Allison Behne
January 30, 2015
Issue #341
Weather in Iowa this winter has been unpredictable. A few weeks ago it was unseasonably warm—50 degrees and sunny. Then in a matter of days, the temperature dropped to zero and the snow started flying. The week following a two-week winter break, we had three late starts, one early dismissal, and a snow day. My children certainly weren’t complaining!
One morning, in the middle of all the schedule changes, my son, Nathan, said with an all-knowing smile, “I bet Mr. Christensen, [our superintendent] delays school so he can sleep in.”
I smiled and informed him that no, Mr. Christensen had to report to work at his normal time, even when there was a delay. My son said, “Well, that stinks. I feel bad for him.” Then, after a bit of a pause he added, “That’s what I want to do when I grow up.” This took me by surprise, as he has always said he wants to be a doctor or soccer player. I asked him for clarification, "You want to be a superintendent when you grow up?” “No, I want to make kids happy," he replied. "That would be the coolest job ever. Mr. Christensen has the coolest job ever. He gets to hire the good teachers, visit schools when all of the fun lessons take place, and he even gets to call late starts and snow days. That is so fun. He gets to make kids happy. I want a job where I get to make kids happy.”
His response made me smile. As adults we often look at all of the daunting tasks that make up our jobs. We look at the content to be covered, grades to be figured, students who are still struggling, meetings that fill our calendars, new curriculum we need to learn, and so on and so forth. But how often do we sit back and look at the opportunities our jobs provide? We teach kids how to read, tie their shoes, write their name, make friends and be a friend, put their thoughts on paper, and much more. We get to spend 30-plus waking hours with our students each week when we can learn, explore, laugh, create, and grow together. It is a large responsibility, but we are so very lucky.
As the months of the school year continue and we feel overwhelmed by all there is to accomplish, I suggest we take a deep breath and look at our jobs through the eyes of a child. We are in the business of making kids happy. What could be better than that?
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