Teaching and school leadership have been my life’s work. As an educator, I have always had a passion for creating a sense of community. This community-making has been my necessity, my vocation. William Stafford, an Oregon poet, and my friend and mentor, taught me to ask just one question while at work: “Who are these people I’m with, and what are they calling for?” Bill Stafford died a few years ago; but, the question he etched in me continues to be very much alive. As I have engaged in the work that I’ve been called to do, the answer to the William Stafford question always comes back to me in similar ways.

No matter what the group or where the setting, the people I’m with are always asking to be known. They want a voice in what matters to them. They want to be in a place, a setting, where they feel reasonably content about who they are personally, and in a place where they feel that they are members of a significant community. And, as members of an important community, they yearn to be genuinely pleased about what everyone creates – together. In my experience, almost everyone appreciates, and values – the feeling of a sense of genuine community.