Last week Team Selma held our Leadership Institute.  Our theme for the year is One Team, One Voice: Committed to Excellence.  Last year, we began our journey towards excellence and we are excited about continuing this pursuit.

Often, organizations talk about gaining buy-in from their team members and stakeholders.  This is fine as a first step.  However, Team Selma is ready to move from buy-in to commitment.  If our members can buy-in then they can also be bought out!  Therefore, we are striving for a commitment to excellence.  What does that look like?

With commitment, our members will know, understand and embody our core values in their daily work.  Students first, teamwork, excellence, joy, integrity and equity all work together to ensure we are focused on improving outcomes for all of our scholars and the Selma community.

Keeping students first is a must. Being committed to excellence means that we regularly question how our decisions will impact our babies.

As we work together with school partners, we know that this valued teamwork increases our capacity.  This is good for everyone as we recognize that we are stronger together. 

Joy, integrity and equity round our efforts.  We are committed to recognizing and celebrating our team members, with joy.  Similarly, integrity pushes us to focus on doing what’s right and maintaining ethical practices.  Our newest value is equity.  Removing barriers to ensure that all scholars have opportunities to excel is key.

Committed team members are dedicated to learning and growing. Instead of stating, “Tell me what you want me to do” they think creatively and ask, “How can we make this better?”. 

We invite the community to join us on our journey to excellence.  Help us prepare and get excited about the first day of school by participating in our Back-to-School Bash this Saturday.  Our Aim for Excellence 5K and 1-mile Fun Run is at 7:30 and will be followed by fun and games all at Bloch Park.

Team Selma is ready to enjoy an excellent school year.  Register for the race and check out our website and social media outlets for much more information. 

See you Saturday.

For more information, email me at avis.williams@selmacityschools.org.