By Tommie Saylor
Truman High School Principal
“A man never stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child”
(Anonymous)
We must be doing something right at Truman High School. This last week (before Easter) we had the potential for utter chaos, a “perfect storm” to speak in terms of student management and/or discipline.
The weather is getting nice, slowly but surely spring is upon us and this always makes students edgy. Charged by the warm weather and the renewal of life that comes with springtime, students sometimes forget themselves in school and an increase in disciplinary referrals often accompanies the onset of warmer weather.
Second, we were celebrating “spirit week."
Though I understand the importance and traditions of “spirit week," I dislike the impact it has on the educational environment. Students dressing up, attending assemblies filled with games and antics and constant interruptions to the educational process often translates into disciplinary
issues. Student’s sometimes forget that though this is a fun time, rules still apply and work needs to get done.
Finally, it was the week before a significant break. Normally the week before a major break marks a rise in disciplinary referrals. This is theorized to be the result of students being jittery, knowing that their normal routine of coming to
school, seeing their friends and interacting with caring adults will soon come to an end. Others believe that students who are not capable to seeing past tomorrow -- let alone two weeks from now -- look at this as an opportunity to “be bad,” knowing that the consequences of their behavior will not catch up with them until some long off time in the future.
Either way, given any one of the above conditions usually spells hard times for a school, a rise is discipline issues and a disruption to the educational process. But when all three come together in one week, a rare event indeed, an absolute disaster can be forecasted. A disaster for which the administration prepared, and hoped, would never come.
With the above lurking in our minds, we entered into this “perfect storm” of a week expecting doom and gloom, and found relatively “calm waters." I’m not going to lie to you, we did have an increase in disciplinary issues, but nothing like what we were expecting. Yet the real amazement came during the end of one of our assemblies, after all the grade levels had the opportunity for their girls dance teams and boys lip-sink teams to perform.
It was then that the teachers team took the gym.
This is something that has not happened in a long time. The teachers were concerned, even scared that they would not be accepted by the students as they performed. That they would
be "booed off the stage."
What happened was stunning. Not only did the students cheer for their teachers, they openly approved of their
efforts and performance. In fact, at one point when the teacher’s performance came to an unplanned sudden stop, due to technical issues with our sound system, the students stood up on their feet clapping their hands and cheering “Teachers, Teachers, Teachers."
To see the sight of over 1,100 students cheering, giving a standing ovation in support of their teachers who are experiencing a very embarrassing technical difficulty while trying to muddle their way through a performance, is nothing short of a miracle. If you would have told me two years ago that our students would be on their feet cheering, hooting and hollering for their teachers, chanting and clapping and openly
showing their affection for their teachers, I would have called you a liar.
The image of seeing a gym full of students on their feet
cheering, chanting, and clapping for their teachers is one that I will take to my grave; it was beyond words, it was powerful, it was an affirmation of all the hard work and efforts to change the culture and climate of Truman over the last few years.
Simply, we must be doing something right. In the face of such confirmation, I say stay the course, remain vigilant and continue to work hard on our transformation efforts. Soon we will be the jewel of the Downriver area, the
educational “meca” for all to emulate.
Remember, their future is in our hands. Improving one week at a time. The New Truman High School ...
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