heathercphipps Activities and Athletics, Back to School, Community, Uncategorized

Community (week two)

It happened again. Every year, like clockwork. You’d think I’d be over it by now, but I’m not.

Friday night was our first high school football game. Better, it was Millard verses Millard, always a great night. It might have been the biggest crowd I’ve seen in the stadium. Red out on one side- neon on the other. Fabulous band. Fabulous dance team. Fabulous football on the field.

And our community.

There were students broadcasting the game. There were students cheering. There were coaches and sponsors and people from our tech team supporting everything our students were doing.

And our community.

There is something about this gathering on Q Street under the lights that gets me every time. In the middle of the third largest school district in the state, we suddenly feel like a small town again.

Last night I got to see it all through new eyes. We have a new superintendent, and it was fun to watch him be part of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I know we are not unique. I know that in hundreds of schools across our state and thousands across the county the same thing happened Friday night. Individual communities coming together as one, in a stadium, connected.

In a time when it can feel like we are more divided than united, it felt good. I took a moment on the field to just pause and take it all in.

As we kick off this new school year, let’s look for those moments. Let’s pause and look around and notice all the good in the world. Adults who give of their time to support students and students who risk and take on challenges and push themselves outside of their comfort zone to write and speak and sing and compete and perform.

And the community of friends and parents and grandparents and neighbors and retired teachers and total strangers who show up to support them.

Our community.

heathercphipps Back to School, Community, Education, Positivity, Team, Uncategorized

Community

I spent Saturday morning with an amazing community. Actually, I spent it with a community of communities. We had the annual fun run for our mentoring program, and our staff showed up in huge numbers. School sprit was on full display.

I’ve written before about the power of showing up. For your family. For your friends. For your community.

What struck me yesterday was the shared community of people that has been created, has grown, exists (I can’t put my finger on the right verb) within each school and district office. And then how each of those comes together to form the larger community of our district.

People are our greatest resource is one of our district’s belief statements. Nothing truer was ever said. People showed up to support a great cause, but more, they showed up to be part of their community.

As leaders, our job is to help foster community. Each of us plays a role in building the culture and climate of our school or office.

Together we are stronger, smarter, better. We need each other. If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s how much we need each other.

It was powerful to see teams of people from each of our schools come together to compete, yes, but also to show that they are committed to their students, their families, their community.

Our community.

This week pay attention to the many different communities in your life. Your family and friends, your neighborhood, your school or workplace, your place of worship. How are you showing up for them?

heathercphipps Activities and Athletics, Community, Competition, Uncategorized

Community

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It was a heartbreaking loss after a great game!  The Patriots shot three pointers like they’ve done all season.  The Hawks hit free throw after free throw. It was a sight to see.  Overtime.  How state titles should be earned!  …if only it had ended in our favor.

But today is a new day.  Today Millard South and Lincoln Southwest are once again a part of the same community, a community of athletes, of high school students, of Nebraskans. What unites them is once again stronger than what divides them.  That is always the case!

Community was proudly on display last night.

Brothers and sisters and parents and grandparents holding signs and waving pictures of their players. Family.

Cheerleaders and band members and dance teams and amazing student sections cheering on their players. School.

Guards, forwards, coaches, trainers. Team.

On both sides!

There is power in community.  There is energy and enthusiasm in community.  You could feel it in the arena.  Many voices became one. What no single person could accomplish can often be done with ease when people come together.  “Many hands make light work.”

Communities working together can do amazing things!  Imagine if those families, those teams, those schools worked together.  Imagine what they could do.  Last week I saw communities working together to clean up after tornadoes in Illinois and Missouri.  This year we have already seen communities rally together after fires and floods and blizzards.

Imagine what we could do if our communities came together for a common purpose.  Could we ensure all students have access to a quality education?  Could we guarantee care for the elderly?  End hunger?  End homelessness?  Could we see to it that every single person feels a sense of belonging, of love?

Families, teams, schools know that there is power in community.  If only we could extend that to the community of humankind.

img_4128One community walked away last night happy with the result, the other wishing the outcome had been different. But both walked away with a sense a pride, proud of what they had accomplished together through the season, proud of what can be done when we unite.