TOMMIE SAYLOR: We can never stop fighting for what is best for our students, teachers and district

“Any definition of a successful life must include service to others.”

-- Irv Grousbeck

By Tommie Saylor

Kennedy High School

Have you ever been in a situation where you make plans to do the most good for the largest number of people?  A situation where you research, organize and bring in others to give you perspective and varying points of view?

And then, just before implementation … ROAD BLOCK!

Someone with little regard for all the effort put forth, stands in the way. They say that no, you may not proceed because of some outdated, over-reaching policy, or past practices.

Yet, you drive on and find a way past the roadblock only to be confronted with a wall, then a barrier, a blockade and an obstruction. 

Fully vested and determined in your plan, you stay the course as you work your way through all these man-made encumbrances that rob you of your strength. You lose parts of your mind in the process, leaving you to wonder why must it be so hard to do a little good?

After all, you just wanted to do was a good thing. Yet you find nothing but resistance and challenges born of ignorance and simplistic thinking. People tell you to “think out of the box,” yet the box is made of impenetrable barriers fortified by tradition, past practices and procedures. No one knows for sure why they even exist.

When this point is reached, most of us just throw up our hands and surrender to the policies that many seem so eager to serve.  Devoid of all strength and will to fight on, we walk away, drop the cause, and “get back in line.”

But that’s not something I’m going to do. I will continue to fight to do the most good for the largest number of people. I will continue to fight through the “red tape,” the bureaucracy, the ignorance, the lapses in communication and right on through the overt and covert obstructionism.

I will never give in, surrender, or be thwarted. I may tire from time to time. I may back up and regroup. I may even redirect my efforts in hopes of finding another solution. But I will never stop fighting for what is best for our students, teachers and district.  I will not be silenced, ignored and I cannot be bullied.

If you are fortunate enough to be part of the Kennedy community, then let it be known that you have an ally in the office, and that I do not stand alone.

What starts here, changes the world. Making Kennedy the school of choice. Excellence by design.