Success and the Seahawks

What does it mean to be successful?  I pondered that question last week as my wife and I visited her family in Seattle, Washington. 

While there, much of the sports commentary focused on whether the Seattle Seahawks, the local professional football team, deserved their chance to go to the playoffs.  At the time the Seahawks had six wins and nine losses.  In their division of the National Football League if they won one more game they had a chance to win the division and make the playoffs.

Many sports fans and sports writers felt that a team that would finish losing more games than they won did not deserve to make the playoffs.  The playoffs should be reserved for successful teams and a team with a losing record could not be classified as being successful.  The Seahawk players, on the other hand, said that they deserved their shot because the rules said that division winners qualified regardless of their record.

What made the argument interesting is that there would be some teams in the National Football League who would finish with more wins and fewer losses who would not qualify for the playoffs.  If the teams that qualified for the playoffs were supposed to represent the best teams in league, clearly a team that finished under .500 would not be one of them.

As it turned out, the Seahawks won their last game, won their division, and qualified for the playoffs.  Their final record was seven wins and nine losses.  Based on their record the Seahawks could not be classified as a success.  Yet, they made the playoffs and have a chance, theoretically, to win the Super Bowl and be declared the best team in the league.

This story resonated with me.  As I thought about the Seahawks and their goal of winning the Super Bowl, I thought about our district.  How do we judge success? 

Clearly, we do many things well.  Grand Ledge High School had a graduation rate of over 94% for 2009.  Our elementary and middle schools received an “A” on the Michigan School Report Card and our high school received a “B.”  On state standardized tests, the majority of our students pass and do well.

But are we successful?

Our stated goal is to be among the best school districts in the state and nation.  I believe each one of us wants to have a district that challenges our students and prepares them for any future that they may envision.

Even with the success that we enjoy, I would have to argue that right now we have not among the best schools in the state and nation.  Even with all that we do well, there are ways for us to improve. 

We need to make sure that every student makes at least a year’s growth in a year’s time.  We need to make sure that our instructional practices engage and inspire students.  We need to be responsive to our community and work to become a high performing organization every day.

The Seattle Seahawks snuck into the playoffs.  They were lucky to make it.  While they experienced some success this year, they clearly have a long way to travel to be considered among the best.

Our school district, on the other hand, does many things well.  We are successful.  But we are not where we need to be.  Our administrative team, teachers, and staff are committed to moving forward, working hard to take the next steps so that we can be considered among the best in the state and nation.