April 29

Today started out with a bus meeting at Prairie View Elementary School in Dalmeny, my last administrative posting.  After the bus meeting, I had a sing song with all the students of the school.  We had a riot.  The kids sang their hearts out.  At recess, two little kindergarten girls came and gave me a hug around the knees and thanked me for singing with them. 

The day was busy because I had errands to run and housework to complete.  In the evening, I had five people over for supper.  I barbequed homemade burgers.  The meal was a hit.  I think Judy would have approved.

To end the evening, I taught my guests how to chord and sing with the ukulele and I taught them how to play chopsticks.  I am thinking there weren't many dinner parties going on in the city where 6 adults were learning to play the mighty uke.

Tomorrow, I am off to the lake for a couple rounds of golf.

Sunday after church, I have my first ball practice for the plus 50 league.  On Tuesday, I have my first plus 55 league game.  Spring is here.

Principal's Message (June 2010)

Over the past year, I have been working mornings as principal of Prairie View School and afternoons as Human Resource Principal of Prairie Spirit School Division.  As Human Resource Principal, I do reference checks, provide support to in school administrators who are short listing candidates for job openings, and I set up interviews with candidates.  I also sit in on hiring panels when I am needed.   The task of filling open positions has been ongoing throughout the year.  Sometimes, I have the pleasure of phoning people to say, “Congratulations!” and the agony of calling people to say, “Unfortunately, another candidate was chosen.”

Human Resource work has been very enjoyable mostly because the real strength of any school is the people you hire.  I take great joy in helping good people find meaningful employment.  The day you get “that new job” is usually a red letter day in your life.  I have two daughters who received their education degrees earlier this month.  One daughter just had her red letter day and it was a day of rejoicing for our whole family.  I do not reserve that joy for my own children.  In fact, I get excited any time a good person lands a job.

Another role that I have assumed has been to coach people on how to get short listed and how to interview successfully.  There are ways to be noticed in a pile of resumes and ways to convince interview panels that you are the best candidate.

Throughout this Human Resource experience, one dominant theme has made an impression on me.  You have to sew good seed.  For example, one candidate came from a small town where he was a hardworking student who participated in sports, took guitar lessons, and volunteered in his community.  As a student in the College of Education, he interned in a small town where he humbly accepted guidance from a cooperating teacher.  He had a passion for teaching and he impressed his cooperating teacher with his ability to reach all students without leaving anyone behind.  He taught students – not subjects.   The only complaint mentioned by his principal was: he worked too hard.  When I talked to him on the phone, he was polite, appreciative, and sincere.  He planted good seed all through his life.  Well…he now has a teaching position.  There are many others like him who have been planting good seed all their lives and now they are reaping a rich harvest. 

               Planting good seed is a choice.  It is no accident.  I know all the quality candidates we hire are surrounded by a host of music teachers, coaches, Sunday school teachers, school teachers, neighbours, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and especially, parents who cheered them on and tended the garden where the seed was sewn.  We sometimes complain about driving our children here and there taking them to lessons and games.  Registration fees and the commitment of time are a drain on our pocket books, but there are days when you know all the effort is worthwhile.  One of those days is when your child begins there career whether it be in education or any other field.

               During this season of planting and watching crops grow; think of the children in your life.  Encourage them to plant good seed.  Help them to pick out good seed.  Tend the seed they sew and know that all your efforts will lead to a bountiful harvest. Teach them that every kind word spoken, every extra effort, every positive choice, every sacrifice, and every act of charity, every bridge built, and any other good seed sewn will yield fruit in due season.

April 28

On Wednesday, I conducted a bus meeting in Clavet.  Clavet bus meetings have been some of the most challenging meetings because there are 18 buses carrying students from a very large area.  When I announced that I would be retiring from my Conveyance Safety Officer position, they gave me an ovation.  I am not sure whether they were clapping for joy that I was leaving or because they appreciated the work I have done with them.

Today, I had a bus meeting in Asquith.  In the afternoon, I went and performed my part of our church's spring clean up.  I washed and sorted toys, cleaned windows, and wiped the boogers off the walls of the nursery.

Tomorrow is Dalmeny bus meeting.  I have already volunteered my services leading a sing song when the meeting is over.  I am also hosting a dinner party tomorrow evening.  I better Vim the sinks.

Principal’s Message

               I love to sing.  Whenever a teacher needs me to cover their class, I take my guitar into the class and we sing mostly silly songs.  If I had a nickel for every time I sang “Grampa’s Whiskers”, “The Cat Came Back”, or “Going on a Lion Hunt” I would be a very wealthy man.  I’ve even been hired to sing and play guitar at funerals for pay.  At the last funeral I performed, the funeral director kept on addressing me using the name of the deceased probably because of the quality of my guitar talent.  I was not offended.  I don’t take myself seriously as a singer or a musician. 

