Thoughts from Mr. Cox – April 20

Good morning Garden Spot!

I have had a tremendous couple of weeks getting to enjoy spending time with some of you at the Dodgeball Tournament, and watching the talent of others at one of the showings of Bye, Bye Birdie. It is so awesome to get to work with so many wonderful young men and women. You make my life better, and I appreciate the time we get to spend together. Thank you for sharing of yourselves to make Garden Spot a better place. It is awesome getting to see you in a different setting.

As an aside, the more staff and students that show up, the more fun events like these become. Come to the plays and musicals to support your friends, come to the sporting events, come to the dances and other special events… You just may find that you enjoy it, and that you meet some pretty neat people. If you’re sitting around complaining about how bad of a place New Holland is to live, or that there is nothing to do around here, consider that perhaps you are just not giving the things that are available a chance.

The more you show up, the closer we become… the closer we become as a community, the more supportive we will be of each other… the more supportive we are of each other, the easier it becomes to make it through difficult times. There will be times in all of our lives where we need the support of others… let’s really work at doing things together so that we build a community that lifts itself up and does not let those who are struggling struggle alone.

Reminders:

  • If you plan on eating lunch in the outside lunch area, please remember that you are only permitted to exit through the middle doors of the main cafeteria, and travel down the 400 wing hallway on your way outside. The same is true if you return to the cafeteria. You expected to only use the 400 wing hallway, and enter through the middle doors of the main cafeteria. Thank you for your cooperation.
  • There will be a mandatory pre-administration meeting for those taking any AP Exam on Thursday, April 23 beginning at 12:30 in Community Hall. If you are taking an AP exam, please plan on attending. If you are a 9th or 10th grader taking an AP exam, please let your iSpartan teacher know that you will be eating ‘A’ lunch on Thursday so that you can attend this meeting.

Teacher Spotlight:

  • Ms. Martin and Mr. Fitz put in endless hours working with a large group of our students to put on one of the best musicals I have ever seen. If you were a part of Bye, Bye Birdie I am sure you have taken the time to thank them for their time and efforts. Both of these individuals devote equally as much time an effort into making their classrooms and our school a better place, and I encourage each of you who currently have them as teachers, or have had them in the past, to take a moment to express your gratitude for all of their efforts. They put their heart and soul into their jobs, and they do it because they believe in each of you… thank you Ms. Martin and Mr. Fitz!

Personal Challenge:

I have had several students comment recently to me that we don’t really care about our students, just their grades. While I fundamentally disagree with that statement, if that is the perception among some students I feel it necessary to state my perspective.

We wholeheartedly do not believe that the value you have in this world is attached to your grades. You are important whether you are the best student, or the worst student. The reality is, however, that if we genuinely care about you we will hold you accountable to the things that will help you to have the best and most fulfilling future you can possibly have, and your performance academically is directly tied to the options available to you in the future, and the overall skills that are important in being a responsible father, mother, spouse, employee, and everything else that you will find is expected of you as an adult. Academic performance is also directly connected to a persons well-being, their health, their future earning potential, and just about everything else you can think of that would be on a list of things that are desirable in the future.

Those who rate themselves as having the greatest satisfaction in life tend to perform better in school. Why is that? Perhaps those individuals have learned the importance of working hard at everything they do, and as a result have a greater sense of pride and accomplishment because working hard at everything you do brings about more successes. Or perhaps it is because doing well at things has a way of bringing about a sense of pride, confidence, and belief in one self that makes you feel better about your current position in life.

So which comes first? Well, the research indicates that it does not matter which comes first. In other words, those who enter school each day feeling good about themselves tend to do better in school… that is a no brainer. Conversely, those who enter with lower ratings of personal life satisfaction show an improvement in life satisfaction the better they perform academically. The relationship is clear. The better you do at the things that should be priorities in life, the better you feel about life. The better husband or wife you are, the better your spouse treats you and the happier your marriage is. The better father or mother you are, the better your relationships with your kids and the greater your satisfaction at home. The better employee you are, the better your interactions with your boss, and in this case our students, and the greater satisfaction you experience at your work. Those things are undeniable, and yet there is still an inclination as a teenager to not place priorities on the things that will lead to greater satisfaction in life.

It is our job as adults who are only in your life for a short period of time to guide you, talk with you about life, and encourage you to be the best that you can be… and we do it because we care. None of these things are easy, but life is not going to be easy. If we tell you through our words and actions that they do not matter by allowing poor performance without doing anything to push you to do better, we are in fact showing you how little we care. It would be much easier to just let all of you do whatever you want, when you want to do it, without holding anyone accountable for their performance or behavior, but we are not into the path of least resistance, we are into making a difference in your lives. If we care, we hold you accountable to things that will allow you to have the best possible future, while also assuring that you know you are valued.

If no one is telling you that school is important, or holding you accountable to doing well in school, then there is something missing from your life, and the adults surrounding you every day in school are charged with calling you to something greater in both our words and actions. To those of you who are doing well… keep it up. To those of you who are not, please hear these words and understand that they are not an attack on you, but rather written in the hope that you see the truth in them and decide to take the steps necessary to improving your future condition. You deserve it, but only you are capable of doing what is necessary to attain it.

Keep being awesome!

Mr. Cox

Assistant Principal
Garden Spot High School

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