Back to School Convocation
Before my venture into accounting marketing and Gallup coaching, I spent 22 years in K-12, working as a community education coordinator and manager, communications director, including 17 years as a summer school director.
It was a blast. I had overall responsibility for pre-school summer classes, elementary and junior high classes and camps, some remedial, some just for fun, and senior high academic classes. The folks that step forward to work in summer programs are those who really enjoy working with kids, and although they take it seriously, the also know how important it is to lighten up in the summer.
As most of the K-12 world was winding down in June, waiting for their days away from school, Donna and I were gearing up – registering many hundreds of kids, working with custodians in five schools, ordering supplies, figuring out the bus routes, coordinating with the Park & Rec colleagues, and all the last minute hiring.
Programs ran for two weeks in June and three weeks in July. In the early years, I would keep barreling through in August, only take a few days or maybe a week off, since we had fall programs to prepare, too. By the time everyone was back in the buildings getting ready for fall, I was still recovering from the busy summer.
I remember one fall convocation in particular. Our superintendent got up on the stage, every employee in the room, and said he hoped we’d all had a relaxing and enjoyable summer filled with time to rejuvenate.
I almost went up on stage and popped him in the nose. Not really, but seriously, it was a bit deflating.
How could he say that when some of us, the summer programs staff, the custodians, the techs, had busier summer schedules than we did during the school year? I remember stewing on that statement for a very long time before deciding that I could either be mad about it, or I could do something about it. Control what I could control.
From that unfortunate day forward, I committed to taking a two week vacation every August, after the rush of summer and before the fall programming got underway. It wasn’t that I never could before, I just never had. And once I did, I was able to smile and think, yes, I did have two weeks of relaxing and enjoying summer when the superintendent again hoped we had! Yes I was rejuvenated!
For the last few years of my summer programs work I was asked to be the first speaker at the back to school all staff gathering – welcoming everyone to the fall program. I was careful to not say, “welcome back,” since so many had never left, and highlighted all that had happened during the summer.
I guess there are two lessons in this story. First, know your audience. It may have been true that 80% of the employees in front of him had been off all summer, but if it’s not true for everyone, don’t go there.
And second, think about what you can control – are you stuck in a certain place? Can you change the scenario to improve the situation? Sometimes it’s just stepping back, taking a look, and making an adjustment. No one other than me was really affected by my two-week vacation, but it sure made a difference for me.
As we start the new school year I encourage you to buy some new pens and a notebook and take stock of what you can change for the better. Start with the small stuff, it’s often the most helpful anyway.