I Cannot Imagine

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge

and controversy. 

-Dr. Martin Luther King

I cannot imagine leading a national boycott at twenty-six years old. Think about it, one person was able to work with so many, to boycott the most prevalent transportation system of its time-for 382 days. That type of dedication to a specific cause is unthinkable!

I cannot imagine going to jail twenty times, being stab in the chest, having my house bombed, being attacked frequently, and having threats against my family.

I cannot imagine in eleven years, traveling nearly 600 million miles, communicating  2,500 speeches, writing five books, a dozen articles, winning the Noble Peace Prize,meeting with the president, and being named Time magazine's Person Of The Year.

I cannot imagine delivering one of the most powerful speeches in United States history, in front of 250,000 people on the Washington Monument. 

His vision for equality made it possible for my wife and me to date, marry, and start a 

family. His voice inspired hope all over the world. His value for humanity brought all walks of life together. The valleys this country experience became the spring board to the victories I experience daily. Along the same lines, it is hard to believe that a man would volunteer his well-being to make my daughter's better.

His short-lived life embodies some of the most essential character traits we want from our students: collaboration, imagination, dedication, honesty, and critical thinking. 

I cannot imagine this world without  Dr. Martin Luther King! I cannot imagine the world without his dream.

-Rodney S. Lewis, Ed.D.

Common Thread

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“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” 

-Mother Teresa 

​Every human being in this world shares one common thread. Despite who you are or what you are, we all share this same common thread. If you are lower class, upper class, or middle class-we all share this common thread. If you are a celebrity, CEO, stay at home parent or part of the working class-we all share this common thread. If you are healthy or inflicted with a disease-we all share in this common thread. This common thread can never be altered, manipulated, changed, or modified. 

Every human being from ancient to modern civilization all share this common thread. The one common thread that I am not referring to is that all people on this earth were conceived from a female. That is powerful, yet, we are not discussing that concept. This common thread, despite positions of power, share the same theme. By now, you are probably wondering what is this common thread? Every human being shares it. What is it you ask? It is simply this....we only have 24 hours a day.  
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As a college instructor, I have shared this concept with my students and I receive the same look of “That’s It!"  As I have shared with them and now with you, despite, money, fame, grades, social status or emotional status; we have only 24 hours a day to make a difference. This realization is a powerful notion. We may be born with different resources, but NO ONE is born with more or less time. Therefore, the professional athletes, celebrities, business professionals, have the same amount of time as you. They have nothing more or nothing less. From my experience, most people don’t understand the significance of this concept. Conversely, once you truly understand the common thread, then it becomes a gift and a curse.
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The gift is we should be encourage that we share the same basic element that some of our most successful counterparts share. No one is born with more thread than you. Everyday, we all start out with the same amount. We all end with the same amount. As Eric Thomas, one of the most powerful motivational speakers states, “...... the differences between Oprah and the person that is broke is how they use their 24 hours.”  Simply put, individuals are not successful because they have some magical gift; instead, they reach success because they understand the gift of time.

​The curse of the common thread is we cannot physically touch time. Time is elusive. Unlike money, you can see yourself giving the dollar away and seeing the immediate return on your purchase. Time is slightly different; you can spend one hour watching your favorite television show and you don’t physically see the time leaving your life-never to return again. It is so easy to waste time doing nothing. Before you know it, you have spent your day during meaningless activities and nothing to improve your life. America is one of the fattest nations in the world. The number one reason why people do not workout or have an active lifestyle is time. Most people use the same words to describe their reasoning for a non-active lifestyle, “I don’t have the time.”  Wait you don’t have the time? Most gyms open up no later than 5:30 a.m. and several facilities are open 24 hours. GET UP! You do not need 25 hours in a day, just use more of the 24 hours you already have.
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The common thread is the most important element to any living organism on the earth. It has been said that the average lifespan of Americans is mid 70s. In one year, you will have 8,760 hours to use for your life. Once you have reach the age of 70 years old, you will have used 613,200 hours in your lifetime. Anyone that reaches 70 years old will have the opportunity to use those same number of hours. How are you going to use your hours?



-Ron S. Lewis, Ph.D. Candidate
-Rodney S. Lewis, Ed.D.

Normal is NOT AMAZING!

