In
December of 1978, I finished the last final exam for the first semester of my
senior year of college, jumped into my older model Mercury Capri, and headed
south on a sixteen-hour trip out of Northern Indiana to my hometown in Central
Kansas for the holidays. Soon after all
of our family celebrations and reunions, but well before the beginning of
second semester, I made a life-changing decision.
As
a result of the decision made on that December evening 36 years ago, I went to
the only phone in our house and made a call.
At that time, the phone was firmly attached to the wall. The one update was that my dad had replaced
the short cord with one that stretched to fifteen feet. (Phone 2.0!) For privacy, I walked across the
hall into the spare room and closed the door, so I could call Lisa Herr back in
Northern Indiana.
 |
| 1970 Mercury Capri |
To
be honest, I wasn’t honest. I told her a
little white lie and said I was going up to Hesston High School with some
friends to watch the basketball game. Instead
of watching the HHS Swathers play, I loaded up the Capri, popped The Eagles
Greatest Hits into the cassette player, and headed northeast out of town.
I
cut cross country on dirt roads through the empty wheat fields outside of
Hesston, picked up U.S. 50 to Emporia, reached Kansas City a few hours later,
and headed due east toward St. Louis on Interstate 70. In the middle of the night, I drove an almost
empty highway past the brightly lit St. Louis Arch, took 465 around
Indianapolis before the winter dawn, and reached Lisa’s house in Waterford by
mid-morning. I completed the trip that
typically took 16-hours in considerably less time.
Later
that same day, I asked a truly authentic assessment question. After some confusion about whether or not I
was serious, Lisa said, “Yes.”
As
a direct result of that decision, that drive, that question, and that answer,
in these next two weeks, Lisa and I will have all nine of our children at home
at one time or another over the break.
In addition, the older three will bring along their significant
others. And of course, one grandchild
will arrive with the Nashville delegation.
She is certain to entertain and be entertained by her aunts, uncles,
grammy, and grampy.
I
intentionally left out quite a few details of this story—including the speeding
ticket I picked up in Strong City, Kansas; how my future sister-in-law helped
me surprise my future wife; and how the first words from Lisa when she heard
“the question” weren’t quite what I expected. But those are other stories for
other times.
I
tell you this particular story partly because it is one I think about often
around the end of December and partly because it might encourage you to
remember events from your own Decembers gone by. Mostly, however, I tell you this story
because it is decidedly NOT about school, and that is important as well at this
time of year.
Soon
enough, January will roll around, and we will be busy and stressed once
again. We do have an exciting and
challenging semester ahead, but for now, you deserve a break. You have done great work this first
semester. I think especially of the
important investment of time and energy from the ROAR Champions, all the new
courses that you are putting in place for next year, all the experimentation
with high-probability instructional practices, and the many new performance
tasks and authentic assessments that are in regular use.
I
hope this winter break that you find time to remember good events from this
past semester and from previous years, that you create great memories with
friends and family, and that you can forget, for at least a little while, all
about school.
Please
ease up on the Stress Button and hit the Relax Button as often as you can. Thanks for all you do for your students and
for the school, but for now, enjoy your time away.
Phil
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