Daring Greatly: Lessons from the Arena and the Mat

Day Two of the National Conference on Education began with a powerful sense of community and a deep dive into the "Hero’s Journey." I started my morning at the MASA breakfast, celebrating with my fellow Minnesota colleagues. We had the privilege of hearing the inspirational leadership journey of Dr. Lisa Sayles-Adams, Minnesota’s Superintendent of the Year and the current Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools.

Following breakfast, I connected with my fellow featured bloggers: Kelly Aramaki (Washington), Michelle Osterhoudt (New York), and Heather Perry (Maine). It was a fine example of the networking power this conference provides; reading their entries confirms they are inspirational leaders we can all learn from. The morning momentum continued as Minnesota’s own David Law kicked off the keynote session, reflecting on his impactful year as AASA President and celebrating the great work being done by superintendents nationwide.

The Keynote: Marcus Whitney’s Unlikely Journey

Our keynote speaker, Marcus Whitney, shared a story that is the definition of "daring greatly." In 2000, Marcus moved to Nashville as a college dropout with a young son and another baby on the way, living in a week-to-week efficiency hotel. Two decades later, he is a venture capitalist, a bestselling author, and co-founder/owner of Nashville’s Major League Soccer team.

Marcus walked us through how he turned his dreams into reality, explaining the path to success, and challenging us to dream beyond our comfort levels.

The Foundation: Parents and Preparation

A significant portion of Marcus's message was dedicated to the "investments" others made in him. He credited his parents for pouring everything into him, placing him in environments where he could succeed, and instilling the belief that he could do anything.

Reflecting on his story made me think of my own parents. While they didn't have a lot of income, they made sure my siblings and I had everything we needed, from sending us to wrestling camps at the University of Iowa to supporting us in ways we didn't fully realize at the time. Loving parents have an immeasurable impact. As leaders, it forces us to ask: How can we enhance learning for students who have that support, while simultaneously providing a foundation for those who may not have it at home?

The Arena and the Lessons of the Mat

Marcus also spoke about the impact of the Hero’s Journey (Joseph Campbell) on his life. Interestingly, Marcus was a wrestler, a sport close to my heart. He noted that the lessons of the mat, perseverance, hard work, and sacrifice, were the very tools he used to transform his life.

He closed with the iconic Teddy Roosevelt quote, "The Man in the Arena." It was a perfect reminder for every superintendent in the room:

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood... who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly."

As we navigate the challenges of public education, we are the ones in the arena. We are the doers of deeds. Today’s session was a reminder that our journey, and the journeys of our students, require the courage to dream and the resilience to stay in the action.

Be the Tide: Fulfilling the Public Education Promise

The first Keynote session at this year’s AASA conference served as both a compass for our collective future and a high-energy reminder of why we chose this path in the first place. We kicked off with a powerful call to action: The Public Education Promise. This is a commitment to providing every child, in every community, an education that prepares them for real life in the real world.

The Five Pillars of Our Promise

As Executive Director David Schuler shared, as school system leaders, we are converging around five guiding principles that will define the next era of American public education:

• Principle 1: Prioritize Student-Centered Learning – Nurturing the unique potential of every young person by creating environments where they feel they belong and have a voice.

• Principle 2: The New Basics: Real Skills for Real Life – Balancing traditional core curricula with the "New Basics"—adaptability, digital literacy, financial literacy, and problem-solving.

• Principle 3: Attract, Hire, Retain, and Reward the Best People – Recognizing that the heart of any successful system is its people and building a culture that empowers them to lead.

• Principle 4: Build Highly Engaged Family, Community, and Business Partnerships – Moving beyond the school walls to create a seamless learning ecosystem.

• Principle 5: Measure What Matters – Moving beyond high-stakes testing to adopt multiple measures that reflect real-world competencies and student well-being.

Give Yourself a Chance: The Sanfelippo Spark

After laying out the framework, we were joined by Joe Sanfelippo, a former superintendent turned leadership coach. His message was a lesson in the "human" side of our roles. One of his favorite taglines, “Give Yourself a Chance," struck a chord with me.

