Strong educational leaders need to work on building relationships with every staff member in the school. I believe that doing this allows me to work more efficiently to provide the absolute best educational opportunity for my students as possible. All teachers, cooks, bus drivers and custodians should be included in the team in order to produce a concerted effort toward a common goal. With that said, it is important to acknowledge the contribution of each of the members of the group. I want to take this opportunity to highlight the impact of an often overlooked and under-appreciated group: the custodial team.
Recently some of the folks on the custodial team were shuffled around our building and the district. This got me thinking about the relationships that I have formed with those men and women and the impact that we have had on one another. I have made it a point throughout my career to learn the name of each member of the custodial team, and learn about some of their life experiences. I believe that coupling the relationship that I have forged with my willingness to assist the custodial team has helped me include them in the educational process. Due to my willingness to work with them, they have become more willing to go out of their way to help me.
It surprises me when a staff member in the building ask a member of the custodial team for help, just to complain about the result, without ever offering to help. I believe that it is important for me to be willing to work with custodial on any problem I ask them to solve, after all, it's my problem, not theirs. I believe that doing this will help them to feel that they are more of a integral part of the educational program in our school. I challenge everyone who reads this to work with the men and women who work to keep our schools in order and get to know them as people.
You nailed it josh. They are an important part of that village it takes to educate our kids. We need to make sure that it's not a thankless job!
ReplyDeleteSo, how do we go about ensuring that it is not a thankless job? That is going to take some thought. Thanks for the comment, Mr. G!
ReplyDeleteWell said ~ The only way we can teach our students to respect others is to model the behavior ourselves. Treat everyone with kindness and consideration.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Josh! I appreciate you bringing to light a topic that is as important as this one. Everyone who works in a school is on the same team and it is important to support you teammates no matter if what your role is or what their role is.
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff!