Each year I set goals for myself and share them with the Board
of Education. We review my progress
toward these goals quarterly and at the end of each fiscal year. I like to challenge myself each year and do
my best to reach each and every goal set.
My objective is to set goals that are challenging but realistic and
attainable. They should ultimately help
our district improve. This year my Academic Performance Objective in the
emerging trends category is a goal that I am extremely passionate about. It is so critical that each of our students
has a career path and idea of what their passion is before leaving school.
Getting to know our students, developing positive relationships,
personalizing our instruction and making every student college and career ready
is a lofty but worthwhile goal.
All Vermilion employees are expected to accept responsibility
for the mission and vision established for our district. I will continue to be committed each day
to keeping students as the focus of every decision we make, and to the
vision of working with our staff to inspire each of students to be leaders and
lifelong learners. My commitment to
these methods of improvement is shown in the full list of my goals for the
2016-2017 school year (see separate article).
In July I will complete 8 years as Superintendent in the
Vermilion Local School District. Prior to coming to Vermilion I held positions
as an assistant principal, principal and assistant superintendent. The experience gained was helpful, but could
not prepare me for all of the aspects encountered in a new job. Paul Kalanithi, in his book, "When Breath Becomes Air"* talks
about this phenomena. Paul was a
neurosurgeon who passed away at the young age of 36. Before he passed he described the process it
took to go from the brutal hours of a resident doctor to becoming a
full-fledged surgeon. He described the
residency as being a relatively protected and isolated environment, without
total responsibility. After completing
the residency he felt the weight of complete responsibility as he described to
patients and their families the possibility of a lifetime of severe pain, life
support and even death as a result of a one millimeter miscue with a scalpel
during an upcoming operation. While my
decisions are often difficulty, the role of Superintendent is not comparable to
the decisions a neurosurgeon must make.
It is almost unimaginable to me to that I would literally have the
responsibility of a life in my hands each time I went to work!
People have often commented to me that they wouldn't want my job
because of the number of decisions that must be made and the fact that they
can't make everyone happy. That is true
and I have learned that I can never make everyone happy with decisions I
make. Fortunately, I rarely have to make
instant decisions and have the luxury of time to consider all of the
ramifications of the issue before making a decision. I believe the education
profession parallels the medical profession in a many ways, and I consider
myself very grateful to be working in a career that makes an impact on the
future lives of young people. It is
very gratifying to watch our students come in as young boys and girls, proceed
through young adulthood into high school graduation then be ready to go out
into the world with a passion for what they love to do. I believe that student success is a largely
the result of being taught by our talented teachers and being supported by
loving families. It is a very humbling
and gratifying to be able to come to a place that I get to see students make
progress every day.
The past 8 years in the district have been a whirlwind and I
reflect back with fond memories on how much has changed in my life, both
personally and professionally. I was in
the 27th year of our marriage when I first began in Vermilion and am now in the
33 year of marriage to my beautiful wife Nahid who is supportive,
loving, is a terrific mother and even better grandmother! During
this time I watched both of my sons get married and now have 3 terrific grandchildren
with another on the way. My younger son, Matthew, has been in the
teaching profession for 7 years in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
His wife, Kristen, is an Ohio State graduate in nutrition, but is a doing the
valuable job of being a stay at home mom for our granddaughters Madyson, age 6
and Lilia, age 2. My older son, Michael,
runs a successful business and his wife Lindsay is a teacher at CMSD. They both take care of our 2 year old
grandson Jaxson. We are so excited about the arrival of our new grandson who is
set to arrive in March. Below are some photos of the family. As you can see I have much to be thankful
for.
I would like to thank the community for your ideas, commitment
and support during my time here in Vermilion, and look forward to our continued
collaboration as we guide children and grandchildren to successful lives and
careers. As always, I value your input,
and hope that you will contact me if you have ideas or suggestions to share.
* “When Breath Becomes Air”
by Paul Kalanithi is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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| Nahid and Mady |
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| Mady and Grandpa |
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| Matthew, Kristen, Madyson, Lilia |
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| Michael, Lindsay, Jaxson |
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| Jaxson and Dad |
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| Lilia and Dad |
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| Jaxson |
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