Leading on Behalf of our Students
Whose dreams will we tap, release, encourage and support this week? I wake up each morning in awe of our work — we are charged as servant leaders of this great school system, the Hawai'i Department of Education, a public school system of about 180,000 curious children and youth. Collectively we are charged with ensuring the readiness of our students to fully engage in their present and future. The true importance of our work lies in how we choose to do our work, how we choose to lead within each of our positions, and how we build pathways for students to pursue their aspirations and dreams.
Our job as the HIDOE 'ohana is to tap, expose, release, encourage and support the hidden and not so hidden gifts and talents of our Hawai'i children and youth.
Last week I had the privilege of attending the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) in Cleveland, Ohio — 70 school districts, among the largest in the United States, including HIDOE, working as partners. The program included a panel presentation on, What Does Equity Really Mean? One of two students from the Cleveland Public Schools who served on the panel was a young man recently arrived from a refugee camp in the Congo. While he arrived to this country only a year ago, he sat proudly on the panel working through the English language to communicate what it means to be a part of a country where there is free access to public education at the quality level found in the United States. He spoke about being free from persecution, free to learn, free from fear, free to live. He shared his story about fleeing with his family from their home at the age of four and living in a refugee camp until only one year ago. He described his public school experience in Cleveland as an "incredible blessing from God." There wasn't a dry eye in the room of 1,000 public school leaders. This teenager could go to school and pursue his passion for learning through which he found meaning and a place of belonging, where he was welcomed and could pursue his dreams.
This is our work everyday in the public school system. Our HIDOE framework for Na Hopena A'o makes a purposeful connection between belonging and access. Without belonging, our kids are inhibited from reaching their full, beautiful potential. Without access, they never get a chance.
So, what does it take for us as leaders, teachers and staff to tap and uncover a child's place of passion and gifts? It takes a willingness to break down traditional barriers. It takes a willingness to engage in the continuous change that is public education — to come back together as often as necessary, until we solve the problems that inhibit belonging, that squash passions and hope, until we get every child onto a pathway of success.
Our individual and collective stories are powerful and important. As we push ourselves in how we deliver our work, on what we choose to focus on, on where we choose to take risks, let's continue to collaborate to create powerful learning and life changing practices for our students.
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