Hello and Happy Spring,

As you approach your well-deserved break, I just wanted to share with you a quote that to me sums up the collective work that you all undertake every day. You are builders and architects of not just schools, but of children. There is nothing more important than the work you do. I could attempt to capture just how important your work is, but I know my words would fall short of the eloquence and profundity that Emmett Till’s mom, Mamie Till-Bradley had memorialized in her book (yes, this is the quote I heard the students reading during one of my school visits):

We cannot afford the luxury of self-pity. Our top priority now is to get on with the building process. My personal peace has come through helping boys and girls reach beyond the ordinary and strive for the extraordinary. We must teach our children to weather the hurricanes of life, pick up the pieces, and rebuild. We must impress upon our children that even when troubles rise to 7.1 on life’s Richter scale, they must be anchored so deeply that, though they sway. THEY WILL NOT TOPPLE.

Mamie Till-Bradley

As you approach testing season and prepare for the end of the year, I think that it is important to remind us that our work is far more than 3’s and 4’s. It is about preparing the whole child for the world that awaits them by building a foundation within each child that will bend but not break under the pressures of our ever-changing world. Your work is creating children that will not TOPPLE. No report, no data and no criticism can change the fact that you are all architects of hope… one child at a time. Enjoy your break and thank you for being amazing.

Best,

Michael Selkis and the FHI 360 PSO Team

• FHI_360_PSO_Bulletin_4-4-12.pdf