An open letter to Willow...my grand-daughter

Welcome to our family.  The joy you bring everyone is indescribable.  Having just come from Heavenly Father, I have to ask you...how's Grandpa Glen?  What does Heaven smell like?  What's the best book in Heaven?  Best food?  I know that sounds silly, but I have those questions  because you're here.  You remind me that Heaven is a real place.

I'm glad you chose to come.  I'm learning how much better I want to be.  For you.  For our family.

This world is a mix of wonder, joy, and a fair measure of pain and sorrow.  I want to protect you from that.  To keep you safe.  To shelter you.  But I can't.

It would be unfair.  It's not part of the plan.  So...I pledge that I will do all in my power to serve you, to teach you and show you all that I can.

You have amazing parents.  Your father, my son, is a worthy priesthood holder.  The spirit resides with him - he is worthy to go to the temple with your mother, whom I also love so much.  She made great sacrifice to bring you here - and will continue to do so as she helps to guide and teach you.  I love your parents - my son, my daughter - so much.

You hail from hard-working & God-fearing people.  Farmers, ranchers, miners.  People familiar with God's creations, with sacrifice, with love & loss.  I hope your parents teach you of your ancestry, your heritage.

Willow, three things I would that you always remember;

1. Who you are - a child of God.
2. Where you come from - your heritage.
3. That you are LOVED.  You matter.

I can't wait to get to know you Willow.  I can't wait to meet you.  

So begins our eternal journey together - so begins your blessed life.  May it be long and full of pure joy!

-Papa J

Children of Deployed Parents - How do we better serve them?

Recently my friend brought something to my attention that stopped me in my educational tracks - and heightened my overall awareness to new levels.  I've always fancied myself a conscientious educator, but let me ask you a question, how well are we serving the needs of children who's parents are on deployment?

After over two decades of service, I felt a dear friend of mine is qualified to answer so I asked her to be a guest on my blog and share her thoughts.  I'm thankful she agreed.

"The military children of today are dealing with so many uncertainties....beginning with unscheduled deployments.

Generally a sailor will begin a "work-up" cycle before deploying...meaning training out to sea for short periods of ...during this time...the children learn to adjust without the parent.  The remaining parent also learns to balance household/parenting/work without the help of the other parent.

It becomes a crazy balancing act....and my husband and I jokingly refer to it as tag team parenting.  One of us was always in a work-up/deployed status...while the other one was on shore duty.

I think it is best to refer to a recent episode of my best friend...

R spent her lifetime with her dad on "shore duty" status....he was in the training track for flight school, therefore she has had to deal with a deployment yet.  They moved to San Diego...where new surroundings can be overwhelming for a 3 year old.  Daddy deploys within a couple of months...and she is forced to deal with his absence almost immediately.  Any parent can imagine the psychological impact, deployed families can tell you how a mother feels when left to deal with a sudden departure of Dad when he's been a constant fixture up to this point.

R is a daddy's girl.  The deployment proves challenging for both P (mom) and R...temper tantrums ensue with almost no relief.

Adjustment to a new city, new home...and no daddy are taking their toll.

After several months go by...both learn to deal with the situation...but it does not come easy.  P finds a preschool to help R stay occupied...but this only complicates issues as everyone else's daddy is able to come to the school to participate.

When Daddy finally gets home...it's as if he was never gone.  R remarkably goes back to the sweet little girl she always was and temper tantrums and crying spells stop.

A couple of months goes by...and Daddy is being deployed out of cycle....and the process starts over. This is a different situation....because usually there is a turnaround period where the parent is home for a while....not the case here.  

The temper tantrums start...her acting out is class starts...and Mom is left to deal with something she can't control.  Nothing seems to put R in the right frame of mind.  She misses her Dad...and it is unfair that her daddy had to go again.  This is really hard to explain to a young child.  This time I am there to help out...but only because I have dealt with this....do I even begin to know how to help her.

Here's an example:

In March of 2012, the USS John C. Stennis (JCS) and her embarked airwing (5500 sailors total) returned from a 7 month deployment.

In April...the the same ship went out to sea for a couple of weeks.

