Volume XLIII                            October 2021

No. 311

When You're Thrown a Curve Ball...

By the title, you may have thought I was going to talk about baseball and the upcoming World Series and you would be wrong. Being the technology director in my district, you might be wondering how this article relates to technology, which it does not directly. You may even wonder what this article has to do about schools; once again, it doesn’t directly pertain to schools. Rather, I’d like to offer some perspective of recent events in my life and maybe encourage others to take inventory of what’s important or should be important in your life.

You see, I was recently diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer, the good kind if there is such a kind that less than 1% of people get. After the initial diagnosis, I can tell you there was some sense of relief and calm knowing that it’s treatable, not the kind like our dear friend Alex Trebek had and I’d be gone in a year. How can it be the good kind, well if you're going to get cancer this is the one to get as they will be able to do surgery, cut out about half of my pancreas where the cancer is located, and be declared cancer free after some chemo treatments. So while your thoughts and prayers are greatly (and believe me, I’m truly grateful for the prayers), please do not take pity on me.

So now that you know about my health issue, let me tie this in with both technology and schools. First, I can tell you that modern medicine is nothing short of miraculous and the technology utilized in caring for people is amazing. From IV machines that talk wirelessly to update your patient records to being able to perform surgery with robotic arms so that we can recover quickly. But you probably already knew about the modern marvels of technology in medicine either through personal experience or witnessing others benefitting from the technology. In this past few months there may be no better example of technology in medicine through the speed of which the vaccines have been developed to protect us from the COVID-19 virus. So once again, this article is not really about technology because you already know its many benefits in our life.

So this must be about schools, indirectly it is. You see, before this health scare came upon me fairly suddenly, I would definitely consider myself a workaholic, that fall on the sword type of person for the benefit of all to the extent I put everyone and everything ahead of myself. But having time to reflect, including that wonderful 23 day stay in the hospital, my perspective of what’s important has changed. Quite simply, I’ve changed. I now know what is important and it’s “ME” and needing to put myself and my health first. No, it’s not selfish to put yourself first.

I now encourage you to do the same. Put “YOU” first. Don’t do like I did and ignore others when they have concerns, don’t put off seeing the doctor, do exercise, do eat healthier. Even baby steps like cutting out a soda a week, eating more vegetables, and scheduling that appointment with your doctor you’ve been putting off. Especially you “men” who are famous for seeing your doctor once every 20 years. Remain optimistic throughout your journey. I’ve been asked how can I be so optimistic through all of this. My answer, what choice do I have. I look forward to the positive outcome in my future (see no doubts, I will be cancer free when this is all said and done), not the ups and downs of the journey while making sure to celebrate the ups of the journey as they come.

So my friends, take care of yourself. Ultimately, it will make you a better person, a better administrator, a better technologist, a better friend and all the positive outcomes when we each take the time to take care of ourselves.

SAM Strategy - Promote the Value Your School Brings to the Community!

by Kirk Miller, SAM Executive Director

The politicized atmosphere experienced across the nation continues to have a presence in Montana during the past month when our schools were opening for 2021-22.  The impact of COVID on all of our lives has left us exhausted, frustrated, and seeking ways to move toward a more progressive normal.  The propaganda and political atmosphere around this frustration have, in several communities, been pointed at your local school; causing our school district leaders to be under a constant barrage of negativity.  This is unfortunate.  In my many conversations with school and district leaders across the state, the common theme has been … we must do something to change this negativity cast at the school in the community or risk sacrificing the ability to keep a quality team of educators and support staff employed to keep the school open to meeting the educational, social, emotional, and brain health needs of the children in our communities.

The collective concerns led SAM, your professional association, leadership to develop a strategy to change the dialogue of the community to one of supporting the safe opening of your community school, keeping the school open, and promoting the value your school brings to the community.  The action steps of the strategy began on September 10 with a request to publish in all media and social media sources, an Open Letter to Montanans -- Consider the value of your public school in your community!  The rest of the month, there have been actions on the strategy to promote the value your school brings to the community.  Those actions are HERE for your review.

The 4 components of the strategy, for you to contemplate, are:

• Your community school is the safe, healthy center for our children to engage their academic, social, emotional and brain health education.
• Your community school is a major driver of the economic viability of your community.  In most communities across the state your public school is the largest employer (or in the top 3 of even our largest communities).  The employment of your neighbors who serve as educators, support staff, bus drivers, school food service, paraprofessionals, custodians are all working together to meet the educational needs of the children in your community.  The collective economic impact of the school and all of those who work in the school is significant for the economic health of every community across the state.
• Your community school is the heart of community – the place where our towns gather, socialize and work together to create a wonderful Montana life for our children and ourselves.
• Your community school and pride for the community largely revolves around how all of us Montanans rise up to support our children and their growth and development through supporting their successes in academics, the arts, activities and athletics in every community across the state.

The GREAT 2021 publication (MT-PEC collaboration) will be ready and released in October to help our school districts with the statewide K-12 Vision Group statements based on the Zogby poll currently taking place.  The four components of the strategy will be addressed in GREAT 2021, hoping to give all schools access to statewide information about the Great work happening in our public schools that can then be used by each district to help you tell the local story of the value of your school to the community.

Thank you SAM leadership for your great work to "do something" to work together with positive intent to help our friends and neighbors understand the value your school brings to the community.

Wishing you an outstanding October serving your children, school and community!

 
October is National Principals Month - Let's Celebrate!

Each October, the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA), NAESP, and NASSP join forces to celebrate our nation’s principals. This year, the National Principals Month focus is on celebration and advocacy. National Principals Month is an ideal time for school and district leaders to tell the local story of the value of your school to the community!  Below are a few resources to help you get started, but be sure to check out the tools and resources on the National Principals Month webpage.

• Celebrate:  Show the principals in your district how much you appreciate them for all they do! (Social Media Toolkit) (Send an E-Card)]
• Advocate:   Consider inviting elected officials from all levels of government to shadow a principal for a day. (Shadowing Visits resources)

All SAM Members are Invited to Attend the SAM Annual Business Meeting!

SAM Professional Learning Opportunities

SAM Leaders Professional Learning Program 2021-22

It isn't too late to consider how you might set yourself up to have the very best school year ever!  New and experienced administrators are registered for the 2021-22 SAM Leaders Professional Learning Program!   Tailored to meet the needs of new, experienced, and aspiring administrators, SAM LPLP may be the just-in-time professional learning that will meet the needs of you and your administrative team.  Call the SAM office with any questions you may have about SAM LPLP.  More than 50 Montana administrators are participating in this opportunity.  Please get signed up, we are here to assist you!

Click HERE for more information or HERE to Register!  

You Can Still Register for Virtual MCEL 2021!

Registration is open! Find out more and register HERE.  The virtual delivery provides participants to attend virtually and/or watch the video recording of each session.  Registered participants can earn up to 30 hours of continuing education credits if they watch all sessions.