Steer Nation Message- 4-17-20 Words Are Seeds

GOOD AFTERNOON AND HAPPY FRIDAY!

Student Success- Congratulations to Alex Husen on her commitment to attend and play volleyball at Southwestern in Georgetown, TX.

Governor Abbott Press Conference- At Noon today the Governor issued several orders to begin the process of reopening the Texas economy. In regards to schools,  he issued an order that deems it unsafe to resume having school in our school buildings.  Additionally, he stated the Commissioner of Education, Mike Morath, will be providing schools with guidelines regarding ceremonies such as graduation.

Honoring the Class of 2020- During the past several weeks, Mr. Gordy and I have been discussing various creative ways we may be able to honor members of the Class of 2020 in addition to the senior spotlights that are being posted via our social media. Yesterday, GHS counselor, Mrs. Morris, Mr. Gordy, and I met to begin working on a plan to formally announce and highlight our Honor Graduates. As we move forward with know parameters, we will develop a plan, have it approved by local authorities. Following this, we will meet online with the senior class officers, senior members of the GHS SALT team, and senior members of the YouthLead team to seek student input. After the plan is fully developed, Mr. Gordy and I will meet online with the entire GHS Class of 2020.

Census 2020- The 2020 Census count is important for the nation, state, and the community of Graham ISD! The Census 2020 participation rate in Texas jumped over 10% this week to 41.1%. The bad news is most of the rest of the states increased their census participation, and Texas sits in the 41st position among the states and territories. You are key to the success of Texas in this count because the rural areas of Texas are traditionally undercounted. In fact, to this point of the 2020 Census, Texas’s rural counties are heavily undercounted. There are three ways to be counted in this census: (1.) mailed paper questionnaires – paper questionnaires will be in the mail to residents this week, (2.) online at my2020census.gov, and (3.) by telephone – for English language, the number is 844-330-2020, for Spanish, it is 844-468-2020, and TDD is 844-467-2020. A word of warning: wait times for telephone response is extremely slow. Some report waits of up to forty-five minutes! You are busy people. Your help with the census is “above the call of duty”, and it is appreciated!

“WORDS ARE SEEDS THAT DO MORE THAN BLOW AROUND.” Unknown

Isn’t this a challenging time? There is not one person in the United States whose life, in one way or another, has not been affected. I think everyone can relate to something I read recently: “2020 has been a strange Leap Year. February had 29 days, March had 500 days, and it looks like April will last three years!” While the sentiment is an exaggeration, it is not a total overstatement.

I am continually impressed with the way our GISD team and community members are pulling together to help everyone cope with the situation in which we find ourselves. Every day I learn about more and more people providing are providing meals to those in need. Citizens are producing facemasks as fast as their sewing machines can run to help with the facemask shortage.

The associations that support educators have found their own ways to help… my Zoom and Google Meets schedule can attest to the amount of information being generated on a daily basis!

At times during these meetings, someone’s lip movement and words do not match… the words being heard come seconds after lips being moved. This can be a distraction for the participants. Without a doubt, this can be a drawback of working remotely… 

Because of the uncertainty, the pandemic has caused, people are stressed, anxious, unnerved, confused, fearful…the list could go on forever. It is critically important that our words and lips match; that our words are honest but empathetic so that they fall on receptive ears. Good communication can ease anxiety and lead to teamwork. Everyone working together can hasten the time we “return to normal”.

Last week Lt. Governor Patrick, while speaking to superintendents, mentioned that when this ends we will return to a “new normal”. He went on to say that even public education would experience a “new normal”. During this time of year, our work at the central office is focused on wrapping up the current school year while also hiring and preparing for the coming school year. As we think toward the 20-21 school year, I hope we can ensure the work our educators did to redefined instruction on the “run” this Spring can be leveraged to elevate a “new normal” that will be beneficial for our students.

Have a great weekend!

Steer Nation Message 4-3-20 Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY FRIDAY!

Student Successes- Congratulations to GHS Senior Aimee McShane! She is one of eight incoming freshmen students that has been accepted into the Presidential Honors Program at Tarleton State University.

Governor Abbott Executive Order- As you are aware, this past Tuesday, Governor Gregg Abbott issued an executive order that leaves our school building closed until Monday, May 4th.

City of Graham Ordinance Number #1095- This past Monday, the City of Graham issued Ordinance 1095. The ordinance places restrictions on the movement of persons to reduce the substantial risk of harm to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our work of education, including providing meals and maintaining our facilities, is considered an essential service.  As such GISD employees are allowed to continue their movement to and from our facilities, etc.

Students and parents are permitted to travel to locations to access the internet provided you remain inside the vehicle. Additionally, parents can travel to the campuses to return/retrieve instructional materials and assignments.

