I am heading off to Monticello High School to help welcome all the new teachers joining Albemarle County Public Schools for the 2009-2010 school year. Here are the remarks I have prepared for them.
Brian Wheeler
On behalf of the Albemarle County School Board, I am very pleased to be here today and to welcome you to our schools, and to those of you new to the Charlottesville area, to our community.
As school board members, it is an honor for us to work in public education in the community.
Our job? The School Board focuses on budget, policy and the hiring and supervision of our Superintendent. I am in my sixth year on the board and I can honestly say that this has been the most challenging and satisfying work I have done in the community. We have a great team. We have a very strong and collaborative working relationship with our Superintendent.
Now had I been out recruiting you, I would have told each of you, “If you are really good, you may be able to join our cause.” That’s what the head of Teach for America tells their recruits.
We are on a mission here in Albemarle County to build a great company, a world class school division, that delivers an educational product that prepares ALL our students for the world of work, or the world of college, and challenges beyond.
Where are the Kindergarten teachers in the room? Who can tell me what happens in the year 2022 related to your new job? That’s when your students will graduate from high school. Whether you are getting these special children in their first year, or their thirteenth year, you are going to be expected to build relationships. If you are also going to be a coach or supervise another extracurricular activity, then your relationships are going to be even more significant and powerful for the future of these students.
We had a national education conference here earlier this year, Edustat. We had a panel of our students talking about what they wanted to see in a 21st century learning environment. You know what they all said? RELATIONSHIPS. No pressure, but they said they knew on the first day whether their teacher was somebody they thought they were going to be able to connect to.
You each have a unique story about what has brought you here today. What made you want to be a teacher. As you reflect on the relationships that brought you to this day, I urge you to build similar relationships with the young people in our schools.
Advocate for children who may be challenged in our schools.
Advocate for the children that might not always fit in. Be color aware, not color blind in matters of race.
Advocate for children that might have a different background from you, or from their peers. Get to know THEIR journey. Try and see the world through THEIR eyes.
This community expects every single one of them to graduate and be ready for life.
So, YOU are here today, and you have already joined our cause. I can’t wait to see how good you are in our classrooms. Your job is an awesome responsibility and I admire each of you for choosing this profession, and for joining our cause here in Albemarle County. Thank You.
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