Joe reminded us that because everyone went to school, everyone thinks they know how to run one. In that environment, every interaction matters. We’ve all heard it before, but it necessitates repeating: people may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Every high-five in the hallway or brief chat with a bus driver could be the one interaction that person talks about for the rest of their lives.

Stop Defending, Start Defining

Aligning perfectly with our earlier sessions today, Joe encouraged us to stop "defending" our work. Defending is exhausting and reactive. Instead, we must define our work by telling our own stories. If we don’t provide the narrative, others may invent one. We need to give our staff, families, and students a constant stream of reasons to speak positively about their lived experiences in our schools.

The Superintendent’s Source of Energy

One of the most practical pieces of advice from the Keynote was simple: Get out of the office. Use your feet. Visit classrooms. It is easy to get bogged down in the "business" of the district, but we are at our best when we are with students. Whenever I am around students, I feel energized. I have never walked out of an elementary school building without a smile on my face or a funny story to tell. Those visits are the essential reminders of why we do what we do.

As Angie Hooper said, "The rising tide lifts all boats. Be the tide." As superintendents, we set the tone. If we are the "tide" of positivity and recognition, that energy ripples throughout the entire organization.

Celebrating Excellence

We closed the session by recognizing the Superintendents of the Year from each state. It is always a humbling experience to see our colleagues acknowledged for the hard work they do every day.

The four national finalists were:

• Demetrus Liggins (Kentucky)

• Roosevelt Nivens (Texas)

• Heather Perry (Maine)

• Sonja Santelises (Maryland)

A huge congratulations to Roosevelt Nivens from Texas, who was named the National Superintendent of the Year. His acceptance was a beautiful tribute to the personal and professional support systems that make this work possible. Roosevelt, you represent the best of us!

Important Links/Sources:

The Public Education Promise

From Customers to Partners: Redefining Family Engagement

Having been a former 1st grade teacher, if there is one universal frustration in elementary education, it’s the blank reading log. Many of us have seen them, which created my excitement to attend the breakout, "15 Minutes to Impact: A Scalable System for Family Engagement That Actually Drives Literacy Growth," featuring Jessica Sliwerski (Ignite! Reading), Jose Escribano (Springfield Public Schools), and Jennie Bachmeyer (Red Bluff Union Elementary District).

The panel proposed that most family engagement fails not because parents don’t care, but because the engagement isn't actually designed for most families. Traditional literacy nights often draw the same 12 families, while parent workshops rarely reach those who need them most. Yet, the research presented shows that when we get this right, students can gain an average of 10 points on standardized reading tests.

The Science of Connection: What the Research Says

The session leaned heavily on the School Transition Study (STS), a decade-long investigation led by researchers like Dr. Heather Weiss and Eric Dearing. They followed 390 low-income, ethnically diverse children from kindergarten through fifth grade to see exactly how family involvement impacts literacy.

The findings offered a roadmap for those of us leading districts:

• Consistency over Intensity: High levels of involvement, from attending conferences to volunteering, predicted significant literacy gains over time.

• The "Added Reward": Interestingly, family involvement had the strongest positive impact on children whose mothers had the lowest levels of formal education. It is a powerful tool for closing the achievement gap.

• Emotional Pathways: Involvement doesn’t just teach a skill; it increases a child’s positive feelings about reading, which in turn drives their performance.

• It’s Never Too Late: Because involvement is dynamic, parents can become more engaged at any point in the developmental continuum and still produce measurable results.

Differentiated Engagement: Families are "In" the System

One of the most profound shifts in mindset came from Jose Escribano. He challenged us to stop treating families as "customers". If they are customers, they are outside the system. Instead, we must view families and students as being within the system.

This means we have to move toward Differentiated Engagement. Just as we differentiate instruction for students, we must differentiate how we reach families. Jose and Jennie Bachmeyer shared that we need to stop asking how families fit into our school schedules and start asking how our schools fit into their lives.

Real-World Solutions: Meeting Families Where They Are

Jennie shared how her rural district has reimagined engagement by removing every possible barrier. In her district, if an event doesn't include childcare and a meal, participation is nonexistent.

They’ve also taken literacy "on the road":

• The Restaurant QR Code: They place QR codes in local restaurants. Instead of kids sitting on tablets, families can scan a code that leads to literacy games or math activities.

