Opening
Day Welcome Remarks
August
21, 2014
I thought it would be appropriate to share (with anyone who would like to read it) my remarks to the entire staff of the Raymond School District on their Opening Day. These remarks are directed to everyone who works in our schools and includes secretaries, teachers, food service personnel, custodians, administrators, special education personnel, specialists, and more! We have a fabulous group of people who take care of and educate the students of Raymond in so many ways. This is how I welcomed the staff on their Opening Day:
Hello
Everyone and welcome to the 2014-2015 school year! I hope you all had a restful, wonderful
summer and had a chance to make great memories with your families and
friends. I want to
welcome our new staff members and I look forward to meeting you and visiting
your classrooms.
Every year I start with a little story and I wanted to do that again today. I want to explain to you how a baseball, a
bicycle and a kitten all have something in common. Many years ago when my oldest son was 11 or
so, he had two loves: baseball and the
New England Patriots. We would go to baseball
games in the area and even took in a few games on vacations to other
states. One night, we went up to watch a
game at the Old Orchard Beach stadium.
Chris brought his glove along so that he could catch any balls that came
his way. He’d never caught a ball at all
the games we attended- but he had a feeling that this would be the night. This particular game, my Dad came with
us. We enjoyed a fun game with the usual
hot dogs, sodas and popcorn, but no baseballs came anywhere near us and Chris
was a little disappointed. Since we had
a long trip home and it was getting late, we left during the last inning. As we walked through the dusty parking lot,
out of nowhere, over the bleachers, came a baseball and it landed right in front
of Chris! He was so excited and happy- it
just made his whole night. And of
course, as a parent, it made my night too, to see him so excited and happy.
More
recently, this summer, my husband and I have been taking six of our
grandchildren on a bicycle rides. The
kids range in age from 3 years old to 13.
The youngest one has her own seat on her big sister’s bike and has her
own helmet. Laura loves riding along
with us and we are quite the sight as we travel down a road- you know us, we’re
that group of bike riders that you hate to see when you are driving in your car
behind us! Anyway, the last time she had
been on a bike at home, Laura had fallen off.
Now, here we are, away from home and she is refusing to get on the
bike. If she doesn’t get on the bike,
none of us will go- it all hinges on Laura, who an hour before, was all excited
about riding with us.
A
couple of weeks ago, my little kitty disappeared. She is full grown but is very tiny and anyone
would mistake her for a kitten. She had
disappeared before and we found out that it wasn’t just her growth that was
stunted: she couldn’t find her way
home! When it was time to for her to eat,
I would click the top of the cat food can and she would come running- from her
favorite chair or the windowsill or under the back porch. The first time, she went missing, I called
her and searched all around the yard- this is a cat that the expression “scaredy
cat” comes from! Everyday she would travel between the house, the porch and the
barn and never anywhere else. I walked
around the yard as she had been missing for 6 days and out she came from under our
old camper! She apparently was afraid to
walk back across the yard- or was lost- we don’t know which. This last time she had been missing for
several days and none of my clicking or calling was working. Then I realized, we always found her at
night, as she was afraid to come out in the day time. So one night, I decided I would look after
dark. I was already all set for the night when I decided this. Down the street I went, calling and clicking
(did I mention I was in my pajamas?) When I got to my son’s house, a couple of
doors doors down from ours, he came out and asked, “What are you doing?” I explained I was looking for kitty. He said, “Go back home before someone calls
the police.” I ignored him and continued
calling and clicking while I searched the bushes. Nick came out again a little while later and
said, “Mom, go home before I
call the police”.
I'm sure you are wondering how all these little family stories are related and what they could possibly have to do with you?
Remember Chris and the baseball? Remember that I also told you my dad
came with us to that game? Years later
we figured out that Dad had thrown the ball that had mysteriously appeared out
of nowhere. It hadn’t come over the
bleachers- only over our heads. He never admitted it, but the physics just
didn’t make sense to me. Think about that, he
had to plan ahead to bring that ball with him, just in case, Chris never got a
ball on his own. Chris treasures that
ball to this day especially now that he now knows where that game ball really came
from.
And Laura, my little granddaughter who was so afraid
to get on the bike? Her big sister
Annie, was so kind and gentle with her saying things like, "just let me just roll you
a few feet," then, "let’s just try going to the end of the driveway", and "how about if
you tell me which direction to go," and so on and so on. Until soon, Laura was having the time of her
life on her little seat and forgot her fears.
Everyone could have been upset with Laura, (after all, Annie is 13), but that never happened.
And
how about my little Kitty? What you
don’t know, is that my husband Jim got up from sleeping and he came with me
around the neighborhood while I looked for kitty- knowing how much my little
cat means to me. (And he didn’t even care how I looked.) She was under a
neighbor’s bushes.
By
now you’ve probably figured out what a baseball, a bicycle and a kitten all have
in common. It’s not the things, it’s the people. It’s the relationships and the little ways in
which we show our families, our friends, our colleagues and our students that
we care. We all remember the great teachers
we’ve have had over the years and they are not necessarily the ones who taught
your favorite subject or who had a reputation for handing out the easiest
grades. They are the ones who cared about you as a student and who encouraged and
believed in you. What matters are people
and relationships, and in Raymond, we really truly believe we are here for the
kids and show it every day in so many ways. I have seen dozens, no make that
hundreds, of so many instances of kindness, caring and compassion in our
schools- people who care about each other and their students. One of the most important things you all do
is to make it “cool to care”. So, today,
I wanted to start the year and end my storytelling by thanking all of you for all
the kindnesses you show each other and our students- every day in so many
little ways. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for making
Raymond a place where it is “cool to care”.
