Perrins
Dear Community of Chewelah,
Forgive me for stating the obvious but it's 2022. Another year has passed, and we are now well into a new year. There is always talk of new year resolutions this time each year. On occasion, I hear people comment that they don't necessarily wait and use the new year (January) as the moment in time to make improvements to their lives. They reason that when they realize something isn't going well, that is the moment they set the goal and get to work. I believe we are all like this to some extent. We don't always wait for the new year to make change when change is needed. Regardless of when we take the time to improve, the most important ingredient in us is that "we" are thoughtful enough and reflective enough to know a change is needed. Taking that first step can sometimes be the hardest. Concerning change, consider this statement: "Things that don't change, remain the same." If you are wise enough to see that improvements are needed, then you are the right person for the job; you are the only person for the job.
I invite you to accept the challenge. You won't regret it.
The Chewelah School District (CSD) is no exception and desires to improve. We accept the challenge. Be alert, however, the road to improvement requires many sacrifices and difficulties such as hard work, discipline, and failure. Abraham Lincoln and others like Winston Churchill have stated that "success, isn't the absence of failure, but going from failure to failure, without any loss of enthusiasm." Just like with any new year's resolution, success in the Chewelah School District will rely on discipline and hard work that is applied consistently and patiently towards our purpose, which is student academic performance.
It's not hard to find excuses and reasons to not improve. We can all list them. No one likes to fail either. In fact, it seems we all work hard not to fail as we concentrate our efforts on succeeding. Interestingly, we can become so focused on succeeding at times that we often get discouraged when we fail along the way. During this process, we lose sight of the fact that failure is the best teacher helping us make our goal permanent. The road to success to permanent change is when we see failure as our teacher.
This doesn't mean we work to fail, give it a hug, become apathetic towards it or not strive to avoid it. Such an approach would be selfdefeating. If we see our failures as teachers, however, then we should respect them and listen to them and continue applying discipline and hard work afterwards. Furthermore, the best students are always the ones who want to learn. They listen, are teachable, and are enthusiastic. The CSD wishes to be the best student and role model for others.
2022 is a good year for a good year. What new beginnings will there be this year in the CSD? We hope to accomplish many. We don't necessarily have new goals. For the most part, our purpose doesn't necessarily change since we are an educational institution. Our purpose is to educate students. Our new year's resolution is to do it better. We devote and direct our time, attention, and resources towards student skill development, so they are well equipped and prepared for whatever aspirations they wish to pursue later in life as adults. To name a few, we teach students how to read well, write with purpose, become mathematically and scientifically minded, think critically and speak intelligently, develop job skills and begin talent development. This is a lot and expectations are high.
How do we know what to focus on? We ask ourselves this question constantly. What will a Chewelah graduate know and be able to do when they walk across the stage and receive their diploma? This reflective question constantly reminds us of our purpose and mission as we travel the road to success with each Chewelah student.
May we all learn and grow this year with growing pains that will create lifelong and lifetime improvements.
Jason Perrins, Superintendent
Superintendent Welcome Letter