• The Mobile Library: Rather than waiting for families to come to the school library, they use a mobile library, and literacy leads go to community events and pass out free books.

• Facilitated Instructions: Programs like Raising Readers go home every Friday with QR codes that walk parents through how to facilitate reading at home.

Funding the Village

Of course, this work requires resources. Panelists discussed leveraging Title I funds, literacy grants, and community donations. But more importantly, they are leaning on "the village", community volunteers, civic organizations, and "grandparent volunteers" to provide the human power needed to sustain these systems.

Final Thought

My big takeaway? Literacy isn't just a classroom goal; it's a community effort. When we design engagement with the "hard to reach" family in mind, we often find they weren't hard to reach at all, they were just waiting for an invitation that fit their reality.

Important Links

Ign!te Reading

Raising Readers

Dolly Parton Imagination Library

The Attendance Puzzle: Solving for the Whole Child

If my first session this morning was about the "Why" of our school's identity, the second was a deep dive into the "Where", specifically, where are our students? I joined Dr. Mary Catherine Reljac (Superintendent of Fox Chapel Area School District), Benjamin Master (RAND Corporation), and Lydia Rainey (Center on Reinventing Public Education) for a session that challenged the idea that there is one simple fix for the attendance crisis.

The reality presented by the American School District Panel (ASDP) research is significant: chronic absenteeism isn't just a lingering "pandemic blip"; it remains a pervasive issue that is hitting our urban centers the hardest. Perhaps most concerning is the communication gap identified by the latest survey data: a significant number of both parents and students report they simply haven't heard from their schools about their absences.

Moving From Data to Dialogue

Dr. Reljac’s work at Fox Chapel provides a roadmap for how we can close that gap. They aren't just looking at the numbers; they are changing how they talk to families about them. One strategy that resonated with me was the "comparative re-frame." By showing a parent that the district average is one absence while their child is at ten, the data becomes a tangible marker of missed opportunity rather than just a cold statistic.

The Framework for Re-engagement The research highlights that winning this battle requires a "very comprehensive" multi-pronged strategy:

• Family Engagement: Moving beyond robocalls to consistent outreach through home visits and personalized meetings to build early relationships.

• Positive Climate: Shifting the culture from punishing lateness to celebrating attendance through mentorship and incentives like rewards or finals exemptions.

• Student Engagement: Ensuring that instruction is relevant and that students have access to CTE and work-based learning options that make school feel "worth it."

• Wraparound Supports: Utilizing on-site counseling and community partnerships to address the root causes of absenteeism, like transportation or mental health barriers.

• Systems & Data: Implementing MTSS for attendance and using "rising rosters" to identify and support at-risk students before they disengage completely

Community-Powered Solutions: The Grandma Brigade

The highlight of the session was a creative idea being explored by Fox Chapel: the "Grandma Brigade." This initiative involves community volunteers, local grandmas, who call families in the morning to offer a friendly wake-up call and help get children to school. It’s an example of how we can use the human element to build community while solving a logistical problem. It reminds us that families often trust the voices of their peers and elders more than a formal district office.

The Bottom Line

Attendance is the ultimate correlate to student achievement. We can have the best brand and the most innovative programs, but they mean nothing if the desks are empty. As leaders, we must be relentless in our pursuit of these students, not through mandates alone, but through bold storytelling, authentic relationships, and a superior "customer experience" that makes every student feel missed when they are gone.

From Defense to Definition: Winning the Enrollment Challenge

There’s a unique kind of energy that accompanies the AASA National Conference on Education, a mix of urgency, professional camaraderie, and the shared understanding that the work we do matters now more than ever.

One of the best parts of this conference is the immediate connection with colleagues. Before I even finished checking in, I ran into my good friend Dan Frazier. Dan is the former superintendent at Litchfield, MN, and is now doing great work down in Texas. We’ve known each other for about 14 years, and that’s the beauty of this event: it doesn't matter how many miles or years have passed; you can always pick up right where you left off. It was the perfect way to start the week.

