Author:Donna George, Secondary Principal, Cumby ISD
When Dr. Coulter asked me to do this blog I didn’t realize the email was to me. I have no idea who I thought DG was – Let’s just say I wasn’t very observant. I asked a dear friend, “What on earth am I going to write about?” She answered, “write about your story.” Well that won’t work. Which “me” would I write about? I have been about 20 different people in my lifetime.
Driving to work this morning, when most of my deep thought happens, I was having conversations in my head with my other selves and God, and had the thought, “tell them your why.” It may surprise some of you to know that the me I am today has a totally different why than I did in 1989 when I walked into my first classroom.
As a young teacher, students asked me all the time why was I a teacher. I usually would say because I am too bossy to be anything else. I didn’t know my why, but I did know my WHO. I knew who lead me into the field, and that would be Mrs. Jerry Watts. She is a story all by herself. Twelve years later, as I walked into my first principal’s office, several of the teachers asked me why I would want to be a principal. I didn’t know my why, but I knew my WHO: Tommy Turner and Ron Stanley. They both were superintendents that saw something I didn’t know was there. When I began to grow as a leader and had the honor of being selected as a Superintendent I was again asked the same question: why? I think at that point I was beginning to see my true why and realize that it had changed with the experiences I have had.
I believe that every person I have been has had a different why. The why has to change along with what we do and what we believe, but mostly with how we grow and what we learn.
My selves this morning are very concerned with our student safety and mental state. I think about all of my WHOs and why I didn’t go through what our students face and I realize what my WHOs have done for me. The Lord, Daddy, Momma, Mrs. Watts, Ron Stanley, Tommy Turner, Tommy Long and all of my other WHOs along the way gave me love, security, support, and the confidence to fail and succeed. They also showed me all of the whys that I have claimed over the past 30+ years. So all that to say, that in all this mess we call education the whys change but the WHOS are the most important people in the lives of our kids.
I want to be a WHO and that is my why for now. DO you think Dr. Suess would approve????