The Clerc Center
Connection

Moving Forward

By Dean Katherine A. Jankowski, Ph.D.

Welcome back to everyone! I hope this summer was wonderful and restful for all of you! Now, we are all ready to move forward. Moving Forward - this is our theme for the new school year. We are moving forward to carry out our plans so the Clerc Center can become a better place for our students and for all of us.

As most of you know, we began this move last year. As part of the Accreditation for Growth process, we collected information from many of you about issues you thought were important to KDES or MSSD. We used several strategies to collect information: individual meetings, task-forces at MSSD that focused on educational achievement and residence education, and several school-wide meetings at KDES where the results of smaller working groups were shared.

The two taskforces at MSSD generated a total of 94 recommendations that were shared with the entire Clerc Center. For KDES, the issues are different, so the process will be different as well. We will share more information with you as we move forward.

Many of the recommendations have already been addressed and the implementation of many others is in progress. You can keep informed by checking the newly created website for these recommendations.

A quote from Ruth Westheimer aptly describes our current experience here at the Clerc Center:

"Our way is not soft grass; it's a mountain path with lots of rocks. But it goes upward, forward, toward the sun."

Indeed, the path we are taking at the Clerc Center is not a level path but a mountain path with lots of rocks. Nevertheless, the ascent is an upward, forward process towards the sun. As we begin to implement all these changes at the Clerc Center, we need to go up this mountain path and challenge the rocks that come our way. We know we are going upward, forward, toward the sun.

Why are we doing this? Because we want the best possible education for students at KDES, MSSD, and throughout the United States. What we need to keep in mind is that while people struggle with change, change is necessary. The key here is how we deal with change.

King Whitney, Jr., said, "Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."

I encourage you to keep your sights on the sun because the end result is to make things better for students everywhere.

Here is an inspiring story from an unknown writer about how one school faced a challenge with confidence and, indeed, made things better.

The principal of a very old school in the area was worried about the school because it needed constant maintenance and tender, loving care. For months, she tried with some success to get funding for aesthetic improvements. But the state decided to cut costs, and all her hope for funding vanished. The principal was disheartened. Then as she got out of her office to relieve some tension, she met her assistant who said, "You look like you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Anything I can do to help?"

She told him that she had just received their budget and it barely covered the costs of painting over graffiti. She asked him if he could help find a way to cover the costs of what they needed.

"No problem," the assistant said. "I'll have something for you in the morning." The next day, the principal arrived at the school and saw her assistant waiting for her. She asked if he was able to get the estimates. The assistant said, "I took care of everything. There are some people waiting to meet with you." They entered the main office, where some teachers and staff had been waiting for her.

The math teacher started by saying, "We have developed a plan." She held up a chart and explained, "Each department will take responsibility for a portion of the campus." The art teacher offered his students to paint a mural on the wall. "The science class will design and plant a flower garden outside," said the science teacher.

The principal was astonished and looked at her assistant in disbelief. The assistant's response was, "You said to find a way to make the budget work. This is what we came up with!"

The moral of the story is not that we need to cut costs to improve the building, but that when we all work together, we can achieve great things!

Each person makes a difference here. I want to thank the many people who came in throughout the summer to serve on interview committees, to prepare for the upcoming school year, and to work on the changes facing us this year. We know that this will be a challenging year. There are many unanswered questions. Nevertheless, we will face these obstacles and think together to overcome them and move forward.

Again, welcome and have a wonderful year!