By Uyi E. Osunde, Ed.D.
Stratford Publish Schools Superintendent
- What is your #1 advice to students returning to school this year?
School is an excellent opportunity to shape your future. My number one advice to all students is to make a commitment to yourself. A commitment to be dynamic in the classroom and learn all you can about each subject; a commitment to be the best friend or acquaintance to others; and a commitment to be involved in all the opportunities your school has to offer. And show appreciation to your teachers every day 🙂
- What one thing do you see that has been implemented for this year that is going to improve our student’s school experience?
There is a wide range of projects that were designed for implementation to start the school year. Ranging from Tech, to academic improvements, clear expectations for our students to perform in the classroom and most important, the (Student Code of Conduct). We feel really good about the Student Code of Conduct because students, staff, parents, administrators all had a voice in its development. We know our children are capable of making great decisions consistently and we feel that with clarity associated with the Student Code of Conduct, positive behavior will spread across our schools.
- How did your parents prepare you for going to school?
This question takes it way back. My parents prepared my siblings and myself through the traditional opportunities with summer camps and making sure we did some academic work over the summer. This allowed us not to fall into what many teachers and educators refer to as ‘Summer Slide’, where students forget much of what they learned the previous year. And then of course, there was excitement about some back-to-school shopping and preparing our outfits the night before for the first day of school. I won’t mention Trapper-Keepers here :-).
- Did they have any “sage “advice for you that has remained with you through college and beyond?
My parents were outstanding at providing my siblings and I with instrumental words of wisdom. However, words that I traveled through my schooling with were provided by a coach. It was, “failure to prepare, is preparing to fail.” Today, I apply those words to my work, projects, etc., and in my personal life.
- I assume that you participated in sports throughout your school career. How did you find the right balance between study and playing sports?
Sports were a big part of my life as an adolescent, and a young adult. This is a very important question; and many teenagers, if they learn early to find the right balance, often find success. The key is learning how to manage your time, and being as organized as possible with your priorities for each day, each week, each quarter, and each semester.
I appreciate the time our Superintendent took to respond to the questions. I especially liked his sentence ” failure to prepare is preparing to fail”. It’s a good reminder that the instant gratification we can get by using the internet to order food, clothng, home goods, etc., we have to often spend a great deal of time in life to realize our goals.. Not too many goals are achieved easily.