New beginnings are always full of unknowns. Will it be scary? Exciting? Fun? This is no different for the start of school each year. As students gear up for the first day of school with questions abound they might be interested to know that we too get excited and anticipate the doors opening to their bright and eager faces.
The 2010-11 school year is off to a great start in Casady’s Upper Division! We have welcomed four new members of our faculty including Mark Delgrosso most recently from Los Angeles teaching biology, Dianne Dawkins from OKC teaching math, Megan Pargeter from OKC teaching visual arts and Jen Warden with ties to OKC in the role of Dean of Student Life. We have also ushered in some exciting enhancements to our daily program and everyone is back in the swing of things very quickly.
While we all may have some questions about what the year holds I am confident that with a supportive and caring faculty and wonderful group of students we are going to have a great year! Every day is a new learning opportunity so I encourage us all to live with each other and learn from each other in a way that makes a difference each and every day. If you have thoughts or comments that can help us become a better school tomorrow than we are today I would love to hear from you. Go Cyclones!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
“Thank you”…..not often heard at the airport!
I recently travelled to the Washington, DC area for a leadership conference and while I do not fear flying, or crashing, I can’t say I enjoy airline travel much. Being 6’5” and sporting a lower back condition that causes a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone, I typically fold myself into a plane seat and brace myself for the duration. On my recent journey to the Nation’s capital I encountered an act of impressive customer service by an employee at Continental Airlines that made my day – and made the act of travelling that much less arduous and dare I say it….enjoyable?
The first act of kindness came from the gate agent in Houston as I literally ran to the gate from my OKC connection with 3 minutes to spare before the doors to my flight to Baltimore, MD closed. I breathlessly asked the agent if, against all odds, there were any exit row seats remaining – knowing that airlines are now charging a pretty penny for such coveted seats. He checked his computer and informed me that there was one exit row seat remaining but that the cost would be $69.00 plus tax. It took me approx. 1.4 seconds to decide that the cost was worth it so that I could actually move my legs, avoid having a 340lb man lean his seat back and literally sit in my lap and maybe even put my tray table down to get some work done with my laptop (guess where I wrote this entry?). I informed the agent that I was willing to pay the price for the seat and before I could get my wallet out of my pocket he asked for my boarding pass and said, “Don’t worry about it….I’ll take care of it for you. You have a nice flight.” He proceeded to give me seat 21C on the Boeing 737-800 and it didn’t cost me a cent. Perhaps it was the pained look on my face after sprinting from Gate B14 to E12 in about 6 minutes. Perhaps it was the fact that I am 6’5” and a little imposing standing over the agent who likely peaked at 5’1” or 5’2” about 20 years earlier. Perhaps it was just a nice man making a nice gesture. Either way, I felt good…..I felt valued and cared for in some strange way. I was reminded of the agent’s kindness for the next 3 hours as I rode in relative comfort.
We should all strive for good customer service. Before we walk into the classroom we can ask ourselves “What can I do to improve these students’ lives and their learning today?” The same can be said for school administrators, those taking our order at Subway (I plan to shamelessly use my blog to get some endorsements from the companies that absorb so much of my monthly paycheck….) or even the way we treat each other in our personal lives. If we all tried to improve the lives of those around us the world would be a pretty groovy place. Thanks for doing your part employee #2148 at Continental Airlines in Houston, TX!
The first act of kindness came from the gate agent in Houston as I literally ran to the gate from my OKC connection with 3 minutes to spare before the doors to my flight to Baltimore, MD closed. I breathlessly asked the agent if, against all odds, there were any exit row seats remaining – knowing that airlines are now charging a pretty penny for such coveted seats. He checked his computer and informed me that there was one exit row seat remaining but that the cost would be $69.00 plus tax. It took me approx. 1.4 seconds to decide that the cost was worth it so that I could actually move my legs, avoid having a 340lb man lean his seat back and literally sit in my lap and maybe even put my tray table down to get some work done with my laptop (guess where I wrote this entry?). I informed the agent that I was willing to pay the price for the seat and before I could get my wallet out of my pocket he asked for my boarding pass and said, “Don’t worry about it….I’ll take care of it for you. You have a nice flight.” He proceeded to give me seat 21C on the Boeing 737-800 and it didn’t cost me a cent. Perhaps it was the pained look on my face after sprinting from Gate B14 to E12 in about 6 minutes. Perhaps it was the fact that I am 6’5” and a little imposing standing over the agent who likely peaked at 5’1” or 5’2” about 20 years earlier. Perhaps it was just a nice man making a nice gesture. Either way, I felt good…..I felt valued and cared for in some strange way. I was reminded of the agent’s kindness for the next 3 hours as I rode in relative comfort.
We should all strive for good customer service. Before we walk into the classroom we can ask ourselves “What can I do to improve these students’ lives and their learning today?” The same can be said for school administrators, those taking our order at Subway (I plan to shamelessly use my blog to get some endorsements from the companies that absorb so much of my monthly paycheck….) or even the way we treat each other in our personal lives. If we all tried to improve the lives of those around us the world would be a pretty groovy place. Thanks for doing your part employee #2148 at Continental Airlines in Houston, TX!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)