001[music] I always think back to what brought us here and what was my [music] why and that kind of drives my overall purpose. It's kind of what drives you in the morning, gets you up and gets you started [music] each day and then maybe sometimes even keeps you up at night. If I'm not doing something for a purpose, it's hard to focus in on what needs to be done. And so it's a matter of um really being grounded in what that purpose is to be able to make the right decisions. >> Purpose keeps the work [music] from becoming just procedural. It keeps it personal, urgent, and focused on equity and student [music] success. >> Purpose guides our work by uh ma focusing what we think about when we hear a report or when we uh
002learn something about uh how the schools are doing. The question is always what's the benefit for students? >> Using that purpose keeps me focused on outcomes. [music] That's what I want to see. That's what I want to measure. That's what I think our efforts uh as schoolboard directors should be all about. >> If you're not focused on [music] an outcome, um it it's really hard to move in a direction and you just kind of [music] stand still or feel like you're treading water. I get purpose from seeing how our work affects the students [music] in our district and that really is the the piece that makes it all worth it for me. >> The belief that education changes lives [music] gives me purpose along with students, you know, making sure students can [music] reach their
003dreams gives me purpose. >> Poor and rich alike have a a chance to get a free public education and make the best of themselves [music] they can. So, I want to help foster that in my community. >> There are so many different opinions and priorities and points of view, different ways to do things. And [music] at the center of it all, we have to keep our students. The purpose [music] of my work as a local schoolboard member is to understand what the community needs and wants [music] within the confines of the rules that we have created in Washington state for education. My [music] purpose as a wasa board member is to help the organization help board members do that [music] work. >> What the needs of the students are is what guides what I do,
004what guides my school board and what guides me uh working with [music] the WASDA boards. Their needs are paramount and we need to do our best to make sure they have a great education. But that also includes [music] uh parents, guardians, community as well as the teachers and district and office staff. What brings me purpose [music] is the idea that every family and every student deserve to feel a sense of belonging in our [music] public schools. Um that belonging includes feeling a sense of connection, a sense of safety, and a sense [music] of trust. And that's something that we have to build. >> We need to hear their voice. We need to make sure that we're providing them with opportunities [music] that help them succeed in an everchanging world. And I think that as a
005school board member, that gives me the [music] opportunity to instill those within the organization to help um project the outcome of the students in a positive way. >> We are not going to get past [music] the current political cycle we're in without a radical deepening of our willingness to see the world through the eyes of other people. And so as you leave leave the conference this year, I hope you do so with a renewed sense of your own purpose, but also a renewed commitment to seeing the purpose in others.