Celebrating our Staff: What it Means to be Amazing

Dr. Kristi Cole
May 5
2 min read

Updated: May 7

Amazing. A simple word that describes something decidedly not simple; something startlingly impressive. It is the word I most often use in describing the staff at The Lincoln Academy, and it is 100% the right word. This week is Staff Appreciation Week at TLA, our annual celebration of our staff as a school community and the opportunity to shine the spotlight on our team!

Amazing. A simple word that attempts to capture the impressive nature of what it means to be a TLA staff member and live our TLA values:

Children First - Every decision we make is in the best interest of the scholars we serve. We are completely focused on their education and their well-being and we always act accordingly.
Trusting Community - We model and expect transparency, honesty, open communication and respect to collaborate with one another and push each other to always be our best.
Get it Done - – We are fiercely determined to do whatever it takes to ensure scholars reach their goals. Innovation and productivity will drive our quest.
Find the Joy - The work is challenging. And in the face of those challenges, we choose joy. We choose positivity. We choose to find the wins. We choose to lift each other up.
Community Focus - We work alongside our families and community partners to build alliances that afford our scholars unique learning opportunities. Shared voices will be honored and help us grow.

Not only does every TLA staff member possess these qualities and live these values, but they bring them to our school community every day in a volume that is incredibly hard to quantify. The best representation I can think of to quantify this is to point to our 95%+ attendance rate. Our families and scholars know their presence matters, and that is because of our entire staff’s consistent and intentional focus on relationships, respect, and joy driven by our values and our three pillars.

Amazing. A simple yet meaningful word meant to capture what it means to have a staff that has helped us to grow TLA into a school nearly double in size in just four years! Not an easy task by any stretch, but one that was made easier by a staff with strong commitment and a growth mindset, welcoming the changes each year as a new opportunity for learning and pushing themselves to support our scholars.

Amazing. A simple word that describes our startlingly impressive staff. You do hard, hard work in an environment where we repeatedly ask ourselves what more we can do in service toward helping scholars achieve a choice-filled life. THANK YOU, for being your AMAZING individual selves, for your passion, commitment, drive, and leadership, for your unwavering focus on supporting scholars in learning and growing as individuals, and for the JOY you bring every day to your work with families, scholars, and partners. You are all leaders in your profession, and I truly have the utmost respect for you. THANK YOU for being our most valuable resource and the magical connection that makes the TLA community so special.