Let me start this month’s superintendent corner with a great big welcome back for our kids, parents, and community members for the 2026-27 school year. The beginning of every school year is exciting. The floors are polished, the new paint has dried, and the classrooms are coming together. We have done a lot of work in the building this summer and I think the kids are going to love the changes.

I am going to try and tackle two themes in this month's article. The first theme is “embrace the new.” I am so excited this year to welcome new teachers and students. It wasn’t that long ago that Christi, Caleb, and I were welcomed into the community of Callaway. I hope that our new staff members get the same warm welcome to our community that we received. It is really easy for me to brag about our staff, school, and community to newcomers. So part of “embracing the new” is to make the extra effort to welcome all the new faces, but there is so much more to the idea.

We have also made some internal changes that I am really excited about. Mrs. Cathy Leibhart is teaching 7-12 ELA this year. What a great challenge, and it is really fun to see her jumping into the new role; asking questions, learning new curriculum, and changing rooms. Ms. Kailey Bonde is moving from a para position to the head cook in the kitchen. Learning all the rules in the state nutrition system is also very challenging, but Kailey has really committed to her new role and is looking forward to the noise of an active lunchroom.

Along with the old faces in new places we have changed rooms around to better utilize our educational space. Mrs. Maddie Dockweiler now has her own speech room in the elementary. Mrs. Suzi Campbell’s art room has moved to the high school side of the building and it feels like a totally new space. This change precipitated moves for our business classroom, 6th grade classroom, and the counselor’s classroom. So, Mrs. Brianna Gaffney, Mrs. Jadyn Weber, and Mrs. Denise Sughayar are all exploring new spaces and redesigning their classrooms.

The success of all of these changes hinges on “embracing the new.” With a positive attitude and an adventurous spirit these changes will really enhance our students’ experiences. It is easy in life to find comfort in the steady unchanging traditions, but growth doesn’t happen without change and friction. One of the biggest keys to any great educator is to be a life-long learner; a person who is always in search of a new way to skin an old cat. So here is to hoping that we can all “embrace the new” the way many of our staff have demonstrated as we prepare for the new year.

On to the next theme... In previous years I have adopted a motto for the year. A phrase that keeps me pointed in the right direction and helps me to remember how blessed I am to work in a school system for our kids. I was at a TeamMates conference this summer listening to a lady who was a school counselor in an alternative school in the Omaha public school system. So she had the opportunity to work with kids who the regular schools had expelled for various reasons. Many of her students had criminal records and volatile homelives. In her talk she expressed how important it was as a mentor to meet kids where they are and to help them see who they could be. She said it doesn’t matter if you are working with inner city troubled teens or small-town kids with stable homes, if you are mentoring a child you are a “hope dealer.”

The term “hope dealer” really stuck with me. I am going to challenge our staff this year to frame their job as being a “hope dealer” to all of our kids. If Callaway Public Schools is performing at its best our kids will feel like they are lucky to be our students, because we are giving them a chance to become...That because they are our students they get to try and fail, and then try again. That Callaway is helping them to be resilient.

In the YouTube video “Shift Happens 2025” it lists all of the top emerging jobs in today’s economy and for the most part none of those jobs existed 10 years ago. Things like drone pilot and crypto counselor would have never been a thought to a 15-year-old kid 10 years ago. With this in mind it makes the school’s purpose much harder to define. I think it makes flexible thinking, resilience, and courage to fail very powerful qualities, but the most powerful is an inborn, infinite supply of HOPE! If we can fully embrace our true role as “Hope Dealers,” we will be giving all of our students their best chance at future success.

Welcome to the 2026-27 school year Callaway. Thank you for all of your support and investment in our students.