At the beginning of this year I signed up to receive a daily e-newsletter from WALKTHETALK.COM. I get daily quotes and updates on inspirational materials they publish, some of which make their way to those Simple Truths videos I love to show at faculty meetings. Some days I read the quote and delete and others, like today, the quote hits at the heart of something that has been rolling around in my mind. Today's quote came from an advertisement for Nido Quebin's book Attitude: The Remarkable Power of Optimism. Mr. Quebin's story echoed with me in that it could describe some of the families here in our school: immigrating to America with little English and $50 in his pocket yet achieving his dreams through hard work and determination. Nido Quebin's quote from the book shared in the article is:


The secret is this: Whether you reach success or failure in life has little to do with your circumstances; it has much more to do with your attitude…with your faithful courage…with your choices. You see, non-achievers blame their circumstances; winners rise above their circumstances. Some concentrate on the blank wall that boxes them in; winners always look for a way to get under it, over it, around it, or through it.


I have been thinking a lot about rewarding and reinforcing our students to break the cycle of failure and build a culture of success. This quote hit home. Our students often face struggles in their lives that we may not have experienced as children. Sometimes, these struggles affect their ability to shine at school, particularly for our students who are living with traumatic experiences. Nido's words reminded me how important each of us are in our students' journeys through life. We may not be able to change the challenges they face outside of school , however, we can teach them to rise above their circumstances, to have faith in themselves and to have courage to overcome their obstacles. We can show them the box they are in and help them find ways to break free from the boundaries and limits that box has placed upon them. That is the power of a teacher.

During this "crunch" time, take a minute for yourselves to acknowledge and celebrate the positive impact you have had on your students. Please take time to reward and reinforce yourselves - without your praise, faith and encouragement, our struggling students face a seemingly insurmountable challenge alone. With you, they ride upon the shoulders of their greatest champions.