TOMMIE SAYLOR: Thanks for all of your efforts

“It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.”

-- J.R.R. Tolkien

By Tommie Saylor

Kennedy High School Principal

This will be my final update for the 2013-14 school year, and as such, I can’t help but to reflect upon this past year’s events.

Some decisions I got right, and some I got wrong.  At times I “shot off at the mouth” when I should have been quiet, and remained silent when action was needed.  I “tilted at windmills” when I should have withdrawn, and retired when I should have pressed the advantage.  There were times when I failed to recognize another’s achievement, failed to take care of an issue when it was small only to be forced later to address the “explosion.” At times I even let down staff members who were counting on me to make things right.  

Simply, I know that I was not perfect, and though I try to forgive myself and move on, my failures haunt me.

There were times this year where I was plumb worn out, I just could not make another decision, face another issue.  Times where images of students and teachers bounced around in my head with haunting persistence, costing me sleep at night. Times where the weight of some issues hung on my shoulders with such magnitude that I was certain that they would crush me. This year I experienced fear, regret, remorse, disappointment, and sorrow. I expect excellence, and often it was not there.

But through it all, I had you.  I had assistant principals who knew just how to cover me when I “lost my mind.” Instructors who were patient with my inadequacies. Secretaries that treated me as if I were one of their kids and prodded me into the right direction. Counselors that knew how to make me laugh when I really needed the emotional relief.  

You allowed me to “lean on you when I was not strong”, and in turn, I hoped that I was able to do the same for you.

I would like to close by telling you the same thing I said at the

beginning of the year. The field of education is about teachers teaching and students learning; it is not what was presented that is important, it is what was learned that is important.  

My role is to make your job possible, to supply you, support you, defend you, to essentially have your back. I am in an educational leadership support role.  You are a professional, and I will treat you like a professional and trust you to do your job as a professional until such time as you prove to me

different.  

I respect you and your time, your efforts, and your abilities. And don’t ever, ever, ever forget that your students desperately need you.

Remember, their future is in our hands. Making Kennedy the school of choice. Excellence by design.