With every new school year approaching, we are challenged
with new adventures. Over the last few
weeks there have been some big changes at Curtis Elementary. Some of these changes were a little scary.
Change can be scary. Change can be
uncomfortable. Change can be beautiful!
A huge change for me
and the Curtis staff is Marie Hernandez leaving Curtis to lead the Crockett
Elementary campus. At first I felt some
sadness and even panic! This change was
huge! At first, I thought, “I lost my
right hand. What am I going to do?” However, this moment of change will have a
tremendous, positive impact on Weatherford Independent School District. While I will miss Marie, I am super excited about
her new adventures at Crockett Elementary as Principal. I know Marie will do great things there, and
I will continue to work with her as we help each of our campuses to grow!
 |
| Marie and I at our first Meet the Teacher with Dave Cowley. |
A few days after
adjusting to not having Marie with me on campus every day, I lost my left hand,
Lindsay Fuller. Of course, the first thing that flashed
through my mind was, “Now what am I going to do? My first thoughts were, “What about our
Curtis kids? What about our teachers?” The role of the counselor is important to a
school. I was worrying about the impact this could have on my school and only
seeing negative impact, but I realized I was wrong. Lindsay has already built so many positive
relationships with students, families, and teachers at Curtis. Now she has the opportunity to extend her
reach positively impacting more students, parents, and teachers at Crockett
Elementary.
Mrs. Fuller is excited about this new opportunity
to help students, parents and teachers on another campus. I am proud for her courage to continue to
grow and help others on another campus. I
know she will continue to do amazing things at her new school.
 |
| Sarah Williams |
I took some time to reflect on this change. Change can be scary due to the unknown
outcomes. Thinking about leading Curtis
with a new administration staff really excites me. I am going to replace an awesome assistant
principal with another awesome assistant principal. Sarah Williams has been the assistant
principal at Seguin for two years. The knowledge
and experience she will bring to Curtis will only help to make our school
stronger. I am so excited about this new
partnership and want to welcome Sarah to our campus.
I have an opportunity
to hire a new counselor that will have to fill some pretty big shoes. I know
that our new counselor will immediately take care of our Curtis students and we
will be alright. Curtis teachers will be
alright. In the words of Jo Dee Messina,
“I’m all, I’m all, I’m alright!”
What I want to continually remind myself, teachers, parents,
and students is that change makes us better.
Change will allow Mrs. Fuller and Mrs. Hernandez to grow and empower
others to grow. This change will allow Curtis Elementary to
gain new perspectives and reach beyond what we once imagined. In
order for us to grow, we must allow ourselves to accept change. The only change that is negative is if we do
not embrace it and get better from it. If we take the advice from another song
I love by Jo Dee Messina, “That’s The Way It Is, you’ve got to roll with the
changes. That’s the way it is, you’ve got go where the wind blows. You Live and Learn. You Crash and Burn. It’s Hit or Miss. That’s the way it is.”
Change is what you
make of it, and I’m making the best lemonade anyone has ever tasted with all of
the new change at Curtis Elementary.
That is why I say that this is the summer of fear - NOT. It
will be a great year! This is opportunity, and it is better to get
out of our comfort zone every now and then in order to learn and grow. I close with these words from Robert
Frost. “Two roads diverged in the wood, and I, I took
the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
