Message from MSA President Henry G. Cram, Ed.D
The Olympics this summer should have inspired each of us to do our best.
But as the Olympic flame goes out and our attention shifts to the more immediate demands of operating our schools, it is easy to lose that inspiration and forget the lessons that can be learned from every Olympic athlete, including those that medaled this year and those who valiantly tried and will try again in 2020.
The Olympic spirit may not at first appear to have much to do with school improvement, but if you listened carefully to the interviews with the participating athletes there is a striking similarity.
Every successful athlete, regardless of the event, exhibited a focus on the task at hand and the ability to imagine themselves as being the best. Each athlete carefully monitored their performance to learn what they did best and where their performance needed to improve. All Olympians exhibited the long term commitment required to becoming the best and persistently pursued a plan of action to achieve those results. And every champion was part of a team that helped them achieve their dream.
The example of this summer’s premier athletes should inspire every educator to approach the new school year like an Olympic champion. We should all focus on having our best year ever, realistically assess how we are doing, continuously working toward doing better and working as a team to do what it is we need to do to out perform our school’s previous best.
These principles are at the core of the Middle States accreditation process and why our motto, “school improvement through accreditation” succinctly expresses the value added by our process.
While our efforts may not attract the same glory as Olympic gold, continuously striving to do our best as educators provides a golden opportunity for every student to achieve their personal best.