I have been having issues with my minivan this summer, and this past weekend I had plans to drop it off to have the rear differential looked at. It is a long story on how I got to that point but it involved needing to have all four tires replaced and the front end aligned. I had the front end aligned in March, but it needed to be done again, and I was made aware of the issue with the issue with the rear differential. So I made an appointment and arrangements to drop off the van. I got about 2 miles from my house and heard a loud thud followed by a clunking noise. I pulled over to the side of the road and checked things over. Fortunately, my wife was right behind me and I wasn’t stranded in the middle of nowhere. She was already on the phone with calling our road side assistance. While she was on the phone I made a call to our local towing company and was able to get them the location of the vehicle and made arrangements to have it dropped off at the repair shop. I told her she could cancel the roadside assistance as we had a local company coming to take care of it. We were on our way with the vehicle left behind with a broken drive shaft. Needless to say, things were not going the way I had planned. It reminded me of the past few years as a superintendent.
My first summer as the superintendent we had just completed a community survey and were looking at things we could do as a school district. We brought back the homecoming parade and were able to get a lot of positive momentum and pride in our school district. Then when March of 2020 came along, we began dealing with the pandemic and all of the issues associated with it. Things were quickly changing and it made it difficult to keep that positive momentum going. We became focused on what we had to do rather than what we would like to do. We were stuck on the side of the road so to speak looking at what had to be done with the situation. Much of that time it felt like many of the things we wanted to do were dictated by the fact that we were metaphorically speaking, stuck on the side of the road. We were calling on others for guidance on what we needed to do and dealing with the situation at hand.
I am finally feeling like we are getting back on the road and ready to get things going in a positive direction. We can start to focus on and enjoy the great things that are happening in our district and look ahead to what we can do, rather than what we have to do. It is certainly an exciting time for me as an educator to have all of the issues of the pandemic in the rear view mirror and looking ahead to all of the great opportunities to serve our district. Our district is fortunate to have a great staff in place for the upcoming school year and we have some wonderful new staff to add to our Triton Family. We have been through a lot these past couple of years, but I cannot express how excited I am to get things going again with the upcoming school year. Much like the situation with my van, I feel like we are going to be able to work with our staff and not have to rely on some generic roadside assistance to get things figured out. We live in a special place, and I feel blessed to work in such a wonderful community with great people and I am proud to serve as our school district’s superintendent.
Please reach out to me with any questions that you may have regarding our school district. You can email me at schlich@triton.k12.mn.us or you can call me at 507-418-7530 to reach me at the district office. I would be happy to set up a time to meet with you or your organization. I believe that communication is an important aspect of my job responsibility, and I welcome the opportunity to learn from your perspective. GO COBRAS!
#WeAreTriton
