WELCOME BACK

By Dan Scinto
President, International Schools Services, Inc.

Each year hundreds of administrators and teachers sit down to pen “Welcome Back” to school articles and letters.  While many of these letters seem generic and canned, there is an underlying theme that I’d like to discuss.

Typically, most writers emphasize how happy they are to be back at school, how excited they are to begin the school year anew, and how they plan to work toward worthwhile goals to improve their schools and organizations.  Most staff has come to expect this type of communication and many don’t look for deeper meaning or direction from a “Welcome Back” letter.

In over thirty-five years in education, I have come to believe that the letter itself, not its content, is important.  I strongly believe that the overwhelming majority of the writers are truly happy to be back at school, are looking forward to working toward improvements, and believe their staff and they can really make a difference.  What a wonderful profession we are in when yearly renewal is actually planned with the best of intentions and is often successfully completed during the school year!

I add my Welcome Back to the 2008-2009 school year, as so many others have done.  Great things will be accomplished and many improvements will be made.  Each of us can strive to move the ball down the football field.  A “Hail Mary” touchdown pass can’t be completed by everyone, but we can all attempt to move the ball a few yards.

Welcome Back! Welcome Back! Welcome Back!

On a more sober note, every year we lose a number of colleagues and friends from our ranks of international education.  The beginning of each year may be a good time to reflect on our memories of each of them and their contributions to international education, while we remember that their achievements have been important - because our job is to now take the football from where they moved it and head toward that touchdown.

Daniel L. Scinto
President