TRUSTEES AT WORK What is it about belief that makes it such a powerful motivator? For years, scientific wisdom proclaimed the human body could not break the four-minute barrier when running a mile. Roger Bannister dared to believe something different, to have hope that the barrier could be broken, and to risk embarrassment in trying. He achieved this monumental milestone in 1954, and now tens of thousands of runners have since joined him on the other side of that four-minute barrier. Consider also President Kennedy’s challenge to this nation in 1962 to put a man on the moon before the end of that decade, or Mahatma Gandhi’s bold belief that India could achieve independence from Britain through a nationwide, peaceful movement. These people, and many others throughout history, whether famous or not, began with a bold belief that likely looked foolhardy to many of their contemporaries. Undeterred, they persevered in their bold belief and attained achievements that astonished their communities, even the world. At Alamo Heights, we hold the bold belief that a focus on continuous improvement will propel us forward in finding better ways to equip and empower our students to be the world changers we know they are capable of being. This focus on continuous improvement, though, requires a firm foundation of belief in our mission and belief in each other; lifting up someone does not necessitate bringing down others. Companies like Toyota have adopted similar belief systems in transforming themselves through continuous improvement to become responsible industry leaders. We have proved this, too: in understanding that engaged students produce better outcomes, we developed innovative new programs like Rocketry, the Business Incubator, STEM, and Principles of Manufacturing. None of these innovations detracted from the success of our existing courses. We also have achieved this in other ways: we have emphasized extracurriculars without detracting from academics. Continuous improvement also requires the adoption of a growth mindset. This at first seems straightforward, but a closer look suggests otherwise. A student with a fixed mindset might say “I’m really good at football” or “I’m terrible at math,” phrases which feel normal and unassuming. The growth mindset, though, compels the same student to say, “I can get better at football” or “I can improve at math.” How often do we implicitly place limits on ourselves by the simple words with which we communicate? With this beginning understanding of continuous improvement, we are confronted with the question of how to model this behavior which we aspire to inspire in our students and in our broader community. We begin with ruthless self-examination, which we must protect from the destructive forces of shame and the complacent forces of pride.
AHISD Scho ol Views spring 2 0 21
AHISD Board of Trustees ( l to r) : Bonnie Giddens, member; Brian Hamilton, Assistant Secretary; Lisa Krenger, member; David Hornberger, President; Stacy Sharp, member; Ryan Anderson, Secretary; Dr. Dana Bashara, Superintendent; and, Perry Shankle, Vice President.
Photos Courtesy of Mark Humphries
David Hornberger, President
This has led to the creation of our Community Based Accounting System, or CBAS, which you can find online on our web site at www.ahisd.net under About the District. Take a look—although we are excited the state of Texas assigned us an A rating as a school district, we recognize that such a rating does not further our goal of continuous improvement. Instead, we rigorously evaluate, solicit feedback, and develop action steps for improvement. CBAS shows that we have much to celebrate but also to improve. Several trends appear aligned with demographic lines, and while demographics alone likely are not the root cause, we—as educators entrusted with the development of our community’s children—cannot sit idly, feeling justified by focusing only on our positive outcomes and our A rating from the state. Instead, your board of trustees resolved to create a council of community stakeholders to investigate and measure differing outcomes among our students. Every community member with a child in our schools was invited to apply to participate. This important work is ongoing, will not be rushed, and will continue for an extended time period. We will not be satisfied with preconceived conclusions; we aspire to solutions, not political appeasement. Our work is grounded in the hope that we in fact will solve community problems that much of our country faces. If our students can create the technology that powers every smartphone on the planet (Klein Gilhousen, class of 1960), then certainly we have a shot at doing this, too. Personally, I hope to inspire our community to solve this and other community problems, to calm the fires of political division, and to prevent shame and fear from holding us back from collectively becoming greater. That hope may seem foolish, but certainly no more foolish than using hunger strikes and peaceful protests to liberate an entire country, or galvanizing a nation to overcome a common enemy by landing a man on the moon. It may seem hard, but to paraphrase President Kennedy, that is precisely why we choose to do these things— because they are hard. Indeed, “why does Rice play Texas?” It has been my distinct honor to serve as your board president during this past year. Many would note all the hardships we endured, but I would point to the heightened sense of local community that I witnessed during this time, and its reminder to me that hope is moving in the right direction. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything else, and I am excited to see what heights we choose to attain next...together.
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