               I have witnessed people with incredible guitar talent and have heard people who possess incredible singing talent. My abilities are meagre at best, but I know how to wind up hundreds of children with a sing song then send them back to their classrooms where the teachers try to settle them down enough to do seat work.  I am not one of the four tenors, yet I still sing.  I am not Jose Feliciano, but I still play the guitar.  I am a Raffe wannabe.  There is comfort and peace of mind in accepting who I am. 

               In our culture, there is generous attention given to self-esteem and self-esteem is used interchangeably with self respect.  To esteem something is to evaluate or give worth.  If your self esteem is high, you feel great, but if it is low, you feel awful.  Self esteem goes up and down depending on your circumstances.  When you have a good day, your self esteem soars, and when you experience a failure, your self esteem plummets.  Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

Self respect is entirely different.  If you respect something, you accept it.  A person with self respect likes himself or herself.  Self respect does not depend on success and is not the result of comparing oneself with others.  Self esteem, on the other hand depends on success and comparing oneself to others.  With self respect, we simply like ourselves because of who we are or we don’t like ourselves because of the things we cannot do.  Having self esteem is important, but it seems that having self respect offers a greater opportunity for peace of mind.

               As Canadians, we are so modest that we consider loving yourself is narcissistic and vain, but self respect is a very healthy type of self love.  Teaching children to respect and accept who they are is a noble, necessary ambition.  Obviously, we want our children to achieve their inner best, but we also want them to make the most of the hand they are dealt as far as appearance, aptitude, and talent. 

As I write this message, I am reminded of a presentation delivered by one of our parents who spoke to our students during Education Week activities.  He is a karate instructor who achieved international recognition.  His message was to respect your self and never give up.  Many children give up because they are told they are not good enough or they compare themselves to others. 

As children encounter setbacks, confront peer pressure, experience failure, and try to figure out who they really are, we have to work extra hard convincing them they are beautiful just the way they are.  Furthermore, we need to remind them their bodies are a precious gift that should be cared for with good hygiene, healthy diet, and exercise.  At every age, we need to guide them in discovering who they are and accepting themselves.

               Our virtue of the month at Prairie View School is “self respect” if you hadn’t already guessed.   We want to convince our children they are not junk – they are precious.  They need to respect their bodies and their minds, carefully monitor what they put into their minds and their bodies, and make choices that will lead to self respect.

February 26

I've been a busy boy.  Yesterday, I helped to organize a steak fundraiser at the church.  We had 90 guests.  The steak night was our weekly family get together. 

Today, I had a bus meeting in Hanley.  I decided that while I was at Hanley, I would take the time to teach the grade 4/5/6 class how to play ukulele.  We had a marvelous time.  Seeing students play an instrument and take pride in playing even the simplest songs is a great joy.  Another joy was having the students come up to me, without prompting, to say how much they enjoyed the experience.  Spread joy...goal achieved for today.

As you will surmise, the following message was written during my last year of teaching.

Principal’s Message

               The hardest thing we have to do in life is make decisions and I have had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life this month.  I have decided to superannuate.  Handing in my resignation letter was as terrifying as bungee jumping, but I have garnered the courage and decided to leap.

               There are so many things I would like to say to the parents, teachers, and children of Prairie View School.  The first thing I want to say is that everyone associated with the Prairie View School community has made leaving a difficult decision.  We have a great thing going here with incredibly talented and creative staff members who love to come to work.  Furthermore, we are blessed with a supportive community who are incredibly proud of their schools and their children.

               Last autumn, an administrator colleague asked whether this was going to be my last year and I told him I was quite sure this would be my “swan song”.  He said, “Why would you retire?  You still have something to offer.”  My colleague shared how his daughter still talks affectionately about when I taught her in Grade Four during the 1981-1982 school year.  I didn’t have a ready answer for why I would retire when I still had something to offer, but just to give you an idea of how slow my mind works, I came up with the answer much later.  I do not want to “check out” when I have to be “wheeled out” – when I am spent.  It is comforting to know I am still wanted and it is flattering when I hear people say, “Don’t go.”  I don’t want to stay on until I am no longer needed.

               Farley Mowat wrote a book describing his life as a platoon commander in the Canadian Armed Forces during WWII.  He led a platoon of men who fought together up the boot of Italy.  They were close and believed they would be in close contact as long as they lived, then out of the blue he was transferred to another platoon.  As you can guess, his new platoon became a close unit as they fought together.  Alas, he ran into his old platoon after a number of weeks and the relationship had changed.  Both sides moved on.  Mowat realized what the importance of the here and now and who you are with.  Today is special.  Make the most of it.  Love the people you are with, but don’t ever expect things to stay the same. I have enjoyed my last five years in Dalmeny.   The staff, students, parents, and community will live in my heart.  I will remember you and my time with you for as long as I live because I have a terrific memory.

               I will remember the beautiful faces of the children, funny things that happened every day I came to work, listening ears that made me feel valued, practical jokes, voices lifted in song, and lives being changed by loving guidance.   

April 24

Just to put everyone's mind at ease, I did Vim the sinks yesterday and I have been cleaning the lint trap in the drier. 