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 “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

-Maya Angelou

What if I told you this is the best we can do? You would probably laugh and try to find your way to a new elementary school. No hope....what is the point?

We, as educators, are moving toward greatness! Yes, I said, “Greatness!” Why do I feel this way? Because the beginning of our success has nothing to do with the demographics, socio-economics, and/or test scores of our students.The power of change starts with us. 

We all play a major role on this team; therefore, the movement of change starts within. That means, after reading this post, you can start immediately. 

As you know, I have played basketball the majority of my life. The one theme I can take-a-way from that experience is the successful teams I played on carried a culture of winning. We believed if you were having a bad game, it was our job to pick you up. If you had the game of your life, we celebrated your achievement. I remember the 10th, 11th, and 12th man working as hard as our leading scorer.

Ultimately, you determine how you respond to adversity, the content of your parking lot conversations, how you react to challenging students, how you treat one another, the value you place on your practice, your approach with combative parents, your role in our school, and your thoughts-which are the first steps before action. 

When we determine we want to be truly GREAT-and I mean truly great-every minute of everyday, our culture will change forever! As long as we remember and recognize our students are #1 priority-we have started moving in the right direction. 

Now, let’s build on what we have started....

-Rodney S. Lewis, Ed.D.

From Valley to Victory

"One sees great things from the valley: only small things from the peak."

 G. K. Chesterton

Take a moment to visualize a valley in the landscape. You will see a hill that reaches a peak then slopes downward into a ditch. But if there’s another hill, then the land comes back up to a peak, which may be higher than the last, only to go back down again. 

Similarly, think about a roller coaster; it creeps up to its highest point and then all of a sudden, it speeds downward, making you scream in fear before it returns to another high point, only to go back down to the low point again. You can feel the drop in your stomach, as you reach the bottom of the hill. I hate that feeling and at times life can be frightening like that, too.

The way you choose to respond when you are in a valley will shape your character.  Everyone will have to go through difficult times that test your values and force you to use your voice. It is often said that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it. The response matters and you ALWAYS have a choice regarding how you will respond to any situation. You decide what you will say and what you will do. 

The valley is not the end of your story, simply one piece of it that helps shape who you are. Your approach and response to the valleys ultimately determine your success. Either you move forward through the struggle or dig deeper into the ditch. Those dark valleys will teach you some valuable lessons that you will have the rest of your life.

How do we teach our students to come out of their valleys and deal with their valleys? Too often the only response to the valley our students conceive end up taking them deeper. They may not have been taught that they have the power to take actions that can create different results in their lives. Through brokeness and lack of compassion our students end up perpetuating the hurt in their lives by imposing it on others. 

This cycle then falsely becomes the norm and ironically peace of spirit becomes an anomaly.  Let’s strive to provide our students with opportunities to learn the necessary life skills to deal with conflicts, disappointments, and difficult situations. Considering a new value system, having supportive voices and creating a vision for students to focus on offers varying perspectives that potentially have the power to alter the course of their lives.

KEEP GIVING,
Angela R. Lewis

Find A Voice

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"Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning."
-Maya Angelou

Everyone needs that person in his or her life who nurtures their hopes and dreams. One student I spoke to recently told me that her mother is extremely negative and always telling her she isn’t good enough. In addition, her mother constantly compares her to her older sister whom her mother considered a failure. This young woman went on to explain that she doesn’t want to be like her mother, bringing everyone down and hurting people. As a result she chooses to be different in spite of the negativity she hears daily. Since her mother is not a positive sustaining voice, she strengthens herself by using her voice to find other voices. The worst thing you could do in a situation like this is to not tell anyone. Consequently, you end up crippling your voice. Do not give other people the power to silence you!

If you do not have one of those positive individuals speaking loudly enough actively seek other outlets. That voice can come in the form of authors, songwriters, coaches, or musicians, etc. You may be in a situation where you feel as if no one in your life understands.  If this is your situation, find an encouraging song that you love. I rely on the voice of a vocalist India Arie, whose song, “Strength, Courage and Wisdom,” is the theme to my life. When I hear those words from her voice, I know that I am able to move forward in pursuit of my dreams without fear.  While listening to the voices of positive people, your voice also gains strength as you internalize their messages.

Keep Giving,

Angela R. Lewis