Tell Me About South...

Last week, we had the pleasure to interview Spanish candidates for a teaching job at South, a vacancy resulting when one of our teachers moved to California to get married. In short, we had a great list of candidates that applied for the opening, and seven very strong candidates that we interviewed.

During the period for candidate questions of the committee, one of them asked us to, "Tell me about South. What makes it so special?"

One of the teachers on our committee was quick to respond, "Tradition". She continued by saying that this is a very proud community that is very proud of its school. Kids are expected to do well, and perform accordingly. They do well academically, but they also thrive in so many other ways. Whether it is extracurriculars, or the spirit of volunteerism, the do it exceedingly well.

Fast forward one week. There were two alumni tours conducted last weekend for the classes of '54 and '69. One of the alums here for her 55-year reunion actually sobbed when she re-entered the building. She said that she was surprised at the emotional response the visit elicited, but that there were many great memories here.

I've stated many times that I've never seen an alumni so proud as those that attended the 'High' or South. And two events from the past week provided even more evidence.

A Pause for Reflection

During the past week, I was contacted by a gentleman out of New York who works with school administrators from that area. One of the topics that he covers in his training seminars is effective communication. And somehow, he found my blog and was interested in its origin and effectiveness.

Our subsequent telephone and email conversations gave me a chance to reflect on what I intended to do with this blog as compared to how it has evolved.

This little journey began just over 18 months ago. I was frustrated with the old concept of a monthly newsletter. The frustration arose because I had to predict something that would be newsworthy to parents at least a month in advance. This was because my article for "High Pointes" had to be turned in almost a month ahead of its release in order to meet printing deadlines. I always felt writing the article was somewhat risky. It was risky because the article could have provided inaccurate information by the time of its release. Or at best, it was old news.

So I chose to go the blogging route for two primary reasons; 1) it would be more timely, and 2) it provided the opportunity for two-way communication. The timeliness meant that I could write about something that is coming up next week, or even something that happened at school today.

For instance, early this past spring, I wrote about an incident in the hallway that had occurred just that morning. I felt getting that information out to the public via the blog was the most expedient manner possible and far superior than writing a letter to be mailed home.

The second reason for the blog is the potential for two-way communication. The old-style monthly newsletter was purely one-way communication and completely dependent upon someone reading my article, yet still left them with no opportunity to respond. With the blog, they still have to read it, but it does provide the opportunity to respond for those that are interested. But although this was part of the intent, the lack of responses has been somewhat disappointing. There have been a few articles that have garnered some responses, but overall most of them have not led to two-way communication.

I've thought about reasons behind the lack of response. Either my articles to too blah to merit a response, or people simply lack interest in the subjects. In spite of this disappointment, I plan to continue with this style of communication. In short, it's far more preferable to a return to the monthly newsletter, and I've yet to find something that I think would be more effective.

So I should probably thank the gentleman from New York that contacted me. During the dead of summer, he at least provided me a topic for my next blog.

Happy Summer!