To All,

I hope that this story of Paul Hamm has inspired you to FINISH STRONG this school year. By far, for those who are approaching retirement and those who are just starting in the field of education and everyone in between this year has been one faced with challenges that we have not had to face before. The state of the State and the national economy have certainly impacted education and knocked us to our knees, with the fear of not knowing what lies ahead. It is in this challenge that I ask you to not focus on what may lie ahead, but challenge yourself to be the change agent to take advantage of this adversity and shape what is ahead to benefit our students.

I know that each one of you has the inner strength to put this fall behind you and move forward. Please take time each day to celebrate you, your students and your colleagues. All of you are the change agents for our children. We cannot possibly know how these times are impacting our children and their families. The children that are coming into our offices and classrooms each day, the ones that are looking forward to seeing our bright shining faces each morning ready to scoop them up and give them a wonderful experience to tuck away in their memories of childhood.

You pick them up when they fall, you give them the encouragement that they need to get up and face the next challenge that they may encounter. You help them set their goals and attain them, just as Paul Hamm did. You set that bar nice and high so that they keep coming back for more. Please take time to refocus yourself not on the fall, but on the awesome experiences that lie before us that we have the opportunity to shape. Also, take time to reflect and take something away from this experience, something that will make you stronger. . .

As we are entering the final stretch of the school year race, I would like to empower you to take a few minutes each day and share with your classroom teams, colleagues, or friends a positive moment that happened during the day. This moment may make you laugh, or cry or just reflect. To take this one step further, you may want to document this moment in your KCSEC journal so that when you are feeling a bit overwhelmed and cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, you can grab your KCSEC journal and relive a moment that was special. If you would be as so bold to share, I would love to hear some of your positive moments. . . We started this year with our Opening Day theme. . . A Winning Team! I ask all of you to close out our year with the energy focus and determination of “A Winning Team~Finish Strong!”

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week the first week in May your KCSEC Administrator will be delivering early a KCSEC “A Winning Team” journal to record your positive moments.

Lynda Shanks                                Denise McCarthy