I got to spend some time with an incredible group of young people Friday afternoon. Because I am interning for our superintendent this fall, I was able to attend the first meeting of this year’s “Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council.” Our superintendent has assembled a representative group of 30 high school students from across our district to serve on this council. When they meet, our superintendent gets meaningful feedback from our students, and he uses their input when making important decisions. For example, this group of students was instrumental in helping our district make adjustments to the way we calculate and report GPA and class rank last spring.

Recently, our school district developed and released its “Profile of a Future-Ready Learner.” The purpose of that profile is to ensure that we are placing an emphasis not only on academics, but also on developing our students’ abilities to embrace challenges, be innovative, communicate effectively, collaborate with others, contribute to local and global communities, and successfully respond to the social and emotional challenges that they will find themselves facing. This week, we asked the advisory council to examine that profile and give us their feedback. For each of the abilities listed in the profile, we asked them two questions:

1. What are some examples of ways in which we are already supporting the development of these abilities?
2. What are some ways in which we could better support your development in these areas?

The students were broken into six different discussion groups. Each group sat with a different district leader and shared their candid thoughts on how well our district was or was not doing in supporting the development of these “future-ready” skills. I got to sit in with one of these groups and listen to their thoughts. The students in this group were from five different high schools, and I only knew one of them before I sat down. As I listened to their conversation, I was blown away by how sharp they were and how honest and well-thought-out their answers were.

As our table began discussing “embracing challenges,” the students discussed what motivates them to keep pushing forward when things get tough in the classroom. One of the students noted that she works much harder for some teachers than she does for others. All of the students at the table emphatically agreed, so I decided to take the opportunity to learn from them. I broke my silence and asked why. One young man said that it was easy to tell which teachers really cared about him, and he said that those were the ones that he would work the hardest for. That led to the other students in the group sharing similar thoughts. When I asked them how they knew when teachers “really cared about them,” the young man told me the ones that “really cared” were the ones who tried to build relationships with their students. It was music to my ears.

As leaders, we talk all the time about the importance of building relationships. However, it is so much more powerful when you hear a student say it. Those were his words. He wasn’t prompted to say that. I didn’t ask him about relationships. He chose to talk about the power of relationships and the impact that having relationships with his teachers has on his willingness to embrace challenges. Hear that again. A student told me that if his teachers build relationships with him, he will work harder for them and embrace more challenges! Everyone at his table agreed with him too!

As our conversation continued, one young lady in the group said something that I wish every teacher in the country could have heard in that moment…

“I wish ALL of my teachers cared more about ME than they care about my academics.”

God bless this young lady! She is incredible. She’s taking 6 AP classes, and she’s on the varsity basketball team. She has A LOT going on in her life! She wasn’t complaining. In fact, she said that she has a lot of teachers that go out of their way to get to know her and that empathize with the amount of work that she puts into her high school experience, and she was praising them. She just made the comment that she wished all of her teachers would approach their work like that. Again, her peers echoed her sentiments.

The conversation continued, and I continued listening. I heard students praise the things that many of their teachers do in the classroom. I heard them talk about the quality of the education they are receiving. I also heard them give some honest feedback about the things that they wish could be better. One student said that she sometimes feels like she is just viewed as a “5” on the AP exam. That comment crushed me.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to sit in and listen to these young men and women. They reinforced some of my foundational beliefs about education, and they showed me that we are doing some really good things in our district. They also showed me that we can be better. It takes time. It takes effort. It even takes a bit of discomfort at times for some of the more introverted souls to build relationships with our students. However, it is worth it. THEY are worth it.

I did not write this as an indictment against certain teachers. Instead, I wrote it in praise of the countless teachers who are pouring into inspiring our students everyday. I wrote it with hopes that the thoughts that these young people shared with me would inspire all of us to be the best we can be for them.

As I have reflected on this experience over the last couple days, I have been reminded of some of the things I’ve seen Danny Steele tweet out recently. Here are a few of his nuggets of wisdom from the last week…

The level of fun that students have in learning is often in direct proportion to the level of fun that their teachers have in teaching.

— Danny Steele (@SteeleThoughts) October 13, 2018

I think teachers shine the most… not when they’re teaching well crafted, innovative lessons… but when they’re working patiently with students who are struggling.

— Danny Steele (@SteeleThoughts) October 13, 2018

A 10 second conversation with a student as they walk into your class could mean more to them than your 45 minute lesson.

— Danny Steele (@SteeleThoughts) October 11, 2018

When graduates come back to visit teachers, they visit the ones who took an interest in them. If you want to be memorable, take an interest.

— Danny Steele (@SteeleThoughts) October 10, 2018

Tomorrow… your kindness to a student could end up being the highlight of their day. Let that sink in for a moment.

— Danny Steele (@SteeleThoughts) October 9, 2018

You never know the impact you are having on a student. Keep encouraging, keep supporting, keep loving — even when they don’t seem to care.

— Danny Steele (@SteeleThoughts) October 9, 2018

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I really appreciate it. If you are not already following @SteeleThoughts on Twitter, do yourself a favor and click that “follow” button, especially if you are an educator.

Finally, be intentional about building relationships with your students or your team this week. Be a difference-maker for your kids, not for their test scores. If you do the first part, the second part will take care of itself.

See you next week!