Let me explain. The students I teach were the ‘bad’ kids in the main school. They skipped classes, maybe did drugs, maybe were not very respectful to teachers and admin. If a student gets accepted into our program we keep them away from the main school as much as possible, basically taking them out of the environment where they started their negative habits. Of course, there are times when they need to go into the main school (to see the nurse, guidance, go to the library…) and we remind them that even though they are making changes everyone at the main school remembers them for what they used to do. We ask them to keep that in mind and not to give anyone any excuse to think that they are still involved in the same types of negative behaviours.

So we control what we can – our own behaviours and attitudes – but beyond that there is nothing we can do. We can’t change other behaviours and attitudes than our own. We can only change how we react to them.

I think the secret may be letting go, doing what we do best, and not allowing the attitudes to affect us because that will eventually affect our teaching and the work we do.

A few years ago I read a book called From Good to Great by Jim Collins. He asked the question – why do certain companies become great while others don’t? The response was essentially that the great companies chose one thing they did well and focused on that. They quietly organized their energies around that one thing for years and proved themselves excellent at it. That’s how they all cross the finish line, Kelly.

Simple. Requires soul-searching, patience, diligence. Again, we need to slow down.