Dear Kadoka Area,
I hope the entire area is having a great start to spring. We may have a couple of colder days coming, and March will usually ‘go out like a lion’ when it has ‘come in like a lamb.’ However, we are thankful for the nice weather we do have. With the advent of spring comes state testing in public schools, and we at Kadoka Area are no different. However, we must be aware of what the standardized tests are and what they are not: we can become increasingly focused on the test itself instead of its meaning in the bigger game we play in education.
This past weekend we had our first track meet, and I am so proud of the accomplishments of our student athletes, plus the outstanding work of our coaches. However, the finite game of team track and field is only part of the never-ending educational game. State testing is a checkpoint in the lifelong education game, and there is danger in thinking about it beyond that depth.
A noted public speaker and philosopher, Simon Sinek, talks extensively about how successful organizations understand business, and education is infinite in scope. Groups like schools must not try to win but stay in the game against themselves. State testing is a great way for us to compete against ourselves.
As a competitor, I want to be better than my competition, but education was before me and will be after me. The Kadoka School District will also exist well after I have left this world. Therefore, the game requires our team to focus on improvement over decades, not goals over months.
This information brings us back to the wisdom of Sam Walton; as written in past columns, we want to focus our growth on daily improvement. That doesn’t mean we won’t have down days or days that will be less productive than others. The compounding of simple steps each day helps us at the start (PK-12) of the never-ending game of student education. Staying in the game with every student in our area is the objective, and winning is seeing them walk across the stage, as we will in the current spring, knowing they are still in the game of learning and all its never-ending pursuits.