I am usually not one for watching award shows. However, this past weekend I was doing some schoolwork and happened to have The Grammy Awards on in the background. I had heard Billy Joel was going to perform a new song and wanted to check it out. (Does it age me that I am a Billy Joel fan?) It might age me that I find a lot musical acts today to be hard to connect with on an emotional level. Maybe it is the lyrics, or the music itself, but it just isn't rock and roll to me. (Did you get the Billy Joel reference?) I consider myself lucky that I grew up listening to classic rock that I guess, according to my kids, is now 70's, 80's AND 90's music. I am grateful to my father for introducing me to all types of music from all different genres because it has definitely had an influence on my life. Although the music of today is different in many ways, the influence of past artists is still present. This couldn't be any more evident than when the first few strums of the guitar played, the camera panned up and the melodious voice of Tracy Chapman could be heard as she sang a duet of "Fast Car" with current country star Luke Combs. In an interview with Billboard Magazine, Combs talks about "Fast Car," written in 1988, as a song he remembers listening to with his dad and is a song that sparked his love for music. Chapman's influence as a song writer, singer and performer has contributed to landing him where he is today. Watching them sing the song together had me applauding in my living room. The smile on Chapman's face as she heard the roar of the audience, the look of awe on Combs's face as they sang together and then the mutual respect for one another at the end of the song added to the what is being talked about as one of the best Grammy performances ever. It spoke to the art of influence that a person can have on another. Tracy Chapman's influence on Luke Combs made him want to sing her song that is now the #1 song on the charts and helped Chapman win the 2023 Country Music Song of the Year thirty six years after it was written. In essence, they have influenced each other in different ways. As teachers and students, we have the opportunity to influence each other in many ways. The amount of time we spend with each other, seeing each other at our best and sometimes our worst, the positive impacts can happen at any moment. It could be a memorable lesson, a conversation or maybe just a simple smile and "hello." The unique thing is the art of influence might not be immediate. Henry Adams once said, "A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence stops." Our Boys 200 Free Relay broke a school record this week of a former team that I coached here at PTHS. Fifteen years later, I can still see the faces of those boys when they broke the record. They are some of the finest young men I ever had the privilege to coach and the influence they had on my life means more than they know. On Friday, we had four students get up on stage in front of their peers during lunch and showcase their talents by playing the piano, the flute, guitar and ukulele. They were influenced by Mr. Piccoli, a special education teacher at PTHS, who thought of the talent show idea and then by teachers who encouraged them to do it. It was a special moment for those students and something they will never forget. Whether it is a day, a year, 15 years or 36 years, you never know where your influence will stop. It is a reminder to us all that as a student, parent or teacher, you will "be someone, be someone be someone" to somebody else. Your influence can make them feel that they belong. Check out Tracy and Luke on the Grammys!
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I read a quote the other day on a social media account that said, "January was a tough year, but we made it." It did feel like January was a long month. With unpredictable weather causing disruption to the school schedule, midterm exams, the core of the winter sports season, and the start of marking period 3, we experienced a lot in a short period of time. While January may have felt like it was a year long for some, it is a very small portion of a year that is filled with opportunity.
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Richard M. HayzlerA life long educator and current Principal of Pequannock Township High School in NJ, Rich is excited to share his ideas and thoughts about education and how we can change the world for our students and our staff. Currently Reading
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