The Edison Way: Education as Unique as Our Learners
Posts Tagged "connections"
Proud Moment at Edison
February 25, 2026
More than anything, I see myself as a life coach to the kids enrolled at The Edison School. There is so much they need to know about life before they leave, and as I frequently remind them, “my time with you is limited.”
This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to accompany four of our high school students to an awards luncheon hosted by another non-profit in our area. These are the four oldest students at Edison and have heard more of my life lesson talks than anyone else, so it was a chance to see if they could apply what they were taught.
I was NOT disappointed! They made me very proud!
The students cleaned up well and dressed handsomely for the event. Many of the things we talked about over the years were displayed by each of these young people, but my favorite was the fact that none of them got on their phones during the entire event. They remained engaged in conversation with each other and listened to the presentations attentively because they were not distracted by their phones. The best part of this lesson was that I did not have to remind them about it.
When we take time and are intentional to teach young people life lessons, they will get it. It is not just our words that teach these lessons, but our actions as well. We must be careful to talk about these and set the right example consistently. They are watching, even when we think they are not.
Cultivate an Exponential Impact
February 03, 2026
1992 was the year I began my career in education, and at the time I didn’t think about the long-term impact I might have on my kids. I started as a physical education teacher, so I taught fitness, sports, winning and losing, and having fun. I tried to teach good sportsmanship and character. I wanted them to be good kids who were well-rounded. I talked about doing the right thing and being a good example for others. But I don’t remember thinking about how those kids would one day become teachers, business professionals, leaders, parents, etc.
Over thirty years later as an administrator, I am still preparing kids for life, but now I am intentionally thinking about their future roles and the impact they will have on the world. It seems as I get older, the more focused I am on teaching kids to do the right thing, develop good character, be selfless, and work hard. While I may not be the person directly teaching these things to kids at The Edison School, I am talking about them with my team and reminding them to teach these to our students. All of this can be summed up in our third core value – cultivate an exponential impact.
What we mean by cultivating an exponential impact is that we teach life skills, character development, and we are focused on the whole child. When we do this with excellence, we transform the lives of our kids and their families. We talk to them about their future and remind them that they will one day have an opportunity to lead, teach, and be parents, which means they will be making an impact on other people’s lives. As a team, we cannot transform every child’s life, but we can transform the lives of those who enroll at Edison. In turn, we want them to think about how they can transform the lives of people they encounter after leaving Edison.
We have found that this core value is a result of consistently living out our other two core values, creating meaningful connections and striving for excellence. When you have strong connections with kids and are pushing them to be their best, they will have real-life examples of impact that they can turn to for the rest of their lives.
Striving for Excellence
January 28, 2026
This has been an especially hard week for middle Tennesseans, and the south in general, because of an ice storm that came through last weekend. People have been without power for days. Businesses and schools have been closed. Trees have fallen and caused damage. My guess is a lot of people are experiencing cabin fever since getting out has been tough. What we witnessed during the aftermath of this storm have been people needing to display character traits like flexibility and grit. These are two traits that we at Edison believe help make up our second core value.
Striving for excellence – this does not mean perfection; rather, we believe it means consistent growth and improvement that requires the living out of specific character traits by everyone on our team.
1) Being faithful in the little things – our team is consistent and diligent in unassuming, everyday tasks with our kids.
2) Having the humility to pursue personal growth – members of the Edison team understand the importance of constant personal growth. Personal growth is not just attending classes, or reading journals, it also happens when we talk with each other about situations we are facing. No one on the team thinks they are too good to learn from others and improve.
3) Having grit and persistence – we have a team of people who face challenges daily and push through these for the benefit of our kids, each other, and the entire school.
4) The flexibility to adapt to ever-changing situations – at Edison, no two days are the same. All of our kids learn differently, so our team must adapt. Kids come in each day with something new or different that forces our team to remain flexible in the way we meet the needs of each child.
Striving for excellence is the core value that reminds everyone on Edison’s team that we will not settle for mediocrity, and that we are constantly looking for ways to improve.
Building Life-Changing Connections
January 13, 2026
Do you remember what it was like when you first met someone that you wanted to get to know better? What did it take for you to develop a connection with them? Was it worth the effort and time?
I think everyone desires deep, meaningful connections with other people. At The Edison School, creating meaningful connections is one of our core values, and it drives our team’s daily interactions with students enrolled at the school. Due to the varied diagnoses our students have, Edison’s team is challenged to find ways to connect with each kid. We do not let these challenges stop us from working day-in and day-out to create meaningful connections. Rather, we focus on four strategies with each child.
1. Seek first to understand – for those familiar with Stephen Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, you will recognize this as part of one of the habits Covey discusses. The Edison team desires to understand each of our kids, so we spend a lot of time interacting with and observing them in a variety of activities. This helps us understand them better.
2. Develop trust through vulnerability – Edison’s team of educators have years of experience, which means we have all made mistakes. Sharing our personal stories with students and admitting to them when we screw up, shows our vulnerability and humanness. This helps build trust with the kids. Trust based on vulnerability creates an authentic, safe environment for every child.
3. Open and honest communication – without communication, relationships fail and connections cannot be developed. Prioritizing open and honest communication with our kids sometimes means that we have difficult conversations with them. This type of communication must come from a place of love and desire to help them become their best.
4. Active listening – making our kids feel heard, valued, and understood fosters trust and stronger bonds with them, resulting in meaningful connections.
Everyone wants a connection with others. Everyone wants to be understood and valued. At Edison, creating meaningful connections is one of our core values because we know that strong connections with trusted adults can change the trajectory of a child’s life!