When I was about five years old, I spent a great deal of time living with my grandmother and great aunt. They lived in a house “over the river”—as we say in N’Awlins. In this very big-small shotgun house, I could be found in my
grandmother’s closet pulling out my own collection of texts--nursery rhymes, tall tales, and legends. In filling up on those stories, kids felt like they could do anything—just like these characters in these stories. It was not far fetched to believe you could have tea with the Princess and the Frog or consult Humpty Dumpty before he had his “great fall”. More interestingly enough, we felt emboldened to test the boundaries of gravity and see if we could fly. No one in my family told me that I could not accomplish he impossible. When I tried my best to leap from flights of stairs; run 80 yards to catch that football; or write my first book of poetry—there was no one there to say, “I don’t think you can do that” (I would later find out that leap stairs for the sake of it would land me with a giant gash on my left shin—that is still here to this day). It was not until I left my perpetual bubble from that shotgun house that I would encounter people who would try to convince me that I was less than being the Ebony Prince I know myself to be today. Receiving the distinction of the Principal of the Year is a wonderful honor that I am grateful to receive. However, it is really more about you and our community than you know. We share this work together. We toil endlessly on creating an experience we believe our Scholars deserve. When I came into this work, my prayers have 2 been to leave this School Community a better place than I when I arrived. See—I see a lot of myself in the Scholars we teach each day--Resilient and Intelligent beyond their years. Not every Scholar we encounter is completely whole within their experience. However, in our “home”—they feel like they belong to a family! and they are more willing to trust us with their inadequacies and vulnerabilities than the people they spend their livelihoods with. Honorably, I am beginning to see parts of you within my own being. I have been influenced in so many ways by your anecdotes—big and small over the challenges and “small wins” you have encountered. Even though you may have “been having a moment” or were really excited by something—you chose to share those moments with me and I am forever grateful. The road ahead is bright. The world is watching (as I believe I told you before). Things and time will never be the same from here—on in. The Michael J. Perkins School has been on the map and now we will be in a way that we have never imagined. I am appreciative to know we are on it together. Thank you so much for all the love, gifts, letters, cards, and more you are showering on me. I am incredibly humbled by the generosity of you. As I reflected on this honor—the one gift that keeps on surfacing—is the one of Resilience. Let’s stay focused and end the year righteously! Craig Martin Proud Principal of the MJP
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Author@craigcmartin12 #PrincipalofDOPE #FromTurnaroundtoTurnUP #LEADLap #edchat #EduColor Archives
October 2021
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