Education and hard work create a success story

This is a very exciting time of the year. Teachers have been busy setting up their classrooms, planning, reviewing assessments from last year to improve learning, and participating in training with new programs. Then, of course, there is a new set of students in their classrooms to teach with high expectations. There will be teachers returning, with a year or two, to 20 years, or even more than 30 years of experience. All of those teachers, no matter the number of years of experience, look forward to gaining more experience and knowledge of curricula. They are always open to learning more skills to enhance their teaching repertoire. They will continue to hone in and sharpen their skills to maximize learning and achievement in the classroom. I want to wish all teachers, at whatever stage they find themselves, in their professional vocation, the best of luck with all their new challenges,

Teachers make the difference due to their dedication and commitment to each and every student that walks into our schools. The research continually points to highly qualified teachers in the classroom as the No. 1 component to learning and achievement. The second component of learning and achievement is parent involvement. I, personally, believe when those two stand side-by-side, teachers and parents; learning is enhanced exponentially. Some of our students may need extra interventions and instruction, due to liabilities, and if there is a collaborative spirit amongst all, those students will meet with success.

But what makes the real difference in achieving success? That success being defined, possibly, as an owner of a small business, supervising a labor force, acceptance at an elite college, a prestigious award, creating and designing, or now a days, just being able to put food on the table during this hard economic down turn. My father was successful. And his walk matched his talk. He said success is achieved by just plain and simple, “hard work.” He never had the chance to attend college, or even a trade school, because he had to work to support our family, and put food on the table. And work he did, with many hours of over time. He knew how valuable hard work was to continue moving up the ladder to foreman, or superintendent on a job. He knew from experience how he controlled his own promotions on the job. He knew if he showed his supervisors “the money’” or where the “rubber hits the road,” he would be recognized and rewarded for his horsepower, sure-fire spark plug attitude or just shear personal drive.

According to research, the following three different ethnicities, Asian-Americans, Jews and West Indian blacks, may very well demystify the idea that intellectual endowment guarantees success. These groups have placed an importance on family nurturing, a concentrated focus on education and have succeeded, because of their efforts. They have the commitment that education is getting every last drop out of learning and achievement. In short, there is a reverence for education, and hard work. From this research, we have an important lesson that social success is very much under one’s control.

This promised focus of education and getting the most out of that education is the best tool for success. In other words, they knew burning the midnight oil was the answer. In fact, they realized they would have to work even harder than others to achieve the highest level of expectations of their families. This reverence for education, and running the ink well dry, proved over and over, education was their ticket to success. This idea of being top in your class with hard work is reinforced in the book, “Outliers,” by Malcolm Gladwell. He follows families in the garment and grocer trades in early America, and shows how by the third generations, they became doctors and lawyers. The fore parents worked, and worked hard. The second-generation offspring continued that mentality, and were operating even larger retail operations. Then the third generations were able to turn that work ethic, along with other conditions of time and place, into postgraduate education and degrees. Families wanted more for each generation, and those individuals did what it took to climb the social ladder. They placed education and hard work as their highest priorities in their families.

Our students need to embrace this same attitude to seek out the opportunities of their education, and do the work that stands before them. They are the last stakeholders in the equation for school success, along with their teachers and parents. They must want to draw off everything they can from their teachers, use the benefits and support from their families, and put forth rigorous effort to achieve educational success. They can create their own success story by writing their own script with dedication to their education, and again, by plain and simple, hard work. In this way, they take control of their own successful future. We, as teachers, at all levels, are ready and will dedicate our time and expertise to make the efforts needed for students who want to achieve success.

Now, is the time for all our students to step up and make the real difference.

Michael P. Carson is a teacher at Pioneer Peak Elementary School.