Energy Bus News
November 2018
Principle # 3: Drive with Purpose
- What problems do you want to solve?
- Why would you like to solve this problem(s)?
- How do you think your studies in school will help you solve this problem(s)?
- What brings a smile to your face?
- What are you good at?
In addition to these questions, plan activities that will help students connect with their purpose.
Here are a few ideas:
- Teachers/Principals share your own purpose with students and how you connected with your "why."
- Host a Career Day in your school or classroom which will allow students to know and understand various roles in the community.
- Host a "Create a Career" Day in your school/community. Have students create their dream careers, this could be a fun way for students to live out their purpose. **See attached flyer for more information.
- Have student's review my video here: https://youtu.be/5GPwz9VYivk
Let's make it a great month!
Sending lots of positive energy your way,
Niki
"Create A Career Day" on The Energy Bus
CBS News.com reports that “[o]f the country’s approximately 100 million full-time employees, 51 percent aren’t engaged at work -- meaning they feel no real connection to their jobs, and thus they tend to do the bare minimum.
What if people were able to pursue roles that they are passionate about rather than just taking a job? What if they were able to work in positions that gave them great purpose?
As we review Principle #3 Drive with Purpose, we want to give students the opportunity to create jobs that will give them joy, pleasure, and a feeling of great purpose.
Many times, when students participant in a Career Day, they are exposed to careers that already exist and may feel that they must settle based on what they see. What if we provided students with opportunities to move beyond careers that exist in their current world and create the professions of their dreams?
On December 3rd, we would like for you and your students to participate in our very first “Create a Career”Day! Students will have the opportunity to do the following:
- Consider a problem/need in the community or the world that they would like to solve.
- Design and plan their own career based on their unique skills/abilities, passions, and the need they identified.
- Dress in attire that supports their unique career
- Put together a presentation in which they share
- The title/name of their profession.
- A description of their role.
- How it will benefit others.
- Why they are passionate about this occupation.
We would love for students to put together videos or take pictures and share with us on Twitter using @EnergyBusSchools or on Facebook/Instagram The Energy Bus for Schools Leadership Journey.
Let’s get ready to support our students in embracing the first three principles on The Energy Bus – Principle #1 – You’re the Driver; Principle #2: Create a Positive Vision; and Principle #3 Drive with Purpose.
Sending lots of positive energy your way,
The Energy Bus for Schools Leadership Journey
***See attachments at the end of this newsletter for Create a Career Day Flyers
Great Message for Leaders from Michael Goddard, Superintendent - Red Oak ISD
Leadership Encouragement
Leading and influencing is always an adventure. During times when things are going well, leadership and influence seem to just flow.
But, if you want to discover the true heart and character of a leader, examine them during a time of trouble.
I read about the story below.
Think of the impact of Jay Turner’s decision to lead in a time of significant difficulty:
This football team knows what sportsmanship and compassion look like.
Marysville-Pilchuck High School's football team was scheduled to play the Oak Harbor Wildcats for the Wesco 3A North Division title in Washington last Friday. However, due to the deadly shooting that occurred earlier that day at Marysville-Pilchuck High, the game was postponed. Rather than reschedule, the Wildcats decided to forfeit the game, and accept second place in their division.
"There’s a lot of stuff riding on this game, but there are a lot bigger things than a football game right now," Jay Turner, Oak Harbor football coach, told The Herald of Everett, Washington. "I can’t imagine what the Marysville community is going through right now. They don’t need to be worried about trying to fit in a game in the days after a tragedy like this. They’ve got much bigger things to worry about right now."
The gesture was one that resonated with Marysville players: "You guys are the real League Champions," one athlete on the Marysville team tweeted at the Oak Harbor team after learning of their kind gesture.
The Wildcats then went a step further and showed their support for their rivals by attending a vigil at Marysville High, Yahoo reported. The Oak Harbor players received a standing ovation for their empathy while at the memorial.-Huffington Post October 27, 2014
Can you imagine the impact on all of the young men and women involved in this act of kindness? What about the community as a whole?
The game took such an insignificant meaning at that point, but yet became a poignant reminder of how important it is to lead, especially when it is most difficult.
"Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are."~ Arthur Golden
As you lead and influence, please be reminded that it will not always be easy, calm, or even boring.
If you lead long enough you will see that times will not always be pretty, glamorous or even calm. Very often if they always are, I’d check and see if anyone is following or really listening, because in genuine leadership conflict happens-it’s what you do when it happens that makes all the difference.
"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."~ Albert Camus
Bringing an umbrella and rain suit when weathering the storms of leadership builds capacity to impact and influence all those around us.
That means you must prepare, as best you can, for times that challenge us. It is in the sun, when we prepare for the rain.
Coach Turner from Oak Harbor HS saw an opportunity to impact his young men for a lifetime. He didn’t just send a note of sympathy, flowers, or prepare a moment of silence. All of those would have been extremely loving and kind. He found a way to show his young men and the young men of Marysville that football is just a game, and through sacrificing of your own needs to meet the needs of others, you can show the greatest grace of all. True leadership is just that.
“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.”-John Buchan
Proud to be a partner in Leadership with you!
Dr. Micheal Goddard,
Superintendent
Red Oak Independent School District
Proud Moment!
Willis Hare Elementary School Principal, Kim Scott
Willis Hare Elementary Energy Bus
Willis Hare Elementary School presents at 2018 NCACE Conference
On Thursday I had the opportunity to support Willis Hare's principal and leadership team as they shared highlights from their 2 year "Journey" on the Energy Bus for Schools Leadership Journey with other educational leaders at the 2018 NCACE Conference in North Carolina. They shared their success with improved teacher and student morale, student assessment scores, and overall community engagement. I was so impressed with how well they knew the content and energized the leaders participating in the discussion. The Willis Hare Team made us proud!
I know from time to time many of you present to educational leaders across the country. If you are interested in sharing your Energy Bus Journey, please let me know and I will do my best to come out and support your team as well.
It's great to see how our students and staff are benefitting from the Journey!
Sending positive energy your way,
Niki
Join Niki Spears and Susan Melbye for a Bedtime Story on November 15th at 6:30 pm CST!!
Thank You and Goodnight is a beautifully illustrated book that shares the heart of gratitude. Jon Gordon takes a little boy and girl on a fun-filled journey from one perfect moonlight night to the next. During their adventurous day and night, the children explore the people, places and things that they are thankful for.
The two tots in Thank You and Goodnight learn that being thankful makes ice cream taste better, butterflies look more beautiful, and weekend days seem longer. "Thank you" is a phrase that will brighten any kid's day and help them get a good night’s sleep.
Click here to join: Join Niki Spears, Co-Founder of The Energy Bus for Schools Leadership Journey and Susan Melbye, Principal of Nottoway Elementary in Medley, VA as they bring the book, Thank you and Good Night by Jon Gordon, to life for students and families across the country as we celebrate The Thanksgiving Holiday.
Thank You and Goodnight is a beautifully illustrated book that shares the heart of gratitude. Jon Gordon takes a little boy and girl on a fun-filled journey from one perfect moonlight night to the next. During their adventurous day and night, the children explore the people, places and things that they are thankful for.
The two tots in Thank You and Goodnight learn that being thankful makes ice cream taste better, butterflies look more beautiful, and weekend days seem longer. "Thank you" is a phrase that will brighten any kid's day and help them get a good night’s sleep.
Have your families reserve their seats here: https://zoom.us/j/562193987
We look forward to you joining us!
Niki and Susan