Pride

I travel a lot for my job. Wherever I go in this great state of ours, the question is always asked "where are you from?" I proudly announce that I'm the Superintendent at Lawrence County CUSD #20 in Lawrenceville Illinois. Many times the response will be "Oh, the town with the 4 state basketball championships?" or "Isn't that were Marty Simmons is from?" along with other similar type questions. I proudly answer "yes" to all of these types of inquires.

It is interesting though that recently some of the questions I am getting are "Oh your at the place with the beautiful new athletic complex right?" or "I hear you are building a new high school, isn't that exciting?" or "isn't that the district that is working on a 1:1 computer initiative at its Junior High?" Of course my response for these types of questions are a very enthusiastic "Yes, Yes, and Yes!"

It is said that pride can sometimes be a bad thing, and to some degree I won't argue that. However, pride in accomplishments or innovative programs that truly benefit children and improve the overall environment of our community shouldn't be looked at negatively. We are doing great things in our district as well as in our community. We should celebrate these things as they provide positives that we will be able to build off of in the future. I am proud of the place I call home, Lawrenceville and all of the communities that make up this great district. I am extremely proud of all students, teachers and support staff within our district. I am proud to have so many stakeholders outside of our school who care about the great things we have going on within each of our buildings.

I believe that it is okay to have pride in all of these things and I encourage all of you express your pride in your district as well!

Go Big Red!
Charlie