Hot Air and Blueberries

A man in a hot air balloon was lost in southeast Missouri. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me. Can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am." The woman replied, "You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You’re between 36 and 37 degrees north latitude and between 89 and 90 degrees west longitude." "You must be a science teacher," said the balloonist. "I am," replied the woman. "How did you know?" "Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I’ve no idea what to make of your information. The fact is, I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help at all. If anything, you’ve delayed my trip." The woman shouted back, "You must be in management." "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?" "Well," said the woman, "you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you’ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault." Much has been said in recent years about the challenges we face as educators. Many educators want to throw up when they hear the terminology associated with No child Left Behind. We sometimes feel that we are faced with a task that is insurmountable and that we will surely fail. The truth of the matter is, it shouldn’t matter to us if we do or don’t have NCLB. Our task as educators, and this includes all of the staff present here today, is to educate all of the children in our community. We must not allow anything to keep us from answering the call, and it is a “Calling.” Just anyone cannot do what we do. We are not just here to have a job. Schools are not built like other businesses to provide a job for us. We are here to serve the future generations of our great country and to make sure they are able to have a better life. It is the most important task in America and each one of you plays an important role in that task. We are past the point where the blame game is acceptable. Despite the fact that we are tempted to blame someone else for any sub par performances of our students, the bottom line must be, we will get the job done and will do “whatever it takes”. Failure is not an option! A very successful ice cream maker who was a vocal critic of public schools. He frequently alleged that, if he managed his business like the public schools were managed, he’d go broke instead of being very successful in the ice cream business. As the story went, during one of his speeches, a lady, stood up and calmly said, "It’s my understanding that you manage a company that makes very good ice cream." The owner replied, "Best ice cream in America!" The lady then said, "Is it rich and smooth?" He said, "Sixteen percent butter fat," "Premium ingredients!" "Premium ingredients?" she asked. "Super premium. Nothing but triple A quality," the owner said. Then she dropped the bomb. "Sir," she said, "When you’re standing on your receiving dock, and you see an inferior shipment of blueberries arrive, what do you do?" Everyone got kind of quiet. The owner said, "I send them back." For the first time during the interchange, the lady, a teacher, got pretty loud. "That’s right, but we can never send back our blueberries. We take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, rude, and brilliant. We take them with ADHD, junior rheumatoid arthritis, and English as their second language. We take them all, every one. And that, sir, is why it is not a business. It is a school." You see, there are a lot of differences in children. The teacher was right. We don’t have the opportunity to send our blueberries back. The parents are sending us the very best they have. And despite appearances sometimes that some might not care, deep down most do. But what do we do with the children when we get them? We do not get the choice of whom we teach. Unlike those who home school or send their kids to private schools, we educate every child who comes through the door. So, let’s think about the children that come to us for a minute and how we’re going to get all of those children to perform their best. If we receive a shipment of blueberries and find that they are not quite ripe, not quite ready, what do we do with them? It’s not enough to say, "They aren’t ready." We can’t afford that. We have to ask the next question, which is, "How do we get them ready?" You see, we have to determine where each child is and meet him where he is, not try and make them “ice cream” grade somehow. You may have to add a little more sugar to some children or a little more love. You may have to give some a little more time to mature with personalized attention. Whatever it takes to help them succeed we must do! This is true on all of our campuses. It would be nice if the students who walk through the door are ready to be middle schoolers or high schoolers, but the reality is many times they are not. We cannot wring our hands and look to blame their past teachers, we must jump in and meet them where they are. And just like there are all different sizes and kinds of blueberries. Some are--juicy, good, and sweet. Others are different shapes with different consistencies. We have kids who are good and sweet; others who are challenged or challenging; so we must deal with them differently. You see, I really do think that blueberries and kids have some similarities. At some point, blueberries can get so bad that you throw them away. That’s where the similarities end. We can’t throw any student away. Remember, the parents are sending us their best. We’re going to work hard, make every effort to get all of those kids to meet our high expectations. Business and education models are different. But there are some things that can be learned from each. There’s a difference between selling blueberries and educating kids. All kids, like all blueberries, are not created equal. The challenge that we face, and that we must overcome, is to make sure that we understand those differences and deal with all those kids differently, just like the businessperson deals with the blueberries differently. This is today’s challenge of diversity that faces every school educator in this room. We can’t be flying around in hot air balloons looking for someone to blame. Just as the kids we get are the best their parents have to send us, we are the best those kids are going to get! The very life and future of our children is in your hands. Let’s not disappoint them!