Taton Addresses Drafting Blueprints for Change

Mark Scharenbroich made attendees of the Opening General Session laugh and cry with his entertaining and poignant reminders of the importance of recognizing good work and effort to facilitate change.

Keith Taton, NASSP Board president, began the 88th Annual Convention by encouraging all principals to embrace change. He acknowledged the challenges associated with change but described it as a two-step process of awareness and acceptance. "By accepting the willingness to change, you move from a point of view to a viewing point. Change should be embraced as an opportunity to create something you might have thought was impossible," Taton said.

Exemplifying his point, Taton went on to discuss two significant anniversaries that occur this year, each of which marks opportunities that elicited notable changes. First, he spoke of the importance of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, KS. May 17 marks the 50th anniversary of this landmark ruling to desegregate all public schools. Students from the Fort Gatlin (FL) District Flag Honor Guard encouraged attendees to promote diversity, not division, in education. They then led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

As another example of change initiatives, Taton also recognized the National Junior Honor Society, an NASSP-sponsored program, which celebrated its 75th year of operation on February 24. "NJHS students represent the best in leadership, scholarship, service, character, and citizenship," he said.

On the heels of Taton's remarks, Emmy award-winning speaker Mark Scharenbroich delighted the audience with his humorous and poignant insights on affecting change. He related numerous personal experiences and examples of how an individual might be an actual agent of change.

After describing a group of guys riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles, he rhetorically asked, What are the two words you would say to someone on a Harley? "Nice bike!" he enthused. Scharenbroich equated that to other examples a group of kids on a baseball team, the football team's quarterback to establish his bottom line: Find the good to make students feel good; find a way to say "thank you" for making the effort and doing a good job. Remembering the children should take precedence.

Scharenbroich wrapped up his presentation with a memory of his father, a WWII veteran, who, he revealed, "was not a demonstrative person." He recalled visiting the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, with his father when "Dad spotted two veterans reminiscing about their buddy." He walked up to them, gave them a hug, and thanked them for protecting our country. The two vets were surprised and told my father that he was "the only one to ever say thank you for serving in 'Nam."

Scharenbroich left the audience thinking about how it is so simple yet so important to remember to say "nice bike," "good catch," "awesome save," or just "thank you for doing a good job."

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