AWSP Blog

Every now and then, a conversation with a student becomes profound and life-changing. A conversation where you leave the conversation a different person than when you entered. Where students teach you a lesson that you never knew you needed to hear. That sums up a conversation I had with a student this week.

October is National Principals Month. Principals and APs, you are a beacon of hope for your entire school community. And, if there has ever been a time in our history where hope is essential, it is now. Don’t ever underestimate the power and influence of your leadership, nor the hope that you can breathe into the lives of both your students and your staffulty. As your professional association, you can count on AWSP to continue shining a bright light on the life-changing work of principals and assistant principals throughout and beyond this October’s National Principals Month. The world needs to know about your incredibly hard, yet amazingly rewarding work.

As I look to the future of our education system, I challenge all the thought leaders, policy makers, and educational leaders to think differently as we redesign our new approach to serving kids. Whether we are still operating under a distance learning model, blended model, or back to some version of brick and mortar, can we prioritize relationships above all else? Can we build everything around creating time for students and adults to find, build, and sustain meaningful relationships that create hope for everyone involved?

Change is normal and while it's normal to question and wonder how the world will change, I believe the bigger and more important question to ask is, "How will I improve and grow from the change?"