By George H. McShan
10/12/04 -- Since taking the reins as president of NSBA, I have found the position not only challenging and rewarding, but more important, eye-opening. It has given me the opportunity to engage in conversations with students in public schools all across this great country.
I would like to share with you a recent experience in which I was asked to speak at a school in a sparsely populated Western state, deep in the heart of rural America. The stage had been set previously when I was invited to the 350-student district by a colleague on the NSBA Board of Directors, who knew I would be participating in NSBA's Western Region meeting in that part of the country.
The board member said it would be a great opportunity for students in her district to hear about the history of public education in America from someone who experienced that history firsthand. Since I also grew up in a very small community -- in rural Texas -- I felt I shared a similar background with the students and I agreed that the visit would be worthwhile for me, as well as the students.
This is the kind of opportunity I live for -- the chance to enrich the lives of young people so they will be better prepared to succeed in a rapidly changing global society.
On the front line
Collaboration, which is the theme I have chosen for my year as president of NSBA, is often a vicarious experience when it comes to board members and students. As policymakers, our interaction with students is often through the filters of administrators, teachers, parents, and others -- and that's just the nature of our duty and our role as trustees.
However, there are occasions when we get to be on the front line. And there I was, on the front line, in a tiny gymnasium packed with 170 students -- the high school's entire population -- talking with them about their lives in terms of attaining success in school and in life.
As I looked around that gym, I flashed back to my life as a student in a small school district in Texas. The memories were rich ones, and I shared with the students my story of growing up in an agricultural community, which was more similar to theirs than they might be willing to believe.
The only difference was that my classmates were all black and theirs were practically all white. I pointed out that although our ethnic makeup was different, we had the same purpose -- to get a high-quality education.
I shared with them some of the hardships I faced, including a segregated school system in the South. The promise of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling outlawed segregation in the public school system, but many barriers had yet to be overcome. The inequities were obvious, and those inequities became a wedge that divided people.
Timeless values
As I talked with these engaging young people, I could tell they were genuinely interested in what I had to say about the contrasts and similarities of our respective education experiences.
They were clearly focused, eager to learn about my history -- and theirs. I found that our values concerning education were the same, even though I was in high school 40 years before them.
We found that what matters, and what makes the difference in student achievement, are much the same now as four decades ago -- parents, the extended family, caring teachers, visionary administrators, and a supportive community. This support, encouragement, and love are the primary reasons why I serve today, advocating on behalf of children.
Following our history lesson, I instructed the students to tell their parents when they got home from school that day that I had given them three D's. Naturally, these high-achieving youths were shocked. D's? Three of them?
Certainly. My D's are for determination, dedication, and diligence. The first necessary ingredient for a student to achieve success, I told them, is a determination to set goals with a concrete measurable plan for achievement.
Dedication -- the quality of stick-to-itiveness and perseverance -- ensures attainment of one's goals. This quality requires a daily affirmation.
Finally, diligence -- a nonnegotiable element in this formula -- refers to the need to remain watchful over one's goals and one's progress toward achieving them. Students need to keep asking themselves whether some or all of their goals have been achieved and whether any goals should be changed.
To achieve true success, I told the students, it is unacceptable to do just enough to get by. Just as important is a strong support system that allows the opportunity to achieve those dreams.
Applying the three D's
Looking back on my day with those students, I realized that successful school boards embrace and practice the same three D's as students.
The equation is the same. We, too, are continuous learners. School boards that move the bar from "good" to "great" practice the principles of determination, dedication, and diligence. The three D's also will be the key for NSBA to meet its first goal: "Every school board member will lead its community in preparing students to succeed in a rapidly changing global society."