A Belief in What is Possible

Yesterday afternoon, I traveled to the Collins Perley Arena in St. Albans City for a celebration of life for someone who I was grateful to have for a colleague and more importantly, a friend. Ned Kirsch passed away earlier this spring far too soon and left an indelible imprint on the landscape of Vermont education. I miss him.

The room was full of Ned's family and friends; there were educational leaders, Vermont educational officials, and people whose lives he had touched. And there were students. Students sang "These Green Mountains" at the beginning of the celebration, and spoke beautifully about the relationships he formed with them. Ned was always about the impact of our leadership on students. No matter what you were talking about, for him, it was always, always, always about the students.

This blog itself is a tribute to Ned. If I trace back to my first post on this blog, it came on September 4, 2012, but I needed to look almost three years later to the summer of 2015 when I started writing regular, weekly blogs. That happened after a conversation with Ned.

I pulled him aside at one of the All Members' Meetings of the Vermont Superintendent's Association because I saw how the folks in Franklin West Supervisory Union blogged weekly. And I wanted to know what the secret was. How does someone as busy as Ned make the time to write something weekly? There was no way - he had to have some gimmick, some trick, some way to make it work...

When I asked him what his secret was, he smiled and was quick to tell me: You make the time. You make the time for what's important. You make it part of your weekly routine, and it will stick. It might be challenging at the beginning as you introduce something new to your professional to do list, but after a few weeks, it will nestle itself into a familiar place in your world.

That was four years ago, and I have not missed a week of blogging while we have students in our buildings.

When I first asked the question, I didn't think I would have time to write weekly.

When I first thought about where the time would come, I didn't know it would exist in my week.

When I first tried to write weekly, I didn't think I could sustain it and worried that I wouldn't have anything meaningful to say.

Ned, I miss you. Thank you for nudging me and showing me what is possible.

Photo courtesy of www.digitalpromise.org