After a brief presentation by our local United Way, Dr. Holm welcomed all staff back to another school year. Before diving into some great reminders for staff he shared this quote based on extensive research from William Becker, a Virginia Tech associate professor of management in the Pamplin College of Business:
“Flexible work boundaries often result in work without boundaries, compromising an employee’s and their family’s health and well-being.” (Becker, 2018)
Dr. Holm's Reminders included the following to ensure health and well-being among staff:
- Take Care of Yourselves
- Theory of Action
- Be your best while at work.
- To be your best, you need to feel well.
- To feel well, you need to rest, get recreation, exercise and have non-work relationships.
- Be Present
- When you're at work.
- When you're not at work don't still be at work mentally.
- Set boundaries and consider the disruptive nature of modern communication - You are not expected to check email at all hours.
- Strive for Happiness
- Show Up (Substitutes are scarce)
- Show Empathy (Brene Brown)
- Perspective
- Withhold Judgment
- Recognizing Emotion in Others
- Feeling "with" People
- For more specifics, check out this video 👇
After those outstanding reminders, it was my turn to introduce myself to Willmar Public Schools but before I jump into that, I'd like to talk a little bit about our keynote speaker, Devin Hughes. His message aligned closely with what Dr. Holm presented as reminders with more emphasis on striving for happiness. For folks that keep track of my blog, you can reference my blog titled How YOU, WE, and I can build positive school culture to gain a more detailed understanding of his message to all our district-wide staff.
While observing people entering the auditorium for this wonderful day of celebration, I couldn't help but notice the enthusiasm of our staff and the number of them and it got me thinking about how lucky we are that they accepted the call to education. John F. Kennedy is quoted as saying:
"Children are the world's most valuable resource and
its best hope for the future."
Although I tend to agree with his words, I would like to add some clarity from my perspective. In my opinion, it is the staff that entered our auditorium on September 1, 2022, that ensure children are valuable and the best. These 900+ individuals are pretty darn important which I think was encapsulated with my final statement of the day, “Without each and every one of you in this room, regardless of your role, the relationships you build with students and the impact you have on kids on a daily basis is something I truly admire and appreciate.”
Call to Action: Show appreciation daily for these heroic individuals and remind them how important they are. Lastly, encourage, encourage, encourage, others to accept the call!
