Leading with Faith

Leading in an ever changing world requires a great deal of courage and responsibility. I do my best each day to serve those I work with and educate through the philosophy of servant leadership. I see an even greater need for positive role models for our students. The accessibility to information and the numerous influences on their developing ethical base is very concerning to me. When I was an adolescent, my mother who is a devout Catholic, often told me, "there will be people out there who will try to influence you and change who you are as a person. You have to be strong and stick to your faith." I realize more and more as educators we are in a war against negative influence which bombards our students on a daily basis through media, music, and the Internet. We have to be ever diligent in helping students become ethical thinkers and strong enough to stand up for what is right. My job requires that I speak to students on a daily basis about what is right and wrong. We can't get tired of talking to our students. My daughter attends private Catholic school where they attend mass weekly and have religious education daily. Is it a guarantee that negative influences will be stopped, no, but she is developing a strong moral base. As educators in public school we cannot take our students to prayer service or teacher religious education but we can teach ethical thinking, servitude, and citizenship. They need our guidance and we need them to develop into strong citizens who will someday lead this country. I pray for our students and hope that God will guide them to a life filled with blessings.