong. The struggle exists where the weak link lies. The withering links develop because of chinks in the pillars. A tone of discipline, respect and courage must be designed and implemented by the parents from the day the child is born. From that very first moment the baby should be nurtured, held, comforted, read to, sung to, told right from wrong, given guidelines,reprimanded and praised. These primary interventions will support the triad when the child is five, thirteen, seventeen and beyond.

Three Pillars revisited

Three Pillars
It is time to stop. It is time to take action on a crucial issue that all of us know is in a critical state. We talk about it at cocktail parties, at coffee shops and at our kids’ ballgames. However, most people are afraid to openly discuss this issue because of concern for the security of their jobs. Educational leaders need to be willing to listen to ideas about academic rigor and success without creating an atmosphere placing an umbrella of distrust, angst and fear over the school district. Every mature, caring, consciences adult cares about the issue. We have talked, soap-boxed, and philosophized long enough. It is time to take action. The three foundational pillars of quality education have eroded and continue to fall apart at an appalling rate. The three pillars are Respect, Discipline, and Courage.
My goal is not to kick students out. My goal is to provide an environment that is safe and lends to an atmosphere of academic rigor. This rigor can only exist in a setting in which there is a foundation of Respect, Discipline, and Courage. We have a systemic problem. Unfortunately, we have allowed the crumbling of the pillars to continue to the point where academic rigor is not occurring in most classrooms in this country. Teachers are burning out at an alarming rate. Courageous administrators are becoming increasingly difficult to find and cultivate. Many parents are doing the right thing, but many are not doing their job; making tough decisions that are best for their kids. They are too busy, self-centered, and absurdly concerned about becoming buddies with their children. The long-term result is that you have parents that are neither solid parents nor friends. They provide their children with stuff but lack in provision of values.
What do we really expect from these kids? Values, ethics, morality, and community pride have been buried under the pounding competitiveness of mass media. All of us smile and share the quality memories of the Dick van Dyke show. However, we let our kids watch prime time shows like “Two and a half Men” where you can see sex, hear sex, and laugh about the promiscuous sexual values. We want our children to be honest, well-mannered, and profanity free. However, we allow our kids to watch reality shows laden with an inappropriate language that promote dishonesty, and unethical behavior. We talk about the community pride that existed in our neighborhoods during the day. However, we don’t bring ourselves or our children to church, attend their activities, interact with our neighbors, or support their tough teachers.
The school system of today designates a vast majority of its energy and resources towards testing, curriculum initiatives and data evaluation. Testing has gone totally off the deep end. Some schools test students almost 20% of the time they are in school. The reality is that incessant testing benefits only the superintendent that is applying for a new job and dresses up his/her resume with a 3% test score increase in their previous district.
We are bombarded with so many curriculum initiatives and the reality is that most never come to a point of fruition, most disperse when the superintendent moves on and they just sap the energy from quality teachers that already know what works. We know that real success will occur when the basics are woven together with the selected benefits of technology. However, district leaders are so consumed by advanced technology that they don’t realize that Johnny can’t do his multiplication table, can’t interpret a simple graph, can’t read the town newspaper and can’t write a sentence with clarity, free of grammar and spelling errors.
The morale in this school s in this district is awful. I’m so tired of listening to the company line, “It’s all about the kids”. The focus should be that “It’s all about the community”. A school district’s vision and mission should incorporate a framework of care and concern for the all the adults as well. I’ve been in education for 21 years and I do love working with the kids. However, unhealthy, overworked, stressed adults are not conducive to the provision of outstanding education. Take a moment to look around and listen. The faculty and staff are exhausted, probably half of them are on high blood pressure medication, and a good amount of them are on anti-depressants. Most of them are outstanding human beings filled with ideas, creativity and the drive to help students learn how to learn. However, they are beat, the energy has been zapped and the excitement has been terminated by the ridiculous burdens of new initiatives and the lack of support that they receive from administration.
