There's An App for That

I ran track in high school. I played other sports as well, but track was my most consistent. I competed at the varsity level running middle distances, the two-mile, and the one-mile relay. I trained with my team and practiced every day. I even still remember my best times: 2:09 for my 800 in the two-mile relay and 54 seconds for my 400 in the mile relay. Needless to say, that was many, many years ago.

This past summer, I wanted to get back to running. So one beautiful morning, I grabbed my phone to listen to some music, put on my sneakers, and went out for a run. It was still cool, the sun was just rising, and I was excited to get back into a healthy routine.

I barely made it around the block. I was only slightly out of shape, seeing as the last time I ran regularly was twenty-seven years ago when I was in high school.

So what was I to do? I scoured the internet for training programs and came upon this app that seemed appropriate: Couch to 5K, by Zen Labs. It had great reviews, and it was free. I downloaded the app and went back out - expecting to run. Instead, I did a lot of walking. I did very little running. It was quite humbling.

For the first several weeks, I was doing more walking than I did running. Near the middle of the training regimen, it seemed as though it was close to equal parts walking and running. Then as I got past the halfway point, it started to get hard. I was doing more and more running, with less and less walking. My legs were being trained to get back into shape - slowly but surely, I was putting more and more miles back into my body, and my body was responding.

I "graduated" from Couch to 5K and have been running 5Ks on my own since the early part of the school year. My goal is to run three 5Ks each week, to keep putting the miles on and to stay in shape as I get older. This past Tuesday, for the first time ever, I ran a 5K in less than 30 minutes! I was really proud of my accomplishment.

My return to running made me think about personalized learning, one of the newer commitments we have with our students. This experience was one I created for myself, and I sought out the assistance I needed. It wasn't a linear process; there were stops and starts. There were stages in the training that I had to repeat because they were too hard, and I couldn't complete them the first time. I was successful because I followed my own path to return to running. If we reached out to all the people I ran track with in high school, I doubt their return to running would look exactly like mine.

This is the same for our students. There is no single path toward unlocking their potential. As superintendent, my primary role for our students is to ensure their school is a place that is self, welcoming, and inclusive for each of them, exactly the way they are. While they are here, the adults build meaningful relationships with them to get to know what makes them tick. In that way, the adults can make suggestions and teach in a way commensurate with each student's needs.

As our students grow and learn more and more about themselves, we will turn to them for more insight into how they learn best. We will want to know what they are passionate about, what excites them about their own education, and how can they demonstrate what they've learned in a way that is authentic to them. Their education is partly their responsibility, and we will need them and their families to partner with us to be successful.

Who knows? There someday may even be an app for that.

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