What happens when you invest in culture for 10 years?
Last week, we had one of those moments that reminded us exactly why we do this work. And this one was 10 years in the making.
You may have seen our recent post about presenting at the Missouri Association of
Secondary School Principals conference alongside two dynamic student leaders.
One of those students was Kinley.
Kinley is a high school student today, taking on important leadership roles, navigating more challenging academics, and preparing for everything that comes next. But ten years ago??? Kinley was a second grader and an I AM Noticed Peer Model at Voy Spears Jr. Elementary.
We didn't put those pieces together right away. You see, Kinley was asked to speak at the conference because she is currently the president of the I AM Noticed Club at her high school.
We were an hour or so into planning for our conference presentation before we all realized that she has been practicing I AM Noticed since 2nd grade. She told a story about seeing a picture of herself with a group of I AM Noticed Peer Models in a newspaper and we just had to find that picture!!
Voy Spears Jr. Elementary Student Leaders leading an all school assembly in 2016.
It is the sweetest picture and right there in the front row, holding a NOTICED sign is second-grade Kinley. Talk about a full-circle moment.
What makes this story especially meaningful isn't simply that Kinley remembers I AM Noticed. It's what she told us about how she still uses it. She shared that I AM Noticed has been part of her life since she was little and that she finds herself using the skills she learned every day, especially now as she steps into bigger leadership roles and more strenuous studies.
Think about that for a moment. Something intentionally taught and practiced in elementary school is still showing up in the way a student navigates high school, leadership, relationships, challenges, and life. And it will continue to be leveraged as she goes beyond high school into the real world.
That's what we mean when we talk about durable human skills.
Connection. Kindness. Confidence. Self-awareness. Communication. Gratitude. Empathy. Resilience. Leadership. These aren't simply lessons for a particular grade level or strategies for creating a positive moment at school. They're skills students can carry with them. And that brings us to another part of this story that deserves to be celebrated.
Ten years matters.
Last week, Jaime and I had the opportunity to return to Voy Spears for their annual family tailgate as they celebrated their 10th anniversary partnering with I AM Noticed.
As we celebrate this milestone, we are incredibly grateful for Voy Spears and the commitment Blue Springs School District has made to this work.
Sustainable positive culture isn't created in a day. It isn't created through one assembly, one professional development session, or one enthusiastic launch. It's created when a school community decides that certain skills, practices, and ways of treating ourselves and one another are important enough to keep reinforcing.
Year after year. Student after student. Leader after leader.
That's when something moves beyond being a program. It becomes part of the culture, and sometimes, if you're lucky, you get to see the evidence standing right in front of you ten years later.
So this week, we're celebrating Kinley.
We're celebrating Voy Spears.
We're celebrating Blue Springs School District.
And we're celebrating what can happen when a school community commits to developing people and positive culture for the long haul. There is so much goodness to Notice here!!!