“Respect” is a term saved for history class in most schools. Teachers are fed to the lions on a daily basis. I have observed so many classes where it takes several minutes to quiet students down and then the disruptions continue throughout the class time. Students interrupt, speak inappropriately and at inappropriate times, refuse to participate, and address the teacher and other students in a disrespectful manner. The result is 55 minutes of waste and the weakening of potentially strong minds. Their vast exposure to life’s hard and cold realities have numbed or nullified their feelings and emotions. They have seen the frailty of human integrity so often that they don’t expect it of themselves, their parents or anyone else of significance around them.
“Discipline” is the backbone of educational quality. Discipline involves hard work, focus, sweat and the engagement of brain cells. This happens in classrooms with greater infrequency on a daily basis. The reason is quite simple. Our culture has convinced students and parents alike, teachers need to make every day fun, to make sure every child feels great about themselves and that each child is in their comfort zone. What a bunch of baloney! We all know that accomplishment and growth cannot occur without some struggle, pain, discomfort and down in the dirt hard work. I remember a great line from the movie, “Lean on Me” spoken by Morgan Freeman playing the character of Principal Joe Clark. It went like this,” Discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm”. I believe that every child desires and thrives for discipline and structure. It provides direction and purpose for these young adults.
“Courage” is another character trait losing its worth and significance. Our school leaders spend countless hours on policy. Then they proudly announce it to their community. They hire an energized, bright principal to enforce their policies. People fight back and challenge the policy. The principal does the courageous thing and stands firm on the issue. Then we see what happens oh so often. A board member or superintendent gets soft, bends and then the integrity and the purpose of the policy become lost in political and legal umbrage.
Discipline in our schools is not effective. The School Board has set and approved a Discipline Code and policies. The major priority of the assistant principals is to enforce those policies, with the principal in position to handle appeals, high level situations and PR. Discipline is not being effectively enforced in the schools. Let me give you an example. I was asked to supervise in the auditorium, café and a classroom during testing last week. Here is what I experienced when I tried to do my job. Two older African American students laughed at me and two had this exchange; “Doesn’t the dood know I’m black? He doesn’t cuz he’s try to tell you what to do…Ha, Ha”. Another male, when asked to follow instructions, said to me, “F#@& you” and B$@* me”. A female student said to me, “Shut up” when I asked her to remain quiet during testing. I wrote up the boy who said “F#@& you” to me and the administrator did not suspend him. That is absolutely absurd. Any student that demonstrates that type of gross disrespect towards a staff member should be suspended without negotiation even if the student is related to a member of the School Board. Administrators must protect the staff from this type of harassment and behavior.
If a dress code is established, we need strong administrators that will be at the door every morning greeting every child with enthusiasm and vigor. No one should be allowed in that is not following directives. They should be sent home, parents called in with appropriate attire for the student and every electrical device, hat, etc. should be turned over at the door….No questions…no exceptions!!. Do that for about three weeks, take the hits from the parents, hold the course…and you will see a whole different place. If an irate parent goes to the superintendent, the principal should be supported without question. If that parent moves to the board, the superintendent should have the Board watching his/her back.
It takes “Courage and Guts” to really make things work. If we want our institution of learning to become a special place of accomplishment, lasting relationships and community spirit, then we have to make tough decisions. You can take all the data and throw it down the toilet. Forty years ago, our students were number one in the world in math and science. Now we can’t crack the top twenty. Forty years ago, the number one discipline issue was gum-chewing. Now it’s lack of “Respect” and “Discipline”, along with all the peripherals associated with those two points. If you truly desire accurate data, set a policy, enforce it and hold the line no matter how many rhetorical punches you have to absorb!
This all needs to be said. The time to change is today…. not tomorrow….not next fall. If you want “Rigor”, then the pillars of “Respect”, “Discipline” and “Courage must be rebuilt. If the foundation is strong, you will see test scores go up, the cultural atmosphere will blossom and students and staff will have fun and work hard with smiles on their faces. Otherwise, our present direction withers the potential of our students, suffocates the fire of idealism and burdens the shoulders of our community. Our driving goal should be that the warm, calm winds of academic rigor, community pride and ethical actions will permeate through the walls of all our schools.
Thanks,
Mike Sanz