In June...she again went out to sea for a couple of weeks with her airwing....only to be told that they would be deploying in July.  Recent news is that this will be upwards of an 11 month deployment.  5500 sailors and their families are affected.  I can't begin to tell the compounding numbers with regards to children are.  Babies are being born every week without daddy.  Kids are going to school and haven't had their parent for the last 18 months.

Just because the kids are older, doesn't make it any easier.  Too many times my boys needed a father figure for problems etc.....and let me tell you how many times I had the "talk" with my girls prior to deploying...so they knew what to expect with respect to their menses....how embarrassing it is to ask your dad for supplies.

I have yet to have been blessed with a DOD school where all the kids in school went through the same emotions...my kids have always been in public schools and didn't get the opportunity to have someone to go through it with them.  The older one's suffer in silence.  The younger ones don't process it very well.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Each child handles the deployment differently.  Embrace the differences.
2. Communicate with the parents.  Write letters to deployed service members.  Make it safe for parents who are at home to ask questions and receive support.
3. Challenging behaviors are an opportunity to help a child process the deployment.
4. Understanding goes a long way.
5. If there are other parents who's loved ones are deployed, facilitate support groups.  The classroom can be a community of support."

To all the men and women who serve, thank you.  We endeavor to care for your children and we are grateful that you trust us with your most precious gifts.  Thank you Brenda, for your service, and for being an incredible mother, wife, and friend.

On we go!

Principal Sharp

Legislation gone bad...

Esteemed Members of the Arizona House and Senate,

As a concerned Arizonan, I'm writing to ask for your help, and because I respect your service to your communities' educational agencies.

I have worked in Arizona district and charter schools for a combined 18 years here in Arizona.  Most of those were shared with underprivileged, homeless, at-risk, and more recently refugee children.

I have lobbied some of you, worked campaigns as a LD10 (now LD20) Precinct Committeman, lobbied members of the House and Senate at the Federal level, and most importantly I am a father of five incredible children.

Presently, I'm a school principal in East Phoenix, where we've labored diligently, turning a major corner taking our school from corrective action to a B in one single year.  We also have some of the highest re-classification rates among Latino, Refugee and Homeless children (50-60%).  We are building a national model for serving this population of children.

I'm encouraged by the momentum...and yet troubled by the increasing challenges we face in meeting the legislative mandates.

Those that vex me most are:

• Mandating 4 hour blocks of reading, writing, vocabulary and speaking courses.
• Implementing strategies determined to meet a government standard.

In order to meet these mandates, I've had to;

• cut my mathematics instruction by 180 minutes per week campus-wide, 
• shorten enrichment and intervention activities for non-ELD students, 
• limit ELD student access to differentiated mathematics, science and technology instruction,
• and require teachers to spend 10-12 hours on the weekends creating lesson plans that meet government templates/standards - outside the normally accepted - and already proven best practices.

There may be a few educators who understand the need to set and meet high expectations for our students better than I.  I fully accept that I may not grasp all the ins and outs of this process, but as a successful practitioner, I can demonstrate that I know precisely what it can entail.

Resources are already limited.  District leadership, while facing federal cuts, is trying to support these mandates via private grants or application of already diminished Title III funds.  In other words, they are doing their level best to make this work.

The single most troubling factor is that while we may eventually meet the government standard, in so doing, we grossly neglect Science, Mathematics, and Technology learning opportunities.  

These are the skills that we all know must have the highest degree of focus in the coming days, months, and years if we are to ever prepare our children for sustainable jobs in the growing job fields. To make them college and career ready.

I'm asking that you;

• Create legislation that limits the mandated instructional blocks to 2 hours maximum, allowing successful site/district flexibility to meet the individual needs of children.
• Limit governmental ability to impinge on LEA (Local Education Agency) scheduling and application of State and Federal resources without first assessing the efficacy of existing programming.
• Limit governmental corrective action oversite when districts/LEA's post consistently high rates of re-classification (40%).
• Formulate an LEA/District/Charter appeals process for corrective action/monitoring that allows LEA's to submit to a third party for review.
• Re-direct funding to groups that can highlight best practices and share them with struggling LEA/Charters/Districts in a collaborative venue.

In short, put children first.

Best,

Principal Sharp

I know a guy...and a gal.

