Pender Gets It - Sam Stecher

Last week you may have noticed a post on our Facebook and Twitter pages from Pender Public Schools. They had a mission about speaking with good purpose. I’ve included a picture and here is how our friends in Pender described it-

“Our Mission Monday this week has been "Speaking With Good Purpose". Here is a little example. Every student K-12 had a sticky note with their name on it. A caring adult took the time this week to jot a note to them, reminding them they are valued and loved. Gotta ❤ an empty board! :) It's a great day to be a Pendragon!”

We here at MissionMonday.com absolutely love this mission. After I saw the post I texted Mark and asked him to record a video making it our official mission for this week. Speaking with good purpose is something Mark applies with great success at his own elementary school and I knew he would be able to add some great perspective.

Props to the Pendragons for a great mission.

But Pender Public Schools deserves credit for more than just a great mission. They deserve credit for sticking with the plan and that’s no small thing.

When Mark and I speak, whether providing professional development or a keynote, we strive to be both entertaining and inspiring. We want you to laugh and we want to motivate you. When we part ways with the audience we hope they feel it was time well spent.

But Mark and I want more from our time together. Being entertained and motivated for an hour just isn’t enough. The work you do is too important. As we see it, the value of our time together increases exponentially if what we talk about becomes a sustainable part of how you interact with those around you. We want our time with you to be a call to action. We want to support that call with ideas and interactions every week. It’s why we push our interventions all week long. We want to continue to connect you with what works long after we have finished sharing time in the same room.

Unfortunately it’s too easy to let that sustainability drop. Most people will listen for the time we have, leave with good intentions, and then go back to the old routine. Sure, they might look back and think “That was really funny when Mark told the story about the second grader kicking him in the shins” but that’s about it. And I get it. You have more priorities than I can count. My empathy for letting something slide is boundless.

But if you stay committed to the sustainability of MissionMonday.com, if you remain dedicated to walking down your hallway with a planned purpose, then you are one of a select few. Again, I get that can be easy to enjoy the laughs for an hour and dismiss the weekly interventions.  Some people can’t imagine doing even one more thing.

For those that do that one more thing the investment is worth it.

My guess is that for the committed these missions reach a point where they can’t imagine not keeping the commitment. It becomes part of the routine and culture of where we serve our students and communities.

Mark and I spoke to the staff of Pender Public Schools back in August. This picture is from February. Way to stick with it Pendragons. You’re getting it right.

You can read more of what Mark and Sam have to say in their book It Happens In The Hallway. Just click here.