The Journal presents my weekly reflections on being a private, Catholic school principal during what promises to be a year filled with energy, excitement, challenges and possibilities…
… all three of my mentors – these inspirations in my life – have shared a consistent theme repeatedly: take breaks and take care.
I have a mentor. I have more than one.
For years between in school gigs, I wrote and taught about Catholic school leadership and, in those musing and conversations, my colleagues and I would highlight the necessity of mentorship, not just for those in formal leadership, but for all who serve in education. We believed having someone to show one the ropes was an inherent good.
When I was blessed to receive the position of principal of the small, Cahtolic high school I serve, I reached out to one of those self-same colleagues and asked him if he would agree to serve as my mentor. He graciously accepted and his words have helped shape my approach to school leadership and the challenges and graces it brings.
My life at the school I serve has been infused by the spirits of many amazing people – people who have become more than companions but friends. I have connected with many of them in ways that have changed me forever. One of them in particular – one with whom the dynamic of friendship enables us to be forthright and honest, to take off our “school hats” and to share openly – I have come to see as a mentor, too. And his words ring in my ears and echo in my approach to self and to this work.
My personal life has at its heart my wife who is a long time professional educator – one of the most talented I know. Without question, her words and influence on me are as definitive as they are defining. She mentors me and shapes me in every way, in every pursuit, in every direction.
Over the course of the pandemic (if I am more honest with myself I would correctly say over the course of my principalship), all three of my mentors – these inspirations in my life – have shared a consistent theme repeatedly: take breaks and take care.
This is a personal challenge.
I want to be someone upon whom people can depend. I want to provide timely and complete answers. I want to be available.
It is very hard for me to leave emails – every email – unanswered before I go to sleep at night. It is very challenging for me to knowingly leave things undone. It is incredibly difficult for me to not check off every item on my daily lists before turning in. Because I love this work and this vocation, I find energy in the doing of it. Because I like this work and this vocation, my identity gets tied up in it.
There is nothing inherently bad about these desires, though my mentors have cautioned – each in their own words and their own way – about that last piece, the part where my identity is defined by the work. The need to be needed can be a powerful motivator, and a potentially negative one, especially when it means I cannot shut off the work.
Spring Break is next week. My challenge is to take the advice of my mentors and to understand that practicing what I try to preach when I speak to the faculty and staff about finding down time to recharge applies to me as well. My task over Spring Break is to accomplish no work tasks (or very few) and take a break.
A real break.
I am absolutely going to try.
Too many quarantines this week… 2 individuals were positive and were on campus and, unrelatedly and having nothing to do with our school but with a competing one – one entire sports team had to be shut down. When we return from Spring Break, we will double our numbers on campus. Will we double our quarantines? We will likely more than double them. What, me worry?