Apples, Miracles, and Stretching the Truth

Apples, Miracles, and Stretching the Truth

I cannot believe that the school year has ended.  There were so many highs and some lows as well.  There are many things that I will miss.  Because the work that we do is always about the children, they are on the top of my list.

I will, of course, miss the adults as well.  It has been a good run.  I have felt very good about some of the things that we have done – and not so good about some others.  Then – there are some things that I have mixed feelings about.  One of those is the Crystal Apple.

The Crystal Apple is one of the things that caused me stress at the beginning of the year.  We had a visitor to the staff and he presented us with the apple.  I had invited him in to speak to the group – which was a violation of policy.  I think we were the only school that he visited and we had no further contact with him, but he left the apple behind.  I could not let that beautiful symbol of educational excellence go unnoticed.  I found a way to present it to one of our many deserving staff members at that meeting.  It worked its way through several staff members through the course of the year.  I felt good about that.  I felt good about it because it required us to stop and think about the way our staff goes above and beyond on a regular basis.  I felt good about it because it required us to focus on the positive.  I did not feel so good about it because it did not get to everyone………….I guess that is what created the mixed feelings.  I was glad that I had shared the apple, but I was sad that it did not finish the journey.   Everyone at Maple Avenue deserves to be noticed for the positive work that they do.  So I thought and I thought.  I watched the positive things that people were doing – not to receive the apple – just because positive people do positive things. 

I thought of ways to get an apple to everyone.  I thought about real apples – but they would be gone in a few bites.  I saw pencils with apples on them – but they would be used up.  I found apple stickers – but they would quickly wear away.  The message of the crystal apple is not something that any of us wants to disappear. 

I was sitting in my living room one day looking through a catalog and suddenly I knew how I was going to share my metaphorical apple with each of you.  I found small red apples that were just right to become a final ‘rock for your pocket’.  Each of you is so deserving of being noticed for the good that you do.  Little did I know that Miss Annette would present me with the real crystal apple at our last staff meeting.  It might not have made the full journey, but it had come back to its starting place.

So the story that I told you at lunch on Tuesday – it was about the apple.  It was about miracles.  I simply stretched the truth.  You were right.  You know me so well.  You KNEW that I did not drop the apple.    I did smile though, when some of you thought that perhaps I really had, and that my magical box held shards and slivers of the original apple.  It would have been a miracle if I HAD dropped the apple and all of those smaller apples were born.  But that was not the miraculous part of the story.  Each of you is the miracle.  Each of you is the star that is found inside every apple that you cut open.  Each of you has the power of the apple seed – plant it, care for it and keep it alive.  Each of you goes above and beyond to make Maple Avenue the special place that it is.  I am so proud to have been part of that for the past five years.

I am going to focus on the three most important rocks that I have given you in our time together.  The first was the red wagon.  Never forget the message of that symbol.  Some days, it is really hard to pull that damn wagon.  Remember that the load is lighter when you pull together.  The second was the small pewter heart.  That was to remind you that you are the heart and soul of Maple Avenue.  Lastly, there is the apple.  It has long been a celebratory symbol for quality educators – and that is what you are.

I am going to leave you with a parting quote.  It is my last favor of you – and I know I have asked many.  “The sign of a true leader is not what they do when they are with you, but rather what you do when they are not with you.”  Only you can make me a true leader.  I have great faith that you will.  Thank you for that and for all that you have done for me and with me over the last five years.

In my family, we never say good- bye.  We say:  “Love you and see you soon.”