Myles Standish

Somewhere in your studies as a child, you were introduced to the sweet story of the Pilgrims…this group from England, dressed in funny hats and bonnets, came across the Big Pond on a beautiful ship called theMayflower, landed, met up with a really nice tribe of Indians, had a great feast, sang “Kumbaya”, roasted a few marshmallows, and lived happily ever after.  That’s the warm and fuzzy version.  The real story is that half of those new settlers died before Christmas, there wasn’t much to eat, and the people they met upon landing weren’t all that friendly.  Myles (also spelled Miles, but I use the “y” in my name so that’s what I am going with) Standish was among the Pilgrims that journeyed to New England in 1620.  He served as the military leader of the Plymouth Colony.  Not the Dodge or Chrysler Colonies.  For those of you too young to get that joke, please consult Mom or Dad.  The main duty of Myles Standish was to protect the Pilgrims from hostile tribes.  That would have been a full-time job in itself, but he also had another duty – he banished people from the colony who were considered “unpuritanical.”  He signed the “Mayflower Compact”, which, in a nutshell, required that the new arrivals didn’t act like the kids from Lord of the Flies.  He was instrumental in getting them through that first winter when so many died, and then teamed with an empathetic Squanto to establish some crops so that that first Thanksgiving did occur in 1621.  He led them well.  He established a team concept where all contributed for the greater good. 

I look at Myles Standish as someone who looked at the big picture.  He understood the concept that “A house divided cannot stand.”  Note:  reference to Lincoln, who proclaimed that an annual Thanksgiving Day be celebrated.  We have one fairly large school, but have chosen to utilize a concept where several “A school within a school” teams exist to maximize teaching, learning, and relationship building.  When done right, it works well.  Teams have their goals, their rules, their policies, and their procedures.  While this is vital to success, it is important to remember that everyone needs to correlate to the “Big Picture.”  How’s that? The big picture is simply this:  are your students moving forward?  Are they getting smarter?  Are they learning new things?  Are they responding to the challenges that you give them?  Are they becoming better people?  Do they see the value in working together for a common goal?  When we return from Christmas break, we will again have a school-wide goal to strive for on the state test.  Each team will have their team goals.  Each student should have their own individual goal to shoot for.  If every team reaches their goal and every student reaches his/her goal, then the overall goal will take care of itself.  Let’s all work together for the greater good.  By the way, tomorrow at your holiday table, remember that we should be thankful for the opportunity to make a difference – not everybody gets that chance.

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The Browns play this Sunday on the shores of Lake Erie against the Jacksonville Jaguars…expected viewing audience = 17.