At times throughout my career as an educator I have seen excellence exhibited. If you have lived in Broken Arrow you obviously have heard of The Pride of Broken Arrow. That is what excellence looks like.

What does it take to attain excellence?

1. Be Creative

2. Be Ambitious

3. Write Down What You Want To Achieve

4. Don't Worry About What Other People Say

5. Possess A Positive Mind

So I want you to think about yourself and your family. Are you setting the tone in your household for your kids to achieve excellence.

Are you setting the atmosphere at home that encourages the 5 traits above? I know many of you are...but maybe some of you are saying...well my wife isn't, or my husband isn't or maybe one of your children isn't.

Are we as educators setting the atmosphere that encourages the 5 traits? I hope so! I know at times we as educators fall into accepting mediocrity and averageness...if that is a word. We sometimes complain about class size, resources, parents who don't care, parents who care to much...I call them helicopters...kids who don't care, classes are too small, and it's not my job!!!

These are things that I have said as an educator. I want you and the teachers who serve you to step up and focus on the 5 traits. Don't let the barriers listed above get in the way of your excellence, your kids excellence, and your families excellence.

Strive for Excellence!!!