I received an email last night that I was nominated for a Bammy! Award. The Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International awards educators each year in a variety of categories. I'll be honest, I really could not believe I was nominated for Middle School Principal of the Year.
Now normally, I would not say much. I love to hype our school, our staff, and our kids on Social Media. I have never been one to self-promote myself. So I was very inclined to just say "Thanks, I'm humbled, and I don't know what else to say."
Then I began to think about why I was nominated, and to be honest, I look at this as "We" have been nominated. I have been really fortunate to have worked in two districts in which the school boards and my bosses have allowed me to do some "out of the box" things. Many could argue that Teach Like A PIRATE Day was so far outside of the box, that the box was no longer visible.
I have been fortunate to have worked with two amazing staffs, the previous two years at Utica Jr. High and now at Big Walnut Intermediate. They bought into many of these ideas, and it was the staff and kids that brought them to life. Again, we, not me.
I have had parents at both of these schools that have embraced and encourage our new ways of communication. Three years ago, I never would have imagined embracing YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram. Now it is common place. I have made many connection with educators around the country thru Twitter in which I got many of these ideas and then tweaked them to fit our school.
Finally, I have to thank my family. My wife and two daughters "share" me a great deal with my school family.
I am not going to ask anyone to vote for me, because that's just not my style, and to be honest, just having mentioned all of the above people in my life and career, I have already won. However I do want people to know about this nomination, because it is recognizing much more than just me. It is really recognizing, two staffs and two communities.
