This Email Made Me Smile

This seems like a fitting time to post this as we just sent home our students' Iowa Assessment scores, last week.

The italicized text below was sent to me via email a few weeks ago. In following-up on the email that I received, I was pointed to the blog of the the principal at Amana Elementary of the Clear Creek Amana Community School District's blog (http://benmacumber.blogspot.com). Amana Elementary's principal, Mr. Ben Macumber, does not appear to have authored these thoughts, but he does share the same note in his entry titled, 'I didn't think of this, but I sure wish I had...'

My daughter's new elementary school principal sent this to all the students as they received their state standardized testing scores this week:

"We are concerned that these tests do not always assess all of what it is that make each of you special and unique. The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you-- the way your teachers do, the way I hope to, and certainly not the way your families do...They do not know that you can play a musical instrument or that you can dance or paint a picture. They do not know that your friends count on you to be there for them or that your laughter can brighten the dreariest day. They do not know that you write poetry or songs, play or participate in sports, wonder about the future, or that sometimes you take care of your little brother or sister after school. They do not know that you have traveled to a really neat place or that you know how to tell a great story or that you really love spending time with special family members and friends. They do not know that you can be trustworthy, kind or thoughtful, and that you try, every day, to be your very best... the scores you get will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything. There are many ways of being smart."