Merton is the BEST!

13 years ago I became a Merton Mustang.  I was proud.
We started out talking about being the BEST (Believe, Encourage, Share, Trust)
We began talking about being a family.
We lived through grade level changes, content changes, room changes, colleague changes, and Act 10.
That was difficult, but we became more like a family.
We lived through Sandy Hook, Stoneman Douglas, and so many other school changes.
That was difficult, but we became even more like family.
We lived through weddings, babies, and funerals.
And our family got stronger.
These last five days we have become a family.  We did things without asking.  We did things before we were asked.  We didn't complain.  We questioned and got answers and acted.  The answers changed and we didn't complain.  We knew we were flying the plane while we were building it.  We didn't sit back.  We offered our time, our creativity, our assistance, and our leadership.  We did all of the things family members would do.
We did things in 5 days that others haven't been able to do in 5 years or 50 years.  We changed the way we are creating learning for our students and families.  And our families are appreciative of our efforts.  Last night I received 14 pages of Facebook comments.  That's pages, not comments.
We are pushing ourselves to learn new things.  We are sharing more.  We are taking chances.  We are taking risks.  We are trying new things.  We might not succeed right away, but we're showing our kids what it's like to learn from our failures.
We didn't learn how to do any of this in our education classes.  It was not taught in teacher school or principal school or any school.  We worked together to do what we thought was best for our kids.  And what we have done is amazing.  We will reflect and reconsider and we will continue to make things better for our kids.
I could not be prouder to go to school with anyone else.  We are a family.  We are Merton Mustangs.  We are the BEST!

Tom Murray shared this and it made me think of you.  Kids today need you, and you are always there for them!  Thank you!

Jen's friend shared this so I had to share it with you.

Some final thoughts...

It's been a crazy week.  One day ago today we could never have predicted what this week would have brought.  A fishing buddy and middle school friend of mine, Erich, used to say this once in a while- 

"Expect the unexpected."  

We'd be sitting in my old boat or in a blow up two person raft, not catching much.  And then out of the blue he would cast, often in an unexpected direction and say, "Expect the unexpected."  Sometimes he would catch something and sometimes he wouldn't.  The point of the story is that when the normal wasn't catching fish he would try something at least somewhat different.   We are in that position now.  And tomorrow might look different than today.  But I know that whatever today brings, we are ready for it.  Let's concentrate on today.

#MertonProud!

#JustInspire

Jay

Take care of the kids.  Take care of each other.  Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell