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Every year, we have a staff theme to kick start our school year. One year it was “Pedaling with a Purpose” in which the spokes of a bicycle represented our goals of improving reading, implementing standards based grading, and developing a growth mindset. Some of us even tried riding on a “backwards bike” to illustrate how the brain can change over time and learn new skills, even when something has been ingrained in us since childhood.
Another year, our theme was to be mindful of the “Butterfly Effect” based on the book written by Andy Andrews. This theme centered on what we do and how we do it matters. Andrews writes, “Know that your actions cannot be hoarded, saved for later, or used selectively. By your hand, millions-billions-of lives will be altered, caught up in a chain of events begun by you this day.” This theme reminded us of the important work our whole staff does every day and how precious the lives of our students are that we get to help grow into who they will become.
This year, our theme was based on the idea of focusing on the big picture and concentrating on the journey of our work. To illustrate the point, we used the example of the mandala, a piece of art with geometric shapes enclosed within a circle.Teams of monks will create large scale mandalas using colored grains of sand, precise measurements, and intricate tools. Once they are created, they wipe them away, essentially destroying what they spent hours creating. It seems counterintuitive not to hold on, preserve, or fight others to hang on to the beautiful mandala that was created. Writer Alexa Erikson stated it best when she wrote, “The point is to let go of what once was, because nothing is permanent — not the mandala, not your suffering, not the shoes on your feet, nor the smile on your face at this moment in time... This realization allows you to forget the small things, and focus on the bigger picture...When the walls of permanence are shattered, the real journey begins.” Why would anyone, why do any of us, spend time and energy on anything that will get changed, challenged, or taken away?
We, as members of the school community, are constantly challenged to remember the purpose of why we work every day towards what will be changed or swept away. Whether it be lesson plans that don’t go as hoped, gleaming floors that get scuffed, or what feels like constant challenges to our core values; to let go of what sometimes feels permanent, and to focus on the bigger picture, is our journey. Working together to promote the wellbeing of our children is our bigger picture. May we stay focused on that this year.
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