I read an article this morning about a runner by the name of Georgene Johnson. On May 21, 1990 she stepped up to the starting line and at the sound of the starting gun took off for what she thought was a 10K or 6.2 miles. At mile 4 she realized that she had stepped up to the wrong starting line. Cleveland had two races starting at the same time on this day in May. One was the 10K she thought she was running and the other was a marathon or 26.2 miles.
While it would have been easy for her to quit the race, realizing she had never run father than 10 miles (and she debated for a moment...even asked a police officer for a ride) however, she made the decision to finish the race. In her mind, it was as simple as putting one foot in front of the other. Yes, she finished the marathon.
We all started this race (or school year) back in August, knowing what we signed up for. While the finish line seemed so far away then, we are just two short weeks from crossing that line, wrapping up our school year. If Georgene Johnson can make the decision to finish a marathon that she didn't train for and had no idea she was running until she was nearly a 1/4 of the way through it, we can knock out these last two weeks. We signed up for this race. Yes, it would be easy to walk the final miles or stop teaching over the final days, but who finds greatness by taking the easy route?
I believe that is what sets the staff at Sigler Elementary apart from others. While teachers in some buildings will be taking down wall decor, packing up rooms and beginning to walk the final miles, I know this staff is better than that. Our students deserve better than that and as a staff we are going to #finishstrong and teach to the #finalbell.
I challenge you to embrace the spirit of Georgene Johnson and finish the race.
"Giving up is easy. Teaching students and giving them all you have to offer until the #finalbell is what they deserve."
