Controlling Ourselves

Good Morning, Happy New Year and Welcome Back for the Second Semester!

School Board Appreciation Month- January 2017 is School Board Recognition Month. This provides a great time to focus on the crucial role an elected board of trustees plays in our communities and schools. They are extraordinary people who voluntarily tackle the enormous job of governing school districts. Their actions and decisions affect the present and future lives of our children. Please take the time to thank our board members for their service. Our school members are:

Meredith Lucas, Board President

Andrea Lowery, Board Vice-President

Stan Peavy, Board Secretary

ZT Burkett

Dr. Steve Jones

Dr. Pat Martin

Jay Tillottson

Congrats to the Graham Steer Basketball on the win this past Tuesday vs Brownwood and good luck and safe travel to Argyle this evening.

Lady Blues Basketball District Opener is this evening against Vernon at Graham.  Good luck Lady Blues!

GHS Lady Blues in the Stephenville Tournament- Best of luck and safe travel for our GJHS Lady Blues in tournament play this weekend at Stephenville.

Area Band Tryouts in Argyle- We have six area qualifiers that will be trying out this Saturday for the Area Band.  Good luck to Evie Griffin - Clarinet, Seaira Hack - Bass Clarinet, Cassidy Freeman - French Horn, Kaylea Wright - Tenor Trombone, Jeb Curry - Euphonium, Anthony Martinez - Euphonium

Partnership with Ideal Impact- The district has partnered with Ideal Impact to implement an energy management system for three of our facilities: GHS, Pioneer Elementary and the administration building.  Through this program we expect to save approximately $1,000,000 over the next fifteen years.  In the coming weeks you may see representatives from Ideal Impact at these facilities performing various tasks.  A January 27th staff meeting for the GHS (10:00 am) and Pioneer Elementary (9:00 am) teams has been scheduled to share additional information.

The 85th Texas Legislature Convenes on January 10, 2017- I encourage each of to be active personally and via your professional organization by making contact with our elected representatives regarding the issues that impact our profession.  Our representatives are Senator Craig Estes and Representative Drew Springer Jr.  Their contact information is below:

Texas State Senator

Texas State Senate District 30--Senator Craig Estes Capitol Office: CAP 3E.18 Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0130 Capitol Address: P.O. Box 12068, Capitol Station Austin, TX 78711 District Address: 2525 Kell Blvd., Suite 302 Wichita Falls TX 76308 Phone: (940) 689-0191 State District Offices

Texas State Representative

Texas State House District 68--Representative Drew Springer, Jr. Capitol Office: EXT E2.706 Capitol Phone: (512) 463-0526 Capitol Address: P.O. Box 2910 Austin, TX 78768 District Address: 110 W. Main St., Suite F Gainesville TX 76240 Phone: (940) 580-1770

It Begins with Controlling Ourselves

Keeping up our own positive morale is a huge challenge. This struggle is real. Others… Coworkers, peers, family members, etc. can negatively impact us and our organization.  Without doubt there are many ways their influence is detrimental.  With that said, the aspect we control is how much power we choose to give to these negative people. All too often we give away too much to this negativity. Everyone in the organization does. Peers give way too much power to the most negative coworkers and leaders often make decisions based on the least effective team members.

Although difficult…this needs to stop!  It is important we consistently reminding ourselves that the essential people on our team are the positive productive people.  I believe that it is wise to be aware of how the most cynical will react to a given situation but making decisions based on their potential reaction versus that of the most positive and productive people is a mistake.

When deciding whether or not to try something new, ask these three questions:

1. What is the true purpose in implementing this program, policy, rule, etc.?
2. Will it actually accomplish the purpose?
3. How will the most positive and productive people in the group feel about it?

Each of us choose how to act and react every day. Making sure that we take control of ourselves is an essential step to reducing the impact and influence of negative people that we come in contact with. After all, controlling difficult people first requires that we control ourselves!

Corny Joke of the Day:

What do you call fifty penguins in the Arctic? (Scroll down for the answer.)

Lost! REALLY lost! (Penguins live in Antarctica.)