I love connecting people.  I mean, I'm no Scott Lazerson, but on a local and on a growing national level, I love saying to people, "I know someone you need to meet."  Here's a few to add to your list.

• Jeff Bradbury of TeacherCast - here's a humble professional reaching out across the Twitterverse and connecting professionals of all walks.  His site features app reviews, podcasts, blogs, and tips that light your educational fire!  

• John Angelo of The Angelo Group - My grandchildren will buy houses from John.

• Eric Bennett - from loosing his arm in a car accident at 15, to Paralympic contender, 4th in the world.  Father, husband, Physics teacher, hunter, and dear friend.

• John McLean - graduates with his Masters Degree in counseling this month.  He's 55.  Alaskan fish-boat captain.  Dad.  Grandfather.  Husband.  Hack on the basketball court.  Beat his demons.  Prime example of human potential.  

• Jamie...my wife.  Mother.  Healer.  Friend.  Sister.  Life-long student.  

I'm always looking to surround myself with kind, smart people.  It's the key to whatever success I achieve.  Do you know someone I should know?  Let's connect!

Best,

Principal Sharp

5.5 Ways to Choose a School

School choice.   Hot topic at both extremes of the political pendulum.  Legislators and activists beat the choice drum with vigor, urging stakeholders to exercise their ability to choose, while some important criteria remain elusive to those of us who will find themselves facing a growing myriad of choices.  Whether public, private or district...the array is broad.

So, how does one choose a district, charter or private school?  It may be one of the most important commitments we make.  Here are 5.5 criteria that should help get you thinking:

1. Vision - sounds cliche right?  Well, consider asking where the district or group intends to be 5-10 years from now.  If the word traditional is found anywhere in their mission statement or foundational documents...I'd ask some tough questions.
2. Awards - not just the type of awards but from whence to they come?  Accolades can be indicative of the network the district or group belongs.  If their going around patting one another on the back, be wary.  If business and commerce groups are recognizing innovation and performance, that's a good indicator of sustainability.
3. School ratings - many States provide indicators of student performance.  These are one of the many ways that school's can be held accountable for resource application.  Growth is the tale of the tape.  Stagnation is a sign of doldrums.
4. Innovation - band-wagon creativity isn't necessarily indicative of staying power.  Anyone can jump on the STEM train and follow the tracks.  Districts and groups who do things barely anyone is doing are aggressive about changing education.  Calculated risks can bring great educational dividends.
5. Community partnerships - A district or group is only as good as its friends.  These friendships can bring alignment or distractions.  Consider the organization that's partnering with everyone, their spread too thin, their resources are diminished to a point of unsustainability.  Choiceful agreements aligned with the shared vision build cultures of success that last well beyond changes in leadership.  

5.5.  Traditions - embedded cultural practices build cohesiveness outside the normal routines of education. They can be something to fall back on and look forward to as your children matriculate through the years of schooling.  All great institutions have them and share them with the community.

Notice I didn't list money...that's not my thing. Choosy parents choose choicefully. Do your homework.  Interview stakeholders. Commit. Stick with it.  Be a part of the solutions. Heck, run for school board!

My personal best,

Principal Sharp

What's Your Wedg-ie

Some of you have heard the parable of the boy who leaves a splitting wedge in the nape of a young tree on his way in the house when called to dinner.  Days go by, then months turn to years, all the while he intends to return the wedge to the shed.  In his adulthood, a violent evening storm strikes his home, and in the morning he awakes to find his beloved tree split - exposing the long-forgotten wedge, precisely in it's hurried resting place.  Frustrated he gathers the remnants of the tree that once provided shade to his home and lofty heights to his children.

In our haste, fast-paced as our lives have become, have we placed an errant mental, physical or spiritual wedge in places that may cause us future grief or frustration?  What potential consequences may distract or overwhelm us in the midst of a seemingly focused life?  Wedges or wedgies...it matters little.  Fact is, if we have them, we're stuck.  Something's between us and where we want to be.

