"What is your favorite aspect of the school?"

During a recent phone interview, I was asked the following question:

"What is your favorite aspect of the school?"

I thought this was a fantastic question and provoked some immediate "on your feet" reflection.  There is so much to be proud of at my high school, but I had to respond with the very first aspect that popped into my head. 

My favorite aspect of our school is the strong sense of community that is prominent throughout our staff and students.  Many of our staff members have strong ties to Ashbrook High School, ranging from their own children  attending the school and even attending Ashbrook themselves.  We even have a few parent-sibling pairings of teachers on staff!


There exists a shared ownership of "our school" throughout Ashbrook, which is shared by students, parents, and people in the community.  This is carried forth by our teachers and the pride they take in our school.  Whether it's the Ashbrook Relay for Life campaign, our fantastic Air Force JROTC program, the Invisible Children's Club, the "Zoo Crew" student section, or the enthusiasm shown by our staff and students at last Thursday's Freshman Orientation and Curriculum Night (just to name a few), our students and staff demonstrate their pride in our school whenever possible.


Some of our staff may not believe it, but this sense of community and pride does not occur at every school, especially large high schools (we have a student enrollment of a little over 1300).  Therefore, our sense of community and the pride our staff has in Ashbrook High School is my "favorite aspect of the school."   


Since this is National Teacher Appreciation Week, I wanted to take the opportunity to extend my appreciation to all of our teachers for their sense of community and school pride our staff demonstrates on a daily basis.  Thank you for making Ashbrook High School a fantastic community to be a part of.


Thanks for reading and follow me via Twitter @CSmithGoBlue

CS

The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.