My first session started at 9:00 am, and the focus shifted to the significant challenges facing our industry. I spent my first breakout session with Bill Good, Chief Communications Officer of Denver Public Schools (and a remarkably resilient Detroit Lions fan), and Greg Turchetta, a strategic communications advisor at Apptegy. Their session, “Alternate Realities: Winning School Choice in Blue, Red, and Purple States,” was an outstanding case for shifting our mindset from defense to offense.

The Three Rs: Reality, Revenue, and Response

The presenters didn't sugarcoat the "Reality" slide. Since 2019, 1.2 million students have left public education. Let that sink in. This isn’t just a "pandemic blip"; it is a systemic shift and a looming budget crisis for districts nationwide.

The logic is simple but brutal: Enrollment goes down, revenue follows, and staffing cuts follow revenue. Bill and Greg made a compelling case that in times like these, the communications department is not a "luxury" to be cut; it is the very team that can help solve the problem. Essentially, strategic communications is revenue protection.

Stop Defending, Start Defining

One of the most striking points made was how we, as district leaders, often fight "choice." We treat choice like something that is happening to us. But the truth is, families are making these decisions independently of our arguments.

The shift we need is to move from Defensive Leadership to Definitive Leadership.

• Defensive Leadership explains, apologizes, reacts to the vocal minority, and argues through press releases. It feels responsible, but it rarely moves the needle on public opinion.

• Definitive Leadership proactively sets the narrative. It boldly shows proof of success, promotes exclusive learning opportunities, and drives enrollment through marketing.

The message was clear: Don’t waste energy fighting school choice. Spend that energy defining why you are the best choice.

The Power of Brand and Experience

We have to remember that "people are people." The way families purchase and engage with private-sector brands is exactly how they expect to engage with their schools. In the private sector, 90% of marketers consider "brand experience" to be absolutely critical.

In public education, we need to focus on that "brand experience" by mastering Experiential Marketing. 

This means:

1. Building Brand Awareness: Does the community know what you're great at?

2. Fostering Brand Loyalty: How do families feel after their first interaction?

3. Generating Word of Mouth: Are your parents your best marketers?

Denver Public Schools shared a brilliant example of this by redefining the "P" in Public Schools. They aren't just "Public"; they are Denver Prestigious Schools, Denver Passionate Schools, and Denver Proud Schools. They took a label that is often used as a catch-all and turned it into a brand of excellence.

Action Steps: The 90-Day Sprint

The session concluded with some very practical, "boots-on-the-ground" advice for superintendents. If we want to win the enrollment battle, we have to scale our storytelling. We need to create more storytellers, teachers, students, and parents, and use systems that allow us to "create once and publish everywhere."

Here are a few takeaways I'm bringing back with me:

• The "Amazon" Test: Evaluate your enrollment process. Is it easy? Or is it buried under jargon and 15 different forms? We need to make it "Amazon easy."

• The 90-Day Sprint: Pick one or two programs or schools to pilot an enrollment-focused marketing plan. Measure the inquiries, the tours, and the applications. Results change budgets, but momentum changes behavior.

• The Secret Shopper: When was the last time you "secret shopped" your own district? Call the front office, look at the enrollment page in a different language, or try to find a video of why a teacher chose to stay at your school.

The Final Leadership Shift

The most provocative thought of the morning was this: Your Communications staff should become your Chief of Brand and Enrollment Management. If no one in your organization wakes up every morning owning these areas, you are leaking opportunity by default.

Enrollment loss isn't just about declining birth rates or legislation. It’s an identity problem. Winning districts don't wait for the world to change; they define who they are, tell their story relentlessly, and create a superior experience for every family that walks through their doors.

As we move through the rest of this conference, I’m challenged to look at our "Brand" not as a logo, but as the promise we make to our community. It’s time to stop debating and start bragging.

For those of you looking to dive deeper into this mindset, I highly recommend checking out School CEO Magazine for more resources on school branding and marketing.

Stay tuned for more updates from NCE!

Looking Forward to the AASA National Conference on Education

Each year, the AASA National Conference on Education offers a powerful reminder that while our districts may differ in size, geography, and demographics, the challenges and opportunities we face as superintendents are remarkably similar. From February 12–14, I’ll be attending this year’s conference in Nashville and serving as an official AASA blogger, and I’m looking forward to the chance to learn, reflect, and grow alongside colleagues from across the country.

