THE ENERGY BUS FOR SCHOOLS: 7 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR SCHOOL CULTURE, REMOVE NEGATIVITY, ENERGIZE YOUR TEACHERS, AND EMPOWER YOUR STUDENTS

In 2007, Jon Gordon inspired readers to take a proverbial ride on “the Energy Bus,” providing them with the secrets to overcoming adversity and developing positive mindsets to find success at home and at work. In 2024, he collaborated with Dr. Jim Van Allan to write The Energy Bus for Schools: 7 Ways to Improve Your School Culture, Remove Negativity, Energize Your Teachers, and Empower Your Students (Jossey-Bass), which outlines a process for creating a positive school culture. That process begins with inviting your staff on “the bus,” followed by fueling the ride (focusing on what they are doing right), loving your passengers, refueling when necessary, and then creating a fleet of bus drivers. The authors suggest that collective efficacy can be achieved simply by establishing a common language. For example, creating a one-word vision statement that can be seen and heard throughout the halls can shape school culture as positive energy cascades and spreads to others. But for the energy bus to keep chugging forward, remember that “getting the right people on your bus is essential,” the authors write. “When you need to let someone go or they get themselves off the bus, you allow it for the greater good.”

—Holly Langley, EdD | Assistant Principal
Sussex Technical High School, Georgetown, DE

UNEARTHING JOY: A GUIDE TO CULTURALLY AND HISTORICALLY RESPONSIVE CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

What teacher/school leader/student couldn’t use more joy? Gholdy Muhammad’s book, Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Curriculum and Instruction (Scholastic Professional), delivers just as enthusiastically as her previous one, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. As Muhammad, an associate professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, makes clear, nothing brings joy more readily than hearing a favorite song. Each of the seven chapters within Unearthing Joy begins with a “layered playlist” of songs to listen to while you read as well as poetry from the incomparable Langston Hughes that foreshadow each chapter’s tone. This book extends Cultivating Genius by adding a fifth pursuit, “joy,” to the original four pursuits explored: (a) identity development, b) skills development, c) intellectual development, and d) criticality development. These pursuits comprise Muhammad’s framework for empowering students, particularly Black children. As pressures mount in public schools, Muhammad says she felt the need to tap into joy as a way to bring life back to teachers, students, classrooms, administrators, and school buildings. Comparing students to flowers that must be cultivated, she reminds us to “unearth joy” or dig deep to help reveal the genius that exists in all students.

—Latrese Younger, EdD | OSQ (Office of School Quality) Specialist
Virginia Department of Education, Richmond, VA

SCHOOL MOMS: PARENT ACTIVISM, PARTISAN POLITICS, AND THE BATTLE FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

In School Moms: Parent Activism, Partisan Politics, and the Battle for Public Education (Beacon Press), Laura Pappano, an education journalist, discusses the role of activist groups in public education. While their proliferation may seem like a modern trend, Pappano explains that parent activism dates to the 1990s amid debates over sex education. Today, organized groups seeking to influence curriculum, instruction, and policies in our schools include the Florida-based group, Moms for Liberty, and Parents Defending Education. Both groups have organized against what they claim is the teaching of critical race theory in schools, led efforts to ban books, and advocated for “Don’t Say Gay” laws. Pappano contends that such far-right, parental activism has caused schools to become a battleground for politics, turning parent-teacher associations into lobbyists and political action groups. While many school leaders are already aware of contentious issues, they should pay close attention to the basic, but powerful ways the author cites to combat these attacks, such as attending school board meetings to provide an opposing view and accurate information. Doing so will enable us, Pappano writes, to keep public schools, “a gift from a community to its young people and a foundation of our democracy.”

—Eric Basilo, EdD | Assistant Principal
Markham Woods Middle School, Lake Mary, FL

LEAD WITH TWO RULES: FEELING GOOD & FEELING SAFE

In Lead with Two Rules: Feeling Good & Feeling Safe (self-published), Brenda Yoho, an education consultant, writes that the “fundamental significance of feeling good and feeling safe lies at the core of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Underscoring the critical importance of emotional well-being and security as the bedrock for personal development and fulfillment, Yoho has developed a leadership framework anchored in the idea that by nurturing emotional wellness and a sense of safety, individuals enhance their capacity to progress through the hierarchy thus leading to a more purposeful and enriched life. Central to the philosophy of “Two Rules,” is the profound concept of choice as a powerful force within everyone’s reach. Understanding the significance of choice and how our decisions not only affect ourselves but also ripple out to impact others form an integral part of personal growth and development. Before making a choice, students should ask themselves two questions: “Will this make me (or them) feel good?” and “Will this make me (or them) feel safe?” By embracing these guiding principles, school leaders can help students embark on a journey of self-discovery, empathy, responsibility, and resilience ultimately forging a path towards self-actualization.

—Nicole J. LeClaire | Superintendent
Bertrand Community School, Bertrand, NE