Here are 8.5 potential wedgies that we may face;

1. Guilt - our ability to hang on to disappointment or a failure to resolve lingering issues.
2. Fear - of what is, or what isn't.
3. Doubt - the absence of faith.
4. Anger - the presence of things for which we care deeply and could address.
5. Regret - what was.
6. Resources - time, money, good people - or the lack thereof.
7. Addiction - in it's many forms.
8. Sorrow - deeper than regret.

8.5.  Success - or how we've chosen to define success.

The list of wedgies - or things that are making us stuck - could be significantly longer.  I've covered some of the deeper and sharper challenges that get in our way.

Slow down.  Take the time to put things in their proper place, in proper perspective.  Surround yourself with good people, ask for help - if you've a still small voice urging you to deal with that distant, nagging wedge - take care of it.

Storms will come, perhaps they are already here.  It's never too late to remove that wedge, pull out the wedgie and get started on your true potential.

How teacher's saved my life...

April 15, 1981 brought a shrill ring to the kitchen yellow-rotary phone in our Colorado double-wide trailer.  The call changed the lives of 15 families forever and left my 27-year old mother to raise 5 children on her own.  A methane gas explosion took the lives of fifteen coal miners that day, and left me with the stark reality of shattered dreams, 12 years old, I lost my best friend, my Dad.

Developmentally, those years were principle to me, as they are to all young boys.  And I entered my 7^th grade year one angry child.  While my mother wasn’t equipped to address my angst, I found refuge in school and in the comfort of my classrooms.

I remember the names and faces of every single teacher I’ve ever had.  The principals too.  I recall key conversations, escapes from bad days to Mr. Hayes’ office, extra laps courtesy of the Coach Martin/Price/Close trio, another draft of my essay on Watergate at the red-inked edits of Mr. Tesmer, and the repeated encouragements of Ms. McDonnell as I wrestled with mathematics.

I knew that while sleeping alone in a damp basement after I left home my Sophomore year, that any restless night was immediately followed by a bus ride to school, to a hot meal, to my friends, to my second family…my teachers.  They believed I could, so I did.

Those happenings evolved into an instinctual path that led me to accept a teaching position at an inner-city school in the heart of Phoenix Arizona’s gang infested neighborhoods.  A freshly divorced, confused and still angry white teacher who’s still sleepless nights nested in the surety of teaching kids who’s teacher needed them maybe more than they needed him.

I was a passionate coach, and a teacher who soaked up the marrow of the lives of these kids.  I never accepted an excuse for not showing up.  I expected great things, as my teachers had, and these cynical youths delivered.

I cut my educational teeth on serving homeless and refugee children, first as a teacher and coach, then as an educational leader; always reckoning my decisions around the love, compassion, and relentless expectations of my former teachers.

My passion for the work attracted a cadre of incredibly talented individuals, who, in their own way found refuge from the storms of life in the comfort of public school.  Successful human beings from all walks of life, like Scott Lazerson – The Connector in Chief – who’s philanthropic efforts help touch children all over the globe, or Miki Markovich who’s late night escape from a murderous rogue planted her in a teacher’s room where she captured a vision to serve homeless teens teaching them to write their own stories, and Todd Sutler who’s Odyssey Initiative will host real time best practice artifacts in a format that will help aspiring educators open schools that can readily replicate these practices.

All last year, the collective efforts of these, and dedicated professionals like them, helped to turn around what some were calling a persistently failing school where 1 child in 5 is homeless and 1 in 7 is a refugee.  We earned the 2^nd highest available rating to an Arizona elementary school based on federal and state guidelines.

We believed we could, so we did.  We did it in the name of the teachers and principals who helped shape our lives.  In the names of teacher-leaders all across the nations who do this unthinkable and sometimes thankless charge every day of their lives.  Public school educators, who, without the fanfare of contract negotiations, sponsorships, red carpet affairs or the self-important award dinners caped with swag bags, take care of our children in ways we don’t comprehend, care for in ways we don’t assess, talk about or publish.

So the next time you’re tempted to believe the hype behind the inflammatory news reports about how schools fail our kids, risk a head-first dive into the day to day stories of our children and teachers.  Help tell their stories in ways that illuminate the consistent success of American education.  This is about our success, and this year’s success of more than 500 children who will later on multiply the vintage of it all, replicating the greatness that sets us apart the world over.  And that’s just one school…think about it!