A Very Important Five-Letter Word

Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel.  And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too - even when you're in the dark." - Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

Trust is quite a commodity today, especially in education.  There has been SO much in the press about everything education - test scores, teachers, tenure, unions, district administration, money - you name it.  It's been written about, talked about, blogged about.  Everyone has an opinion, and everyone is entitled to theirs.

Last week we had bad weather overnight that caused a mess in the morning.  Some districts closed, others delayed, some stayed open.  And, rightly so, everyone had an opinion about what should have been done.  It really is, as some people remarked on the Robbinsdale Area Schools Facebook page, a no-win situation.  It was hard getting around in the morning on snow-covered roads and snow-covered parking lots.  It would have been just as hard for families to scramble to find childcare for their young children - and, to be honest, some would have had to leave their children home alone for the day, because they would not have been able to find childcare and would not have been able to take a day off.  All of this was reality on that day.

I thank all of the Robbinsdale Area Schools Facebook community who posted comments on our district Facebook page (www.facebook.com/RobbinsdaleAreaSchools) for their opinions on the matter.  And frankly, I appreciated the open forum as a place not only to communicate and celebrate, but to foster trust.  I've closely watched another district as a hornets' nest has been unleashed; one thing that has neon lights on it is the glaring absence of any opinions on the district Facebook page.  That's just not a way to build trust.

And what is education without trust?  Frankly, it's nothing.  When I was a teacher, I took very personally the fact that my parents and families trusted me with their children.  I listened to their compliments (who doesn't like those?) and  I also listened very carefully to their complaints - for how was I to improve if I didn't get the bad with the good?  I needed to hear both.

I still do.  I've been with the Robbinsdale Area Schools nearly a year now, and those who have called my office have been given the very best service, an open mind and an open ear.  I treat my families now the same way I treated them when I was a teacher, because I think their opinions are important, their thoughts are important, and our relationship is important - and by "our" I mean the district and its families. 

I talked with a mom of two children recently who enrolled her chidlren into a neighboring district a few years ago, and she is wanting to make the switch back to Robbinsdale Area Schools because, as she said, "Things are really improving there now, and the reputation is getting better and better."  She's right.  There are great things happening in Robbinsdale Area Schools.  But reputation as as much to do with trust as anything else.

And trust is built openly at times, but as Mitch Albom said in Tuesdays with Morrie, sometimes it's in the dark, too.  (Oh, please say you've read that book.  It is sooo very good!)  Most of all, it's reciprocal.  But we can do so much more when we trust each other.  And in the end, the children, our communities, and our futures, are the winners.