Revive the Pride

I have a new boss this year. His name is Jose Reyes. He has been in our system for six years as the assistant principal at the Middle School, principal at Stephens Elementary and now he is our new principal and AD (Athletic Director). He has been a very busy man this summer tying up loose ends at Stephens and starting the new regime at Benjamin Russell...today we all met with him for the start of the school year and got to know just who Jose Reyes is. We started out meeting with a slide asking us to please sit up front...because we were not in church. I had to chuckle to myself. Ok, he is funny. Over the summer months I learned he loves music...so for me that is a plus. If he likes music...he can't be all bad. Right? Well today he told us what his vision for us was...he began with a story from the bible...and by the end of the meeting....I wanted to have some pom poms and shout Go Wildcats! He believes we need a cry...and it is going to be Revive the Pride! He believes that this revival starts with him, we should be right behind him and the students will notice the excitement and they will join in too...which in turn will overflow into the community. Our school used to be like this...we were proud of who we were...but over the years...that has dwindled a bit. It is time for us to shine up the place...because we have company coming. His expectations of us....are high ones! In summation...do your job! Be on time for everything. Be where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there, teach, and the most important thing we are to do is care! I was so excited by this point I almost forgot I was at school and stood and shouted, "Amen!"...but I refrained. He had several quotes from Vince Lombardi's book that I found exhilarating..."Winning is not a some times thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you don them right all the time, winning is a habit, unfortunately so is losing." "Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will all be judged on one thing, The Result." I must find this Vince Lombardi book and read it. I think he has some great stuff just for me. We discussed the grounds of the school and that picking up blights on our campus are not just janitors jobs...they are everyones jobs. It is my school and I am proud of it....aren't I? We talked about where the buck stops in our school....with Mr. Reyes. We talked about handling big discipline problems and small problems and what his role would be in this. I know our school/system motto...it is "Alexander City Schools - A learning environment where ALL Excel." The word "all" is just that...every single one of us....and that includes, students, faculty, parents, and community. If we shine...we all shine. I like that concept. Then he talked about us being a family. It has been a long time since we were a family. The morale at our school has dropped so much over the years...and today I felt a strong sense of familial love budding again. He encouraged us that if we could not say something nice about our school...not to say anything! He used many of us as examples during his talk...not because we were bad...just to use our names...and he did it with ease and it was awesome. Am I excited about this year....oh you bet. Mr. Reyes gave me something today I thought I had lost...he gave me value again. Value in who I am as a person...and that I matter to this school...and value in who I am as a teacher....I am a good one! I can't wait to begin the revival of the pride....BRING IT ON....I am ready! I am a Wildcat....HEAR ME ROAR!