Yes, call on God’s grace and spirit. My first week as a principal, I recall I was standing in my office with the door closed and on the phone. I heard some loud screaming out in the hallway. With a quick glance through the office window, I could see a parent coming unglued and loud talking at a teacher. At that moment, I had a choice, stay on the phone and pretend I don’t hear the confrontation, or open the door and invite the tumult into my office. Thinking back, the fact that I actually thought I had a choice, makes me cringe. We have all experienced this – when you didn’t feel that you had it in you to do the task ahead. And yet, you said a prayer for courage, and jumped. When landing safely on the other side, you wonder how that happened? Because you called on the Spirit to be with you, to offer wisdom and insight. This pretty much sums up the past 5 years for me. Oh, no, I wasn’t successful in seeking the spirit every day, and some days were more difficult than others. Back to the story, I did open the door, and brought the parent into my space. We looked at each other, took a breath, and I invited her to pray with me the Prayer of St. Francis. I won’t say this was easy. It was a risk, but I value the lesson it offered me to this day.

During these final days, when as Patrick Fennessy recently shared with his staff, “the plane will land this year, it may be skidding a bit off the runway, but it will land!” we all can gain peace, understanding, wisdom, courage, when we lean into our faith and “…want it! Rely on it! Know that you already have it!”

You remain in our prayers of gratitude!

KRISTIN DIXON |  Superintendent