The Three- inspired by Tony Sinanis

On Sunday, one of my great friends, Tony Sinanis (@TonySinanis), wrote a blog with the same title.  You can find his blog here, under the blog he wrote on Monday.  In the blog he named three characteristics of a building principal (The ears, the voice, and the culture) that he realized he was for his school.  He then challenged his readers to do the same, so here's my attempt.

#1.  The storyteller
As a principal, I need to make sure that I am telling the school's story.  We live and breathe our school each and every day, but it's important to also include the voices of our students, staff, and families.  I utilize twitter, my webpage, and a weekly email to my families.  As Tony and Joe Sanfelippo (@joesanfelippofc) have said to me over and over,"If you don't tell your school story, someone else will."  I love sharing all of the things our students and staff are learning and doing so I try to tweet out at least three times a day.  The pictures I am able to share just add a little bit more to the great things we are doing at Merton Intermediate School.

#2.  The heart and soul
In the words of Todd Whitaker, if the principal gets a cold, so does the school.  One of the things I take the most pride in is trying to make the culture of our school as positive as it can be.  As with life, some days at school are better than others.  I would like to think that I am a positive person and share my positive vibe with others.  Working with a great staff, eager students, and supportive families doesn't hurt either.  I truly believe that being positive is contagious.  Hopefully when people see the image below they see me more on the left side than the right side.

#3.  The cheerleader
I do my best every day to be a cheerleader for our staff and students.  I share the great things they are doing on twitter (@mertonint, our school account, or @posickj, my personal account) nearly every day.  I am proud of them.  They are the reason I come to school every day and they should be celebrated.  You won't find me in a cheerleader skirt with pom poms, or so I hope, but I am there for them every day to encourage relationships, risks, and learning.  I enjoy watching them and cheer them on to grow every day to become the best they can be.

Well, Tony, here are my three.  Thanks for the push to reflect and share my thoughts.