As a Team, We Unite!

First, I want to thank our student body for our respectful behavior while Mr. Samuel Marder was speaking yesterday. I gave you one job and that was to listen with all of your attention on the speaker. Most of you received an A+ - - - Thank you for being engaged, asking questions, and also for starting the standing ovation! Thank you for making everyone proud. You represented us well.

As a team, we unite.

What does your team stand for? 

Image Credit: http://graphicsheat.com/

When I speak of team, I include all of you - from the 8th grade team, the band, the FFA, the Student Council, the staff team to our athletic teams, etc. 

What does your team stand for?

What behaviors and actions can you guarantee within your team?Are they the right ones? Are they ones that will lead your group to success? Are those behaviors and actions ones that build PRIDE, TRADITION, and a POSITIVE REPUTATION for your team? What behaviors and actions can you guarantee within your team? 

Are you committed to your team?
Do you commit yourself in word and in action to the principles and values at the core of your team? Are you committed to your team?

Regardless of whether or not you understand the core values of the many teams you are a part of, you are all a part of one large team, the G-T/R-A TITAN TEAM. And this team has a few key core values.

As Titans this year, we have been asked to focus ourselves on being positive by being solution-oriented problem-solvers and efficient communicators - Each of us was challenged by Will Bowen, founder of "A Complaint Free World" and International Bestselling Author, to be #complaintfree for 21 days (for starters). The G-T/R-A staff are all taking strides to be complaint-free. We have yet to see a large number of students take on the challenge, but I'm very happy to know that a small number of you have accepted the challenge. Imagine the success that will follow from a positive outlook and a constructive way to deal with negativity and problems!

In addition to our complaint-free challenge, we received an additional challenge from Mr. Samuel Marder, Holocaust survivor, and that includes the following:

• Don’t judge others on what they look like, where they come from, who they are, etc …
• Get to a state of mind to where you treat others with kindness and as your own brothers & sisters. 
• Live a life of kindness. 
• Use your power to make the world around you better.

Please remember what Mr. Marder said:

“We are all responsible for each other.
Prejudice is much more dangerous today than it was then.
Kindness will set you free.
THE ONLY SOLUTION IS KINDNESS.”

As a team, we have a responsibility to one another, regardless of the type of team - 

• to take our grumblings to the source, instead of spewing negativity all around you.
• when you have a complaint, bring with it a solution.
• when you communicate, do so respectfully and in kindness.
• be less judgemental and more accepting, after all, not one of us in this room is perfect.
• as Mr. Marder said, don’t judge others at all.
• take pride in yourself and in others, and make your team, your school, and the world a better place.

Sometimes it doesn’t feel like we have much in common with others, other students, other teams or organizations, etc.,
         ....but indeed we do.
   We are one team.

As a team - G-T/R-A Titans - We unite!

                 And when we UNITE, we WIN!

Go TITANS!