The Load Out

Jackson Browne paid tribute to the members of his road crew in the song, The Load Out.  This song was on his 1977 multi-million selling album, Running on Empty.  He writes about how long after he has given his last encore at a concert, the seats are now empty and it is time for the roadies to begin their work of packing up all of the equipment,  getting  it on a truck, traveling through the night, and then setting it up all over again in another venue. These, of course, are the very same people who set it all up hours before the concert.  A very repetitive task, but essential for the show to go on. “Roll them cases out and lift the amps, haul the trusses down and get ‘em up the ramps, when it comes to moving me you know you guys are the champs.”  As he relaxes after the concert, he hears the sound of slamming doors and folding chairs and realizes those are sounds the roadies will never hear.  The song is a tribute to those who work behind the scenes and rarely get any credit for what they do and are noticed only when they mess up.  It is these same faceless people who make it all run smoothly and provide a great concert for the crowd.

The majority of what I write every Friday is geared toward teachers, their valuable contributions, and hopefully some ideas that you can latch onto to help in your career. Next Wednesday is “Administrative Professionals Day.” Typically, this is a day set to honor secretaries.  I want to do that, but I would like to expand that to include all of our “roadies”.  This is a tribute to those in our school family who work behind the scenes, but add so much to making us a whole, yet never get into the spot light. Without their contributions, our daily concert never happens.  I would like to pay tribute to Laura and Lynette, who work extremely hard and cover a multitude of tasks and serve as our first point of customer relations.  They always make our school look good.  To Sue, who makes our financial books balance, takes care of subs and does anything else we ask of her.  To Nurse Dana, who spends her entire day in an invisible sea of germs while maintaining great patient relationships and making sure everyone gets the correct dosage of medicine.  To Coleen, who manages intake of well over 900 kids, maintains new enrollment and withdrawls, packs ISTEP materials  and endures the registration period…yes, it is a test of endurance.  To Joe and his crew, who keep our building clean and maintained while still taking the time to greet kids at the front door or dress up as Santa Claus.  To Miss Jackie and the Lunch Ladies who make the food, serve the food, and clean the remnants of food while battling a loud line or taking yet another “special” order.  To Kim, who makes this multitude of wires, connections, and access points all work while tolerating a technology-challenged Principal.   These people help make our show go.  They work behind the scenes to set up this big stage where the teachers and administrators get to do what we do best.  While they may not often stand in the spotlight, they all contribute greatly to our successful concert that we call a school day.