Once a Creeker, always a Creeker

This last week before retirement has been full of tears and laughter - and to think I just wanted a simple breakfast...  I guess I should have known that that just isn't Chets Creek's style!

Believe it or not, I don't actually look for the limelight, although I know that must be hard to believe after this week! For me the silver lining to this week is that through all the activities, other people outside of our school are able to see the school that I see.  There's such a great sense of family, of love and caring, of taking care of each other.  When teachers feel that kind of support on an adult level - when their cups are full -  it is easier for them to give to children, to get involved in their lives and to really understand the mission of making a difference.  If there is a larger message that I hope that people will get from this week of tears and laughter, it is that relationships have to be the foundation for quality instruction.  When you trust the people you work with and when you feel safe and honored for your efforts, when you are invested in the children and families that you teach, you are willing to take risks and with risks and relationships (and good on-going embedded professional development) amazing results are possible.  And we do know how to celebrate our results - triumphs and accomplishments!

Does that mean we don't have problems at Chets Creek.  Absolutely, we have problems.  Even with Julie's radiant sunshine as we enter every day and KK dancing through the halls sprinkling her fairy dust, we have devastating, difficult, heart wrenching problems, the same that every school in America faces.   But the difference is that when the problems come, and they inevitably do, we are able to see them as learning opportunities because we know there is always someone who has walked before us and now there will be someone to walk beside us and to stand behind us to pick us up if we need the support.  You are never alone and that makes the difference.

As for me, I will take the lessons I have learned at Chets Creek and the forever friendships that I have made into this next chapter.  I will smile often at the memories and I will remember my time here... with love, because I know...

Once a Creeker, always a Creeker!

Happy Birthday Chets Creek!

Chets Creek adds a candle for each year.
All 18 candles are displayed in the school's lobby.
This year's "The Greatest School on Earth" (right)
was painted by talented  Art teacher, Jen Snead.

Happy Birthday!  Today Chets Creek is 18 years old!    I was watching a video of years past in the lobby with a 5th grader this morning and he said, "Wow!  Do you know I wasn't even born then?"  It was quite sobering to think that every child we are educating today at the Creek wasn't born when the first group of children came over with "Mrs. Fizzle" from three different elementary schools to form that first class in the middle of the school year.  That first group of children are grown now and we have even had second generation children entering Chets Creek. Incredible!

Chets Creek began to build a reputation from those very first days.  I can remember however, that we had very few teachers interviewing at Chets in those early years.  There were rumors that we worked too hard, that teachers were required to work on Saturdays and Sundays, and that the Principal sat in the parking lot with a camera and checked cars coming in and out to make sure teachers came on time and didn't leave early!  Have no idea how those rumors got started but they were so ridiculous.  Instead we were busy building a learning community.  Teachers who didn't feel comfortable being transparent and opening their classroom to others generally self-selected out.  Soon test scores began to verify what we already knew - that something quite extraordinary was happening at this new school. Now we generally have teachers interviewing that say they really want to come to Chets as their first choice because of our reputation with on-going professional development.

Notice the detail in this year's candle
with a nod to the Principal's championship team,
 Clemson Tigers.

After five years the county promoted our founding Principal.  I'm sure people wondered if Chets would be able to maintain - was the school's success due to a single charismatic leader? Some internally may have wondered that too!  Thankfully the county promoted a teacher from within who was familiar with, and had had a pivotal role in, establishing the culture and community.  She was able to continue what had been started - business as usual - which is as hard as establishing the initial foundation. While many schools that opened around the same time that we did have had six, seven, even eight principals in these 18 years, we have had only two.  That stability has been our strength.

As test scores came in this year, Chets Creek ranked second in our large county (behind the gifted magnet) and 36st in the state, but what has been built here is so much more than test scores. We have established a true learning community where children, as well as adults, work together and lean on each other for support. Regardless of the winds of change, we have stood steadfast in what we believe is right for children.  Because we have always had strong test scores, thank goodness, we have been allowed much autonomy in charting our own course.

For 18 year Chets Creek has maintained a solid reputation as an outstanding school, inside and out. What a celebration!  Happy Birthday, Chets Creek.  Just as teacher leaders have continued to exceed the expectations, may they continue to rise to exceed the expectations for the next 18 years!