Last week I had two encounters with success and celebration neither of which I’d anticipated, and sometimes, that’s the best kind. First we’d invited students to design a Valentine card which our marketing team would adapt as this year’s greeting from the Stern Center president. She loves such holidays, and has a long established tradition of personalizing them. In any case, a young man responded with a design that captured everyone’s heart as it were. When he and his parents learned that his design would be our official 2011 Valentine’s card, they were delighted. He was simply joyful that he’d “won” something. His parents felt something much deeper, a joy derived from their son’s success in the sort of venture that had escaped him in his first 14 years of struggling through life’s too frequent and too daunting challenges. We made several copies for them to use as their Valentines to family and dear friends.

Two days later, I was at our State House on Stern Center business when from across the Chamber, I thought I recognized two former colleagues from many, many years ago. As it turns out they were there as principal and curriculum coordinator for an elementary school being recognized for achieving the best scores in the state’s recent state/regional school assessments. The little school, nestled in one of Vermont’s picturesque villages experiences many challenges one readily associates with such contexts: limited financial resources, high levels of ‘free and reduced lunch” families, limited social and community services… Despite those challenges, the people of this school found success at such a level that they were being recognized not only in their own cafe-nasi-torium, but also by the state media, and this particular day by the state legislators full of “whereas-es” and “let it be knowns.” Both of my former colleagues (and probably a few more of their current ones) have been connected to that same school for at least 15 years, building relationships, developing programs, managing resources all the time focused on what’s best for the kids.

It works that way sometimes. You create a cherished Valentine. Your test scores are the best this year. In both cases, you smile, laugh, and maybe even cry just a little as you celebrate success!