My Father the Craftsman

Editor’s Note: Tracy wrote this essay back in spring 2014. We sought an opportune time to share it with pelinks4u readers. As we start out 2015 and soon many of us will come together at the national SHAPE America convention in Seattle, Tracy’s message is an inspirational reminder of a way all of us can help to move the profession forward.

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I make a conscious effort to stay positive. This attitude, I believe, gives me the power to overcome the obstacles I face and leads to success. However, I have to admit, the last couple of months of school were more demanding this year than I can remember. The kids were a little tougher. The adults were a little grumpier. For the first time I was looking forward to summer a little more than I feel I should. I even thought about going into administration. How dreadful. What’s worse is that I can’t point to one specific cause. When I reflect on these last two months my mind moves quickly between HSPE testing, AP testing, EOC testing, finals testing, school culture, staff culture, department culture, course proposals, course offerings, scheduling, staffing, meetings, influence, lack of influence, administrative decisions, (some good, some not as good), TPEP, CCSS, NGSS and a long list of other mind numbing acronyms. It goes on and on. It has been a draining end of the year. Am I ever thankful for the summer and a chance to energize myself as an educator!

These challenges continued to dominate my thoughts as I boarded my flight to St. Louis yesterday where I have the opportunity to meet with leaders in our field over the next few days and listen in as they discuss the future of physical education. I brought with me for the flight a book by Jon Gordon called The Carpenter. The publisher bills the book as “A story about the greatest success strategies of all.” I was drawn to Gordon’s writing because the strategies I have been using over the past twenty plus years to further our field are producing diminishing returns. It’s time to progress. Time to challenge myself. This book seemed like a good starting point.

Settling into my less than spacious accommodations on flight 748 from Seattle I plugged my headphones in, secured my water bottle in the seatback pocket, and prepared some sticky notes for the nuggets of wisdom I was about to encounter. As I began to dive into, The Carpenter I immediately transported myself back to the late 1970s and helping my dad make new cabinets for our kitchen. You see, my dad is a builder. He can turn any medium into a work of art. He doesn’t just work with wood, steel, glass, paper, clay and any other material you can think of, he is skilled in creating with any material. As with the carpenter in Gordon’s book, my father used only the finest wood. I remember asking my dad about this because I didn’t understand why we were using the expensive stuff on the parts of the cabinet nobody would ever see. Again, as with the carpenter in the book, my dad replied, “Because we will know it is there.” What did he mean?

Now, thirty-two years later (apparently I’m a slow learner), I realize why my father is the best at whatever he does. He is not a builder at all. He is not a carpenter. He is not a welder. He is a craftsman. Jon Gordon ultimately identifies the three greatest success strategies as love, serve, and care. I guess I always knew that my dad had learned these three strategies early on and put them into practice. You see he had many jobs as my brothers and I were growing up. He was welder and later a superintendent at a local ship yard. He was small business owner. He sold his business and became a substitute school custodian, a head custodian, and a custodian of the year three years in a row at a large Seattle area school district. Before he retired, he even delivered the intra-district mail greeting every customer with a smile.

My dad is a craftsman because he put his love into his work. He taught my brothers and I to build a masterpiece in whatever we choose to do, whether a teacher or a heavy equipment operator, a friend, a husband, or a father. Gordon writes, “If you’re not building it with love you aren’t building a masterpiece.” I know my father would agree. As I reflect on how this relates to my profession I’m reminded about what made me want to be a teacher in the first place. I want to influence young people to become the best they can be and of late I’ve been afraid that the structures in place at our school and the mental models of the decision makers in our district are roadblocks to this end. I realize now that the purpose is greater than the challenges I face. If I focus on putting the love into my work it will shine through in the relationships I have with my students, staff, and community.

My dad is a craftsman because he serves those around him. I remember very clearly the frightened look on my mom’s face one evening when I was in junior high. My dad walked up the driveway after work with his microwave under his arm. He had been asked to do something at work that he wouldn’t do and walked away after twenty years of service out of principle. I remember being scared initially but reassured at the same time because the look on my dad’s face was different than that of my mom. He looked confident and happy. He started his own business out of our home and soon developed a respectable list of clients. He was successful because he served the individual needs of each client. He didn’t approach each situation the same. He researched the companies he did work for and anticipated what his clients needed, providing them with the type of customer service that is rare these days. His approach separated him from his competition. It is not much different when I think about my own teaching. I need to truly know my students and anticipate their needs in order to serve them as an educator. Gordon says that, “When you start serving the few it leads to serving the many.” As I head back to school in August this thought will be something I must remind myself of because I am sometimes frustrated with what feels like a lack of progress. Ultimately, it starts with each individual student and, over time, builds into a greater opportunity to influence.

My dad is a craftsman because he cares about what he does. He taught us to be detail oriented. He modeled that for us in each of his jobs. When he was awarded his first custodian of the year I congratulated him. His response caught me off guard. He said it was not because he was better than the others but that he happily did the little things that others aren’t willing to do. Gordon says that, “When people know you care about them you stand out in a world where most don’t.” My dad’s response coupled with that statement challenges me as I move forward, to focus on the details in creating a masterpiece with my teaching every day. Now I know what my dad meant when he said we would know if we used the cheap stuff in the cabinet where people couldn’t see. It’s about the details. Sounds simple enough. Why is it so unique? Why do so few people go the extra mile? Why are so few people willing to do the small stuff? Simple is powerful but difficult.

Reading The Carpenter on the flight yesterday was a reminder of how fortunate I have been to have a father that understands the three greatest success strategies of all and has invested his time in sharing them with me. I am a better teacher, friend, husband, and father because of it. I know that success takes time and there will be many failures along the way. I know that imperfections are present in every piece of art that I create and I am okay with that now. I know that courage is the difference between dreaming and doing. I have the courage and faith to think big for my students and for our profession. I have the courage and the faith for putting words into action. I want to challenge all of us in physical education to love, serve, and care. I want us to be craftsmen and craftswomen in a world of builders and carpenters. Who knows, maybe someday we can become a fit, healthy society. Either way, if we work as craftsman our students will be better as a result.

The leaders and people I build up, the people I invest in, the relationships I develop, and the success strategies I share “that is what endures and ripples through eternity.” Jon Gordon from The Carpenter