The Cardinal Way
Sharing and Learning at Southport Middle School
Student Success is a Team Effort!
IN THE MIDDLE OF IT - On A Mission
This post is one I have been working on since last semester when Brooke Nelson led our staff through the process of writing our own, personal, mission statements. Although, I am a very driven person with strong beliefs, I had never taken the time to write out something along these lines. Going into the staff meeting, I thought, “I know what I am about; this will be easy.” It wasn’t! I struggled to identify the right words to express what I knew I felt about my purpose in life.
Since that meeting, I have continued to pull out my mission statement and rework, rethink, and rewrite it. I tried inserting words like empower into my mission statement, but then after thinking about it would stray away from the words I was using. I found through this process that a word like empower insinuates that I have the power to bestow on people. I did not feel like my life's mission was about changing people. Those were not the ideas I felt drove my life and my decisions. So, I continued to struggle with the words. While working to find the right words, I have come across the idea of a living a mission driven life in many of the books I have read this past few months. This concept of having/developing a mission statement seemed to be recurring in many places in my life, and I felt I needed to focus and finalize my personal statement. So, here is what I have come up with:
My mission for my life is to: love, honor, and serve people, while pursuing excellence in everything I do.
So, why is this important? Why do I feel such a need to create and share my mission statement? I think Joshua Medcalf sums it up well in his book, Chop Wood, Carry Water: “Goals actually allow you to shirk responsibility. But a mission? Only the person in the mirror can stop you from living that out.”
My mission gives me purpose and room for growth. Goals set checkpoints that perpetuate our desire to need more. Once I have achieved _(fill in the blank)_, then I will be a success. The funny thing that happens in this situation is once you do achieve whatever it was that you picked to fill in the blank, it only brings fulfillment for a short time. There is still a need to do something else. Accomplishments have endings, which lead us to the need for further accomplishments to find our self worth, then another and another and another...
Love People. Honor People. Serve People. Pursue excellence in everything I do. That is something I can live every single day of my life. There is no end to this mission. If I spend every day trying to do those things, success will soon follow and so, naturally, will accomplishments. But, in those accomplishments will never be where I find my value.
I plan on spending the next few weeks discussing each aspect of my mission. I hope my journey through sharing my mission will also help you to identify your own personal mission. Only the person in the mirror can stop you now…
Keep learning; keep growing; keep sharing!
This is cross posted on my Principal's Blog
CARDINAL SPOTLIGHT
- Thank you to Amy Gaisser, Ashley Koontz, Georgina Mayorga, and Melinda Weiss for running our staff meeting on Thrusday.
- Thank you to Matt Bush, Kelly Barnhart, and Shannon Leber for the work they have put into the SMS Brag Board. It is fun to walk by and see those kind notes to kids displayed publicly. Kindness is our strength!
GRATEFUL FRIDAY CHALLENGE
Week 20 Grateful Friday Challenge:
Use the alphabet as a format for making a list of things for which you feel grateful. Write out each letter in the morning and as the day goes along see if you can come up with something for each letter of the alphabet.
MR. KNIGHT'S INTERESTING READ FOR THE WEEK
Great Blog Post: This is a short post, but very powerful post by Seth Godin - It's All A Mistake
Great Video: Before you die - JUMP, just JUMP
#180DAYSOFLEARNING
Angie Chisham
Dennis McAllen
Students in Mr. McAllen's 8th grade social studies class are learning about the Declaration of Independence. Groups of students were assigned portions from the "Declaration of Natural Rights" and the "List of Grievances" sections of the Declaration. Students paraphrased their section and then started working on a way to present their portion to the class. Students will finish presentations tomorrow and begin to present the information to the class.
Janette Collins and Yancy Crawford
Brooke Nelson
Michael Tygrett
EDUCATIONAL HUMOR
Southport Middle School
Website: http://websites.msdpt.k12.in.us/sm/
Location: 5715 South Keystone Avenue, Indianapolis, IN, United States
Phone: 317-789-4600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouthportMiddleSchool
Twitter: @SouthportMiddle