One of the most valuable aspects of this conference is the opportunity to connect with fellow superintendents who are doing the work every day. Regardless of the year or the circumstances we find ourselves in, there is always something to learn from exceptional leaders who are navigating complex systems with care, courage, and purpose. These conversations, both formal and informal, often spark new ideas and provide reassurance that none of us are doing this work alone.

I’m especially eager to engage in sessions focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how district leaders are thoughtfully leading this work in their school communities. As AI continues to evolve, it presents both tremendous opportunities and important challenges for educators and students alike. Learning from others’ successes, missteps, and lessons learned will help inform how we continue this work in Willmar, ensuring AI is used responsibly, ethically, and in ways that enhance teaching and learning.

Another area of focus for me this year is how districts are responding to challenges related to immigration in their communities. It is critical that student learning and student safety remain at the center of every decision we make. Keeping politics out of our schools, regardless of ideology, allows us to stay focused on what we are called to do: provide high-quality teaching and learning opportunities for all students in a safe and nurturing environment. I’m looking forward to hearing how leaders across the country are navigating these waters and learning from their experiences. As part of this work, I plan to attend the Federal Relations Luncheon, which will focus on preserving immigrant children’s lawful access to education, an issue that remains both essential and timely.

In closing, the AASA National Conference on Education is always a time for connection, reflection, and growth. I consistently return home energized and better prepared to lead. I look forward to sharing insights from the conference and continuing to bring new learning back to the Willmar community as we move this important work forward, together.

Building a Culture of Dignity: One Interaction at a Time

At the Fall MASA Conference, we had the privilege of hearing from Tamy Pyfer and Karren Pyfer-Minalga on a topic that could not be more relevant to our lives and work: The Dignity Index and how it can improve school culture. Their message was both timely and timeless, reminding us of the power we each hold to build up or break down the relationships around us.

They began by exploring a force that is becoming increasingly common in society: contempt. Contempt manifests in various ways, including dismissing others as not worth our time, assuming negative motives, calling people names, attacking their character, or categorizing them into groups with broad, harmful generalizations. It erodes public discourse, but its impact doesn’t stop there. Contempt damages families, friendships, workplaces, and schools. And when contempt seeps into a relationship, something crucial happens: we lose sight of the other person’s positive qualities entirely.

But there is an alternative, a powerful one. If contempt tears us apart, dignity brings us back together.

The presenters defined dignity as “the mutual recognition of the desire to be seen, heard, listened to, and treated fairly; to be recognized, understood, and to feel safe in the world.” It is something every human being longs for. It transcends every demographic difference. It is, in many ways, a universal truth: we all want to be treated with dignity.

And just as contempt has identifiable behaviors, so does dignity. Treating someone with dignity looks like:

• Offering care and attention

• Ensuring all voices feel free to speak

• Listening to their experiences

• Giving them the benefit of the doubt

• Helping them feel they belong

• Acknowledging their strengths, gifts, and accomplishments

As one speaker said, “Dignity: I see myself in you.”

We were reminded that firefighters don’t fight fire with fire. Likewise, responding to contempt with more contempt only fuels the flames. Instead, dignity invites us to choose a better path, a path that defuses, disarms, and starts to rebuild trust.

One of the most meaningful takeaways from the session was the emphasis on the Dignity Index, which outlines eight levels of response, ranging from the most contemptuous to the most dignifying. Level 8 is the highest expression of dignity: seeing the humanity in others, even when we disagree, and choosing connection over division.

Reaching Level 8 is not about perfection. It’s about practice.

It’s about taking responsibility for our own behavior, our reactions, our tone, our assumptions, our words. And if each of us commits to raising our own level of dignity, then brick by brick, interaction by interaction, we can strengthen the culture of our classrooms, buildings, district, community, state, country, and world.

Imagine what becomes possible when the default expectation, at school, at home, and online, is dignity.

As we move forward, may we all reflect on where we are today and where we aspire to be. The path to Level 8 begins with a single choice: choosing dignity in the next interaction.

To learn more about the Dignity Index and explore helpful tools and resources, visit www.dignity.us.