Hello, I am the Hendrick County Teacher of the Year for a few more minutes. So, welcome everyone to this truly special moment in the lives of the people sitting throughout this crowd who are um they've survived so many behind the
scenes moments that have led them here tonight. And I can't imagine how much they want this bubble of anxiety to burst, but I'm going to make you wait. Um I would first like to say thank you to amilies and friends who have come here tonight um colleagues even students
who are sitting in the crowd and you've come to celebrate with us and the English poet John Dunn he famously said that no man is an island because we humans are interconnected and as family and friends what you have done to support those who work in Henry County
schools doesn't just lift them up but also lifts up the students whose lives we all are striving to improve The small ripples of influence that you have made in these teachers and support staff's lives has been amplified through
them to impact thousands of students in mighty waves. There are so many reasons why we need you to cut through the noise and ground us as we navigate our very challenging jobs.
Speaking of noise, for teaching, um, teaching and working with kids in general is probably one of the noisiest professions. Maybe orchestras and construction and airports have us beat. And while we do deal with the blaring of fire drills and the uh, roar of bus engines and the
sweet sound of cafeteria mayhem, I'm referring to more than just literal noise. It has become so noisy in the teaching profession. We're buffeted by slogans, jargon,
initiatives, PLC's, standardsbased planning, scales, research, best practices, PBIS, goals, growth, mindset, student engagement, socioeotional learning, technology, apps, programs, curriculum, pacing guides, mastery
based, grading, IEPs, 504s, ELLs, gifted, documentation, differentiation, rigor, waker strategy, scaffolding, remediation, formative supplement, assessment diagnostics, progress, monitoring, testing, data, data, data, data. It's so noisy.
And I know um I need you to know that uh just making that list gave me anxiety. So, if you need to take a deep breath with me right now, you can. We all have different methods of justifying the noise or finding peace and quiet, but I really think it comes
down to this. We're willing to be buffeted from all sides by this noise if it means that we can protect and guide our students. An educator's role is so much more than teaching math and reading and writing in history and art and science. And a staff
member's role is more than maintenance or cleaning or serving or driving or number crunching or filing or technical and clerical work. And we're not even separate entities. As has been said by everyone who's come up to the mic, we're an ecosystem of moving parts and we are
dependent on each other for success. We're all educators regardless of our job title because we all teach children how to be adults by how we treat them. So even with this noble goal, burnout is
real. There are hard days. We don't like to admit it, especially not here in front of this audience. But there are times when we feel we have nothing left in our cup to pour out and we just want to quit. But we remember why we stay. You cannot pour from an
empty cup. But tonight, nominees, I want you to realize that your cup is fuller than you think because of the impact you're making. And here it is. The parents of our community, myself included, entrust Hundry County Schools
with their babies. You don't have to have children of your own to know that these young souls that step onto our campuses and into our hallways and libraries and cafeterias and classrooms and buses are meant to be cherished and protected and given
opportunities to grow. It's a massive responsibility. Of course, while our job is to open wide the doors of possibilities for our students, we still need to set those intentional boundaries as we guide them.
And this responsibility reminds me of an old hymn called Be careful little eyes what you see. So we say to our students, be careful little eyes what you see. Help them to seek out what Plato calls the good, the true, and the beautiful. inspire a
thirst for knowledge for the wonders of this world. Show them how to find credible sources and weigh their background knowledge against new ideas. Teach their eyes to search unceasingly for ways to grow themselves and find solutions for our community.
Say to your students, "Be careful little ears what you hear." Show them how to filter through the noise that will inevitably cloud their own lives. Speak joy and kindness into their days. Cut through that negativity that chokes this
world like weeds and help positivity take root so that they can begin to believe in theirelves. Say to your students, "Be careful little tongue what you say. Model how to speak with integrity and conviction and avoid fallacies. Guide them to select their
words carefully and intentionally which is easier said than done. How you form and express an idea is sometimes as important as the idea itself. So give them opportunities to practice speaking with boldness and honesty, but also with kindness.
Say to your students, "Be careful little feet where you go." Oh, how we wish our students would only follow paths to success, but point them in the right direction. Set their feet on journeys that will edify them and build them up. Warn them
against decisions that lead them away from their goals. We will walk beside them to keep them on track. Right, Mr. Al? >> Now, I would like to add another line to this hymn.
How about be careful little brains how you rot? I'm just kidding. Um, kind of I actually want to add that we should say to our students, be careful little dreams where you stop.
Give them cause to believe that they can accomplish great things no matter their backgrounds or learning disabilities or obstacles. We are entrusted with the responsibility to care for what is most precious in
this world, children. Test scores will be forgotten. Data will be archived. But teaching kids to believe in themselves, giving them the tools to succeed, inspiring lifelong learning, that is
forever. Last year, nominees, I stood in your shoes. My name was called. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe you said it right. I've been hurdling on a whirlwind ever since. And I've learned so many lessons this past year, mostly about leadership.
legacy. So being nominated means that your legacy is already taking root. Awards will eventually collect dust, but that legacy that you leave in the minds of our students is immortal.
Now is not the time to be humble. Think about your legacy. I'm sure we could all if we had our eyes closed and knew that no one was going to mess with us, um we could concentrate. We could think who had a legacy in our life.
A quiet moment where we could stand still, stand back and look at the big picture. And I want you to think about the legacy you're leaving, all the educators in this room. Our collective breaststrokes have shaped
the landscape of our community. Well, we all go back to work tomorrow. So, the noise I spoke about earlier is about to come back in full force. The literal noises of the ding of the bell, the intercom, the clicky clack of the keyboard, the phone ringing, the scridge of pencils, the echo of a drop metal
water bottle, the shriek following a lost tooth, the crinkle of snaps and chip bags, and the whine of he's looking at me. Look back at him, kid. I don't know what to tell you. And then there will be the metaphorical
noise as well of attendance and meetings and referrals and grades and lesson plans and data chats and hastily written learning targets before someone walks in. Um desk cluttered with sticky notes and stacks of papers, marks with a red pen. That smiley face drawn at mock speed with two straight lines and a
smile that wraps all the way around the head. And we're going to have to face those hands raised to go to the bathroom. We're going to have to outdoor duty tomorrow morning in freezing weather. We're going to have a student sneeze directly into our face and it goes in
our nose and mouth. I got that sneeze at the high school level. So, if you haven't gotten it yet, it's coming for you. That noise of early alarms and those morning drives to school with music blaring to psych yourself out and the afternoon drives home with silent tears.
Late nights prepping what we didn't have time to do during the day. It feels like the noise will never stop. But this noise has a purpose. You have a purpose. And that is to help our
students achieve their life purpose. And at the end of each year's chaos, there will always be that quiet, still moment. You'll have to let them go. They will walk away from you. into the next
classroom, the next school, or across that stage to shake a hand and reach for a diploma. We'll watch our borrowed babies disappear over the horizon. And we will quietly whisper thank you to
them because they gave us our life purpose in return. Congratulations, nominees. I'm so proud of you. We are so proud of you. It's a privilege to work alongside you.