INSPIRE
My official title: Melody Stacy, Principal
My preferred titles: Melody Stacy, Believer-in-Chief, Lead Learner, Head Culture Creator, Chief Energy Officer, Chief Storyteller
Chief Storyteller? Yes! I believe in the power of stories and realize the responsibility we have as educators and leaders to tell our stories to help change the narrative and create a different, better future. It was no surprise, then, when Joe Sanfelippo put out his #5Days5Stories challenge, I was instantly inspired to say, “Let’s do this!”
As Chief Storyteller of an amazing school, there are hundreds of incredible stories that I am blessed to be a part of every single day. These stories are just waiting for someone to stop, listen and say, “Wow! Other people need to hear this story!” No planning necessary, just a willingness to be open to noticing and then letting the story unfold and be told.
SHARE
Monday, Day 1: Positive referrals are a great way to celebrate our students. Staff members fill out a Positive Referral Form, me and our Assistant Principal get an email notification, and we bring them down to the office where we call home to share the good news. Talk about a Win-Win-Win-Win. Smiles on students, teachers, families & principal faces!
TIP: Check out the app PicPlayPost for an easy way to create cool videos.
Tuesday, Day 2: Our students, or geniuses as we say (because we know everyone has genius), tell me daily why they love our school and are proud to be a part of our community. While I was out and about, I decided to capture some on video.
TIP: Don’t forget (like I did) that when videoing from your phone, you need to turn it sideways.🤓
Wednesday, Day 3: Sometimes you just need to have fun as a school community! We’d recently participated in a Glow Run to help raise money for our library transformation and had a lofty goal that we surpassed. What did the kids want for their reward? To tape me to the gym wall!😳 We decided to give every single student a piece of tape and a turn (not just the top money-raisers as had been suggested.) Plus, our community had come together to support this, so they needed to be able to share in this story. Remember, we are all in this together!
TIP: Use the time-lapse video option while filming a long event. We condensed over an hour-long video into 27 seconds of fun!
Thursday, Day 4: Building meaningful relationships with students means being with them in all different settings – classrooms, cafeteria, arrival and dismissal and yes, even the bus. Occasionally, I ride the bus home with our students and wanted to share some highlights of this journey.
TIP: Think of those things you do as a leader that help build your culture that others outside of your school probably don’t know. These are stories waiting to be told!
Friday, Day 5: My first four stories were student-focused. Rightfully so, since students are our end game. But a huge part of my WHY is seeking out and inspiring the greatness in our leaders. At our morning huddle (Want to Inspire and Connect Your Team? Huddle Up), I posed the question, “What makes you proud to be a Taylor Mill Leader?” and asked our leaders to be vulnerable and let me video their answer. They have genius to share and their stories are worth telling.
TIP: Use the iMovie app to merge pictures, videos and music for a quick way to create an engaging end product. (Notice I remembered to turn my phone around this time.😜)
CONNECT
5 days ✅ 5 stories ✅
“Story telling is about connecting to other people and helping people to see what you see.” – Michael Margolis
I am witness to greatness each day and storytelling is about connecting and sharing that greatness. What stories can you tell this week? Tweet and tag me (@me1odystacy) to share. I’d love to connect through your story! Or feel free to start a conversation by commenting below.
Culture of Belief 
Leave a Reply