The Ripple Effect of Teachers Last week was a big one to face the facts of my recent medical condition. For those who do not know, in mid-2022 I was diagnosed with seronegative autoimmune encephalitis. On Wednesday of last week, a pair of Launch Medical and Health Care Strand students presented a personal narrative about my experience. Their presentation was a personal narrative combining a personal interview and research on the disease. Although the slideshow doesn’t do their presentation justice, it will give you a general overview of the narrative. They covered many aspects of the condition from the factual to the personal narrative, and the lessons learned. They did a wonderful job of capturing a human story rather than listing a clinical definition. At the end of the week, Brookfield Central High School had our annual career day. I was lucky enough to have the ICU neurologist Dr. Gregory Rozanzky who handled my care while I was in the intensive care unit attend and present t
I have been reading Tamara Letter's new book A Passion for Kindness . Although I am not finished with it yet, it has created a lot of space for personal reflection and action. When I finish the book, I hope to speak more on the actions. But for now I'd like to use this space for a bit of reflection. When Tamara outlines creating a culture of kindness, she describes the process as CULTIVATE Kindness. It is not a simple creation, it is an intentional process that is multi-faceted. The word cultivate brings to mind a gardening metaphor. As an avid gardener, I understand the many variables that play into a successful harvest. Tamara outlines the variables that play into being able to cultivate kindness in her book. C–Compassion (desire to act to improve another's situation) U–Understand (understand rather than making assumptions) L–Listen (listen for meaning behind the words) T–Take Time (sacrifice your time for another's needs) I–Inspire (actions can lead