Last night Ted Sorensen died. He was the author of the famous line uttered by John F. Kennedy, …ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. Those of us in our positions can easily start to feel as though our whole school communities are exclaiming to us, “Ask not what we can do for you. Ask what you can do for us!” But, at the end of the day, are we not in our position—even drawn to our position—from a place of wanting to do for our schools and for our students?
I think the most successful among us are so due in part to a core belief in the institutions and/or students we serve. I suppose one can work in the business office or on the grounds crew or, dare I say, even teach in a classroom—and possibly do so quite well—without believing in them. They tend to their small part of the operation with not much investment in the greater mission or effort. But we can’t do that. We have to believe in the institutions we serve in order to be both happy and successful and we have to believe in our students.
On this Feast of All Saints, maybe it would behoove us to pause and remember those who have gone before us, who have served, encouraged and lifted us in our personal and professional lives. Family, friends, mentors, professors, colleagues: although some may be gone, all had a hand in defining our life’s course. They served us in order that we might serve others. Ask what you can do…
Kennedy also said, Things do not happen. Things are made to happen. In the name of our students and our schools and those who came before us, what will you make happen today in their service?
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