When I was a student at West Point one of my instructors had this saying, "Where you stand depends on where you sit." After thinking about the statement I realized it was about choosing a side in some kind of debate or argument. The position you take on a matter depends on where you have been and are situated in life. That saying has stuck with me and I have tried to apply it. But I also realize that sometimes I have blinders on.

As I have visited schools recently I have seen things that I haven't seen before, although I thought I had. Let me explain. This week I was at Griffin High watching a teacher interact with her class and I became filled with pride and joy. The teacher was wearing her microphone for audio enhancement so that all of her students could hear her perfectly. The students were engaged as they watched her make an ice cream sundae. I'm standing in the doorway, I see the teacher holding a cup with a carton of Mayfield ice cream and some chocolate syrup beside her. As she started sprinkling Kool-Aid into the cup I said, "This is science class right?"  She responded, "Yes this is science class just wait." She then put a straw into the mixture and handed it to one of her students to taste.  

Then the teacher asked, "So what happens when it rains? How does the surface water interact with the ground water?" The class responded. She then picked up a pitcher of water and poured it on top of the sundae. All of the Kool-Aid that was sprinkled on top then sunk to the bottom and she explained that is how ground water gets pollution.  I then learned that the ice cream sundae represented the different layers of the earth and the straw demonstrated how water gets from the surface to the ground. All of the students then got to make and do their own experiment. It was such a fun, hands-on practical application.

In the past I would have thought good teaching, great job. But this time I was wowed. Every student in that class was trying to answer the questions. They were all excited and engaged. It was fantastic! We don't always get the opportunity to be seen at our best and receive that feedback. So I want to give a shout-out to Justina Russell for knocking it out of the park this week. Awesome job!

I also want to give a shout-out to all GSCS teachers because I know awesome activities like this go on in our classrooms all of the time. I know fun and exciting activities can't happen every day but I know when you have the opportunity to do that culminating activity, you also knock it out of the ballpark.

Remember that you are great! Continue doing the best for our students. I appreciate all of you and am confident that the 80 x 2020 goal will be conquered.

Have a great weekend everyone!