Census 2020- While the Coronavirus pandemic seems to have paralyzed our nation, the Census 2020 is still “a go”. This counting of the population of the United States every ten years is important, and it is important that Texas reports an accurate population count. Representation in Washington, D.C. and at the state Capitol, federal funding for schools, and other important functions of everyday life are determined by this count.

At this time when people’s attention is focused on other important issues, they need a trusted voice to, for only a moment, focus their attention on this important count. The beginning of door-to-door counting has been delayed and may even not be used until late in the fall. So, today school superintendents are those trusted voices! Whether you are communicating with your public by blog, video, newspaper articles, or some other way, please share information about the importance of this census.

Since we do not know when a face-to-face count can be made, people are encouraged to participate in the census online or by phone. My family registered on-line. It was a quick and easy way to do my part to help my country and state! Online participation can be done at my2020census.gov. It can also be done by phone. Participants can call 844-330-2020 for English or 844-468-2020 for Spanish.

“We Have Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself”

President Franklin Roosevelt

As a society, the Coronavirus has us all “sailing in uncharted water”. The number of affected individuals and the number of deaths increases at alarming rates each day. The stock market is fluctuating up and down like a man on a bungee cord! Recently I heard a psychiatrist discuss what these days of uncertainty can do to people. He said that uncertainty can lead to fear, fear may lead to depression, and depression can take some people to very dark places. A blogger and public speaker, Charles Russell, spoke directly to fear. Here is what he had to say:

“These are scary times and I should know because I’m no stranger to fear. When I was nine years old I watched Earth vs the Flying Saucers on TV and it flat scared the living bejeebers out of me.

Most of the movie wasn’t all that bad. I could handle the flying saucers zipping around the sky. I was okay with the battle with the aliens on the military base. But the part that really got me was when the group of earth people entered the saucer. When that glowing, flower-shaped communication device slowly descended from the ceiling and (spoiler alert!) drained the brains of the general and policeman, for some reason that did me in. I was afraid to look around corners for days afterward for fear of aliens jumping out of the shadows and sucking my brains out. Not that that would have hurt me that much. If my grades back then were any indication, it might have even added a couple of points to my IQ.

I had the same experience when I first saw the Wicked Witch of the West’s flying monkeys on the Wizard of Oz. Man-a-livin’, that’s scary cinema. Again, the witch herself wasn’t that bad, but you throw some wings on a few dozen monkeys, and you have yourself a real horror flick.

Fear is a relative concept, though. It depends on the individual and the age in which you live. In World War I it meant bombs, bullets, and sometimes mustard gas. Just after WWI, came the Spanish Flu which infected about 500 million people and killed 20 or 30 million people. Then came the Great  Depression with a 25% unemployment rate. Then came World War II with more bombs and bullets, and a couple of atomic bombs thrown in to boot.

The fact of life is: scary things come along all the time in history. And relatively speaking, we’re still okay right now for the most part.

Admittedly, life has recently changed for a great number of us and many people are panicking. Grocery stores are being raided for hand sanitizer, water, and toilet paper. I’m not really sure why people are stocking up on TP, though. My guess is they’re building toilet paper fortresses and barricading themselves in.

It’s not my intention to minimize the danger of this current health scare because it’s definitely something we all have to think about. But I have found the best defense against worry and fear is to get a plan, so I suggest the following ideas to help in both your business and personal lives.

Don’t focus on:

●      Things you can’t control. You’ll drive yourself nuts trying to control a crazy world. It’s far better to think about what you can do rather than you can’t.

●      Sensationalist news reports. Yes, we all need to be in the know. But staying glued to your computer or television is not healthy, mentally or physically.

Instead, focus on:

●      Improving your systems. Now is the time to get rid of activities, equipment, and behaviors that waste your time and money.

●      Improving your service. Why not take advantage of this moment and use it to add value to your business/life?

●      Your health. Yes, of course, you should wash your hands and use hand sanitizer. But now is a great time to start eating right and exercising. When so much is out of control in your life, you’ll feel a lot better if you can point to at least one area that has improved.

●      Your vision. It’s a great time to think about where you want to go and how you want to spend your days on earth.

So turn off your TV and come out of that toilet paper fortress. The world is still a pretty great place and you need to be part of it!”

Our goal during this time is to come out stronger than when we began. We are developing skills that we should not abandon when we return to “normal”. I know it doesn’t look like it, but we all have been given a gift. We have a pause in our society right now that is allowing us a moment to re-set, re-focus, and re-prioritize.

Your administrative team takes our hats off to each of you for the “can do” attitude that you all have demonstrated as you re-create the way we do school while on the run. This is a unique time in our nation’s history. As you are busy taking care of the staff and students for whom you are responsible, please do not forget about yourself- physically and emotionally.

When we come out of this pandemic, it is important for all of us to face the “new” world we find stronger and healthier!

REMEMBER! WASH, WASH, WASH YOUR HANDS! STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY!

CORNY JOKE OF THE DAY:

Why did the golfer bring two pairs of pants?

In case he got a hole in one!