Principal’s Message

In one of last year’s newsletters, I alluded to my first teaching position in a small town near the U.S. border – population 67.  The school division provided a teacherage for me at a cost of $45.00/month, an amount that included water and sewer. I was told the house would be at my disposal by the middle of August; therefore, I loaded all my earthly possessions into a borrowed half ton driven by my mother and a family friend.  We completed our exodus from my hometown on a hot summer afternoon and arrived at my new home mid afternoon.

               Just as the three bears discovered there was someone sleeping, eating, and living in their home, I discovered there were two lifeguards from the regional park still living in my teacherage. I unloaded my possessions and stowed them away in the back porch, then my mother, her friend, and I set out to find a bite to eat at the Trails End Hotel.  We walked into the restaurant and sat down at one of the three tables.  No waitress arrived.  In fact, there was no one in the restaurant at all.  I peaked into the adjoining beverage room – same result. 

               My mother said, “Well, we have a five hour drive ahead of us so we better get going.”

               I gave my farewells to my mother and her friend and set off looking for any life form I could find.  There was no one in the town.  It was empty so I drove southward to the regional park to see the two Goldilocks who inhabited my house.  As it turned out, most of the people from my new community were gathered around the swimming pool to cool off on the hot day just as water buffalo congregate around the nearest watering hole.

               You are probably wondering about the two Goldilocks.  They were both blond and gorgeous.  They didn’t move out for over a long time so the school board put me up in the Trail’s End Hotel and covered the $5.00/night rate for my 8’ x 10’ luxury suite.

               My mother commented later when I phoned her how she had turned to her friend as they left the small town and declared, “I just dropped my son off in a town where there are no people.”

               As you know, I usually tell a story to make a point or to offer an illustration so what is the point, you say.  Well, I just wanted to tell you a story.  Every one of us has a story in us – a story to share.  Our hope at Prairie View School is that you will have the opportunity to come and hear our stories and our poems.  Furthermore, we hope that you will encourage your children to keep on writing and showing them there is a community here full of people willing to listen.

April 22

I left Saskatoon at 9:30 am and was in Tisdale by noon.  An old family friend, Jenny Fritshaw, joined Mom and me for lunch at a swanky Greek restaurant.  Okay, the restaurant wasn't swanky, but the food was good.  I can order off the senior's menu now.  Sweet.

After lunch, we went back to Mom's apartment for angel food cake topped with ice cream and strawberries.  I love my mom!

My oldest brother, Vince, and his wife, Loretta, arrived around 2:30.  They brought along two other rowdy couples from Regina. 

I left the party around 4:30 and returned to Saskatoon.  Vince sent a picture of Mom blowing out her 88 candles.  Luckily, the sprinkler system was not activated.

The following is the Principal's Message from September 2010.

During the last school year, Prairie View students learned the ten core virtues of hard work, gratitude, wisdom, justice, self-control, love, positive attitude, integrity, fortitude, and integrity.  We had such a positive experience learning the core virtues that we have decided to dig deeper into one of the core virtues over next ten months.  We are going to be examining the virtue of justice.  The themes we will explore are fairness (the Golden Rule), respect for others, self-respect, responsibility, honesty, courtesy/civility, and tolerance (respect for freedom of conscience legitimately exercised).

               I have done a lot of thinking about justice over the last two months and I have thought in particular about fairness.  When I reflect upon fairness I think of the best teacher I ever had.  She was fair.  She treated her students the way they deserved to be treated appreciating the dignity and value of each student.  She commanded respect, but she also treated us with respect. Her expectations were clearly stated and upheld.  She realized every student had a unique learning style and aptitude.  Even as an egocentric teenager who saw many things as unfair, I couldn’t help but acknowledge that she was fair.

               Thomas Lickona, in his book Character Matters reminds readers that millions of people do not enjoy conditions that support human development and dignity.  Our children are inheriting a world with global problems such as AIDS, poverty, terrorism and violence.  There are varying opinions about how to combat global issues, but Lickona states there is agreement among people of conscience with the principle, “If you want peace, work for justice.”  As part of our efforts to promote justice this year, every classroom will be involved in a service learning project to allow students to use their influence for justice.

               Without a doubt, most parents have uttered the statement, “Life isn’t fair.  Get over it!”  Indeed, life isn’t fair, but I am convinced we can all be fair.  We can hunger and thirst to do the right thing in the world and I am convinced that those who hunger and thirst to do the right thing will be satisfied.  Although it may seem at times that those who follow the rules lose the game, the real winners are the just.

               If children learn to stand up for justice, fairness, and respect as students they will be more likely to pursue the same ideals as adult citizens.  According to Lickona, the two main ways students can demonstrate character in school are by doing their work diligently and treating others respectfully.  We need to help students use their intellectual skills to find creative ways to improve the human condition and use their brains to benefit others not just themselves.  Teaching virtues isn’t something else we have to add to our mission, it is our mission.