East Holmes staff turns to Yoda as the new school year begins
Donning red shirts in unity, the East Holmes School District staff is ready to inspire, prepare and challenge the East Holmes students during the 2018-19 school year.
For the staff at East Holmes School District, the new vision statement brings a renewed challenge to each and every staff member as the community entrusts their children into the hands of teachers, administrators and other school staff members.
The district motto is “inspire, prepare and challenge,” and the hope is that by inspiring themselves from within to provide the very best for students, they will challenge the students to inspire themselves to grow and learn.
The strategic plan for East Holmes School District this year is fairly simple and straight-forward. It is focused on academics, community, fiscal responsibility and transparency, buildings and grounds, and school safety.
East Holmes Superintendent Erik Beun said it is a new mission statement and a new vision statement, and the future of the district is bright and exciting.
“It’s an exciting new school year, and our hope is that we are able to find ways to inspire and educate our young people,” Beun said.
During the district-wide meeting at Hiland High School prior to the start of the 2018-19 school year, Beun addressed the entire staff and challenged them to make a difference in their students’ lives by asking a lot of themselves.
Beun used a long, thick piece of wood from Bent Wood Solutions for a demonstration, having two teachers try to bend the piece of wood with no success. After they failed to bend the wood, Beun asked a simple question. “Is it possible they just didn’t have the right ingredients?” he said.
Beun then produced an identical piece of wood that had been artfully bent into a pretzel shape at Bent Wood Solutions and showed a short video of how it was done and the equipment that was used to make it.
“It’s the same piece of wood,” Beun said. “How many of you, before that video, thought it was possible to take a piece of wood like that and bend it in ways like this [pretzel]? He gave it possibility. He gave it vision, and it was because he had the right tools and he had a plan. How can we come to our classrooms with that perspective of possibility? Imagine all of the things we imagine we can do. What are all of the best ingredients you need to make your classroom or your bus and area filled with possibility and success?”
Beun then offered a short clip from orchestra conductor Benjamin Zander, who spoke about how it was his job to awaken the possibilities in his students and in his orchestra members. He said the key is to look in people’s eyes, and if they are alert and shiny, you’re doing something right and positive.
“If the eyes aren’t shiny, who am I being that my players’ eyes aren’t shining?” Zander said on the video. “Who are we being in the world? For me it is not about wealth and fame and power, but about how many shiny eyes I have around me.”
Beun said when he asked himself what ingredients he needs to make a successful classroom, many thoughts went through his head, from the right curriculum and technology to air-conditioning. He said it was a challenge to think of the tools at one's disposal as coming from within.
“Who are we being that our students' eyes are or aren’t shining?” Beun said. “Who are we being internally? Because I can guarantee you that at some point this year you are going to look into a student's eyes and they won’t be shining.”
Beun said it is easy to blame the student or the family or the system for the dull eyes of a student, but he said it's important to look beyond the obvious and delve deep within to ask, “Who is it that I am being in the things that we say about our kids, about our buildings, about our district that keeps us from coming to our classrooms with that sense of possibility? Who are we being?”
Beun said it is easy to continually tell a child they have to try at whatever they do. However, he then turned to one of the wisest beings in the universe, “Star Wars” guru Yoda, to drive home the point that trying is not the final answer.
As Luke Skywalker tried to remove his X-Wing fighter from a swamp and failed, Yoda said, “Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.”
Beun then made an admission, noting that he has never watched a “Star Wars” movie, but he was very moved by the little green being’s brilliant response.
“Yoda has it right,” Beun said. “There is no try. You’re in, or you’re out. You’re doing, or you’re do-notting. There is no try. As we leave here with those three words — inspire, prepare challenge — I ask that you do, that you are all in.”