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Post by Chris_Wendt on Sept 29, 2014 21:38:06 GMT -5
This outdated notice persists on the fancy outside digital message board right in front of the Mandalay School, a full five days AFTER the event, glaring into the night sky...  I mean, come on, how hard is this stuff? This kind of lackadaisical oversight detracts from our former glory, from our standing and standard of excellence past. Hundreds of visitors from Seaford and all over Wantagh saw this over the past weekend during Wantagh-Seaford PAL Soccer games. Just embarrassing. For comparison, the message boards at Wantagh El' and Forest Lake were both right up-to-date this evening. Let's get with the program, Mandalay! Chris Wendt |
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Post by kathyt on Oct 1, 2014 11:33:08 GMT -5
I don't think its hard by any stretch, but it has to be done by someone in the main office. When those signs went up, it became another job for someone in the building to do. I can assume it takes a back seat to "business as usual" given how busy September is!
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Oct 1, 2014 12:36:33 GMT -5
I have spent most of my working life in companies with multiple locations, and public-facing appearance standards are important to the "brand". Good location or facility managers maintain the appearance standards of the corporate brand, and any manager who fails at this would be considered lacking a critical skill, and in need of improvement. A glaring appearance defect persisting within 20 feet of the head person's office would not be healthy for that head person's longevity. When this was pointed out to me on Saturday by a Seaford parent, I gave it the benefit of the doubt, and let it slide until Monday evening, trusting that the Principal would take care of this on Monday morning. But Monday came and went, and nothing was done, so I escalated it. I was going to check into it again last night but decided it would most likely have been attended to by then, so why waste the gas. If it is still there for this weekend's soccer games, then I think two things are in order at Mandalay: - Remove the board altogether
- Initiate corrective action to improve personal performance
Perhaps we'll see. Wantagh's brand used to be Excellence in Education. That boast demands excellence across-the-board. There is no such thing a "almost excellent" or "somewhat excellent". Excellent is a superlative without gradation or shading. We, Wantagh, either are excellent, or, we are not. Chris Wendt |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2014 22:22:37 GMT -5
I have spent most of my working life in companies with multiple locations, and public-facing appearance standards are important to the "brand". Good location or facility managers maintain the appearance standards of the corporate brand, and any manager who fails at this would be considered lacking a critical skill, and in need of improvement. A glaring appearance defect persisting within 20 feet of the head person's office would not be healthy for that head person's longevity. When this was pointed out to me on Saturday by a Seaford parent, I gave it the benefit of the doubt, and let it slide until Monday evening, trusting that the Principal would take care of this on Monday morning. But Monday came and went, and nothing was done, so I escalated it. I was going to check into it again last night but decided it would most likely have been attended to by then, so why waste the gas. If it is still there for this weekend's soccer games, then I think two things are in order at Mandalay: - Remove the board altogether
- Initiate corrective action to improve personal performance
Perhaps we'll see. Wantagh's brand used to be Excellence in Education. That boast demands excellence across-the-board. There is no such thing a "almost excellent" or "somewhat excellent". Excellent is a superlative without gradation or shading. We, Wantagh, either are excellent, or, we are not. Chris Wendt Just wondering how managers at a company with multiple locations would fair in the eyes of the higher-ups when and if they, those pesky higher-ups, did a bit of research and found that their managers were spending their time postiing on the internet during business hours. I'm thinking that might be pretty embarrassing, as well as pretty darn unhealthy for that person's longevity. But that may just be the case where I work. I'm just wondering. But seriously, is this really the criteria by which we should measure the efficacy of leadership in one of our elementary schools? If you think so, then all hope is lost. Let's move on; there's nothing to see here, really, not today, not tomorrow, not 7 days from now, and certainly not during Johnny and Mary's soccer games. |
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Oct 3, 2014 6:20:31 GMT -5
As is the case with many things in life, there is more to the story, and certainly there is the other side. I would like to set the record straight at this time. First, the Mandalay sign is fixed, and the messages are up-to-date. The sign had not been operating properly, and in fairness to the staff involved, including the Mandalay Principal and the the IT people, they had been aware of the problem and were trying to get it corrected for days, and finally succeeded with the assistance of the sign manufacturer's tech support. This is a new sign from a new vendor, with both the sign and the company not previously known to the District, so there is ample room for understanding a delay in correcting the problem that prevented the removal of the outdated message.
I apologize to the Mandalay Principal for my having been less than understanding of the situation and the efforts made to deal with this problem prior to my reporting it. Thanks to Jim Brown who provided me with the additional facts.
An additional thought about "Excellence". Excellence does not just happen, it does not fall out of the sky and cover a school or imbue a school district with fineness. We first have to strive for excellence, to understand what excellence looks like and feels like; then we have to work long and hard to achieve excellence, which is a superlative, a status without degree or gradation. In New York, the state motto is "Excelsior!" meaning excellence, attained. Sort of big wish for this state. In Hawaiian, it is more fititngly "Imua!" meaning onward-and-upward, a more realistic appreciation of the fact that we are more likely always to be moving toward excellence than having ever attained it. In Wantagh we had a moment, several moments, where we tasted excellence. But excellence is not a permanent state of being, it is not a cup or a trophy or a sign, or even five or six signs or bronze plaques that you get to keep and hold onto. Yes, signs fade and crumble, and excellence itself eludes captivity for more than a short while.
"Imua!"
Chris Wendt
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