I am grateful to begin a new year as Morningside’s principal. This March I will complete my twenty-fifth year as an educator in Granite District. I began my journey teaching in the SHARK (School Helping At-Risk Kids) Program at Valley Junior High helping struggling eighth and ninth graders discover success in school and in life.
My journey as a junior high English teacher evolved from at-risk students to general education to gifted. I have taught over three thousand students as an English teacher. I’ve worked with six different schools as an administrator sharing the joys and heart breaks that come with this awesome responsibility. I have learned what skill and commitment great educators must have. I am honored to have associated with so many teachers and staff who remain dedicated to improving the lives of young people.
Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird said to his daughter, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” I feel a great responsibility to teach our children the knowledge and skills of the curriculum. If we don’t do that, we fail them academically. But if that’s all we do, if we don’t teach them the empathy and compassion Atticus taught his feisty daughter, then we’ve failed our children morally.
Happy New Year,
Tod Cracroft, Principal