This year we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Matzke Elementary, the school at which I have the honor of being the Principal and attended as a student my 5th grade year.  This evening we hosted a reunion for current and former staff members.  We had attendees who worked there as early as 1967!  It was amazing to see everyone gather, fellowship and seem as though they haven’t stopped educating together.  They didn’t miss a beat.

As I reflect on the years of experience in that room and the historical milestones they navigated through with their students, I am amazed. Decades of planting the seeds in students and growing productive, society contributing citizens.  Several of us in that room are the harvest of those seeds planted by those very educators.

There were educators at the celebration who began their career in every decade, some as recently as this year. Those that have come before us have passed the torch and we carry it on with pride and a great responsibility.

This picture embodies the true definition of planting the seed and passing the torch. This amazing lady was our 5th grade Principal at Matzke Elementary in 1988 and then helped to shape us as teachers and leaders very early in our education careers.  She hired me as a brand new teacher in 1999 at Ault Elementary and then planted the seed of leadership at the end of my second year of teaching. I am forever grateful to her for giving me a chance as a first year teacher and then pointing me in the direction of leadership!

Do you plant seeds with purpose? Do you pass the torch on as you grow leaders around you?