Does your principal cook for you?

It's that time of year when we take the time to say thank you to all of the people in our personal and professional lives that make a difference. Above is a picture of our Leadership Team at Chets Creek, the people in my professional life that push me to be more than I ever thought I could be, the people who pick me up when I'm down and who have been my greatest cheerleaders over the years. Each year around the holiday season our Principal invites us to a Leadership meeting that is held off campus. This year we went to the home of Standard Coach, Suzanne Shall. Our principal, Susan Phillips, arrived much earlier than we did and by the time we began to arrive, she had prepared a delicious meal!

The agenda was lite including a personality game to help us see the way we are seen by other people and then a "Truth or Dare" type game to help us get to know each other even better. Melanie Holtsman shared some of her excitement about the Google Teacher Academy and the things we might be learning in the next few months. We ended with a fun game that included Susan's present to us. Each teacher picked up a bag from the table and we stood in a circle. As Susan read a story we passed the bags to the left when she said "left" and to the right when she said "right." At the end of the story each of us had a bag in our hands. As Susan spoke eloquently about the economy and families in our midst who were suffering, she asked us to open our present. Each of us held a gift card that she challenged us to use on someone in need. Wow - is there any better gift than to be able to make a small difference in someone else's life? It goes to the heart of our mission at Chets Creek.

To our Principal we must say a special thank you for the Leadership that she provides. We are a strong diverse group of individuals - not always the easiest to lead and yet she knows when to support each of us and when to reel us in. That's a VERY special gift and we are all better for it. Thank you Susan... for the magic!