The teachers of Quincy Elementary epitomize the concept of “go big or go home”. Whether it is their love for students, the expectations they have of themselves, or prepping for a dance competition, they go all out. They just don’t know any other way.
When I became the principal of Quincy in 2014, my initiation into the staff came in the form of preparing for the annual “Dancing with the Teachers” competition. Our district has an award-winning dance program and they devised a fundraiser that involved schools competing against each other in dance numbers that were choreographed by the high school dancers themselves. I was thrilled because, although I am clearly not a dancer, I love performing and I thought it would be a fun way to bond with the Quincy staff. Clapping-with-glee excitement. Dream-come-true excitement. I even invited my whole family to the debut of my dancing career, and to show off our fabulous staff.
We learned the dance routine slowly but surely. We discussed costumes. And then we started discussing stunts. I think that was the first tip-off that this was an unusual staff. And then the conversation turned to skateboarding sharks. And costume changes, three of them in the space of just over 3 minutes. I laughed, thinking that they were joking. Thinking that they would never try to actually pull all of that off. And then I realized how mistaken I was. This staff makes the impossible possible. They bring out the impossible in our students, in each other, and they brought out the impossible in me. Don’t believe me? Watch the video of our performance:
To say that I feel blessed to work alongside these teachers is a severe understatement. My school voicemail says that I am the luckiest principal in the world and I mean it. Thank you Quincy teachers for your HUGE hearts, for your HUGE imaginations, and for working so hard to be exactly what our students need. I appreciate you more today than ever and I know that our students and families do too. You continue to make the impossible possible by helping our students and families feel connected and valued during this COVID-19 crisis. We all cannot wait to be back together in person. But, until that time, please know how loved you are and how much better we all are because of you.
P.S. Just to prove my point a little more…today we had a virtual staff meeting and I read this post to our incredible Quincy teachers. Afterward, we watched the video of our 2014 dance performance before we dove into our packed agenda. As we were discussing our plans for packing up classrooms, etc., I noticed that one of the teachers must be hungry because she was eating Pringles. And then I saw her “pass” the Pringles can to another teacher. Keep in mind that this was a virtual meeting and they are in their own homes. We all cracked up as they continued “passing” the Pringles around to other teachers. They wanted to add some levity and fun to our meeting because we miss each other so much. Mission accomplished! Here are some of the snackers:
