LEARNING THE LETTER “L” (FOR LEADERSHIP) FROM OUR FRIENDS ON Sesame Street

Do you remember the theme song from the world’s most popular and successful children’s television show – Sesame Street[i]? What kind of day is it going to be on Sesame Street? You, of course, immediately think: “A sunny day,” just like the song says.

         The composer was Joe Raposo, who not only wrote the show’s theme song[ii], but also such memorable lyrics as Kermit’s song, “It’s not easy bein’ green.”[iii] He left a legacy of so many wonderful songs for Children’s Television Workshop[iv].

         When our two sons, Daniel and Benjamin, were preschoolers and heard the Sesame Street theme song on TV, they would run like sprinters, from where ever they were in the house, to magically appear in the living room to watch the show.  When young children hear those bouncy beginning chords, they just know that their friends Bert, Ernie, Big Bird and Elmo are going to have a great day on Sesame Street – and they are, too.

         The lesson the Sesame Street theme song is Be Optimistic. I’m not talking about a starry eyed, rose-colored glasses, unrealistic optimism, but rather a faith that today and tomorrow are going to be happy, satisfying and productive. It’s a combination of confidence and hope, looking forward to an even better future, and working hard to take us there – or at least move us in that direction.

         In every school that has ever succeeded, there was this type of pervasive belief that the students could and would achieve and that the climate would get better.

         My first principalship was of the small, old, red brick Rosemont Elementary School, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Ann Meyer, my supervisor, the straight-talking and insightful community superintendent, called me into her office to give me what she called her “charge” – my focus as the new principal. The situation she described really struck me with its depth of understanding and stuck with me throughout the years I worked there.

She said, “The people in that little school have been watching new, big, modern new schools being built all around them. They feel forgotten. Show them you believe in that little school and in them and their future.”

I went to work the next day and decided to meet the staff and parents to hear their opinions about the state of the school. After listening to them for a little while, I realized she had nailed it – that was exactly how they felt – that no one in the school system noticed or cared about them. I knew that should be my mission, to help everyone believe that we would become a great school, a place where everybody would want to send their children. 

         Each year we planned activities to proclaim proudly that we knew we could be a great school. We started a cutting edge program to teach thinking strategies so that our students could do higher-level work; we installed ceiling fans (because our old building didn’t have air conditioning) to provide some relief from the infamous Washington area heat and humidity; we began a business/school partnership with the local mall to provide kids with incentives and opportunities for good citizenship and academic performance; and we built a float, formed a parent/staff band, and marched with our students in the town’s Labor Day parade. (We won the award for best elementary school spirit, and even though we were the only elementary school in the parade, we displayed the trophy, with pride, in the main office.)The message was clear – we would do whatever it took, because we knew we could be a wonderful school – even if we had to take many of the steps ourselves to make sure it happened.

It did happen and then some! Achievement went up and parents no longer talked about transferring their children to surrounding schools. Why would you leave a school with such a positive, sunny spirit? Optimism and momentum attract.

         I’m certainly not sharing the story of the Rosemont turnaround to say that effective teaching and management are not important, or that hard work, sweat and tears are not essential to a school’s progress – they are. The moral of the story, though, is that none of these things would have been enough in themselves. The powerful catalyst of optimism, an underlying belief in our success, was the essential basic ingredient.

ADAPTED FROM THE KEYNOTE AND BOOK: LEAD LIKE THE LEGENDS: ADVICE AND INSPIRATION FOR TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS

[i] Sesame Street Workshop and Subsidiaries, http://www.sesameworkshop.org

[ii] Sesame Street Theme, Words by Bruce Hart, Jon Stone and Joe Raposo, Music by Joe Raposo, 1969, Sesame Street, Inc.

[iii] Green (Bein’ Green), Words and Music by Joe Raposo, Copyright 1970 &1972 JONICO MUSIC, INC.

[iv] Former name of Sesame Workshop, Formation 1969, 1 Lincoln Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10023