“People don’t buy what
you do, they buy why you do it.” -Simon Sinek
This is a quote that resonated with me at our 2016 Student
PSEA Leadership & Planning retreat. At our retreat, we began by expanding
our knowledge about different leadership styles. This year, we learned about
“starting with the why,” an idea from Simon Sinek and his TED Talk, which you
can find here: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action (I highly suggest watching it.)
Beginning with the why, telling people what you believe in, showing them how you act on what you believe – sounds easy, right? However, most people and organizations start with what they are trying to “sell.” They then let people know how they do it and they never get to the why. As leaders in Student PSEA, we need to break this cycle and tell everyone why we are leaders in Student PSEA. What is our purpose? Why are we inspiring everyone else to become members of this amazing organization?
Learn what your why is. What do you believe in? Why are you
a leader? Why are you an educator? Find what inspires you. Then, figure out how
you are going to follow through in what you believe. Lastly, tell them who you
are. Are you an educator? Are you a leader? Who/what are you?
If Student PSEA were to start from the outside in, it would
sound like this: We help educate and train aspiring educators by providing them
with professional development, community service, and political action opportunities.
Want to join?
Doesn’t sound so appealing, right?
If Student PSEA were to start from the inside out, starting
with their why, it would sound like this: We believe in providing quality
education to children no matter their ZIP code. We provide professional
development, community service, and political action opportunities. We help
educate and train aspiring educators. We are Student PSEA.
That sounds a lot better, doesn’t it? However, to provide
these opportunities, it takes a special type of leader. A servant leader to be
exact. But what exactly is a servant leader? How am I, as an educator, a
servant leader?
A servant leader is someone who has a will, something they
believe in. He/she is intentional with his/her actions and choses their
behavior. A servant leader choses to love,
the verb, which means he/she identifies and meets the needs, not wants, of
those they are leading. By meeting the needs of others, a servant leader has
been called on to serve and sacrifice. A servant leader dedicates their time to
those they lead. By serving and sacrificing, a servant leader influences.
He/she leads by influence rather than power, and in turn, earns the right to be
called a leader.
As educators, we have a will to teach children and to help
them reach their fullest potential, no matter their ZIP code. We are
intentional with our actions, by providing appropriate instruction to our
students and by going to school every day to provide them with the best
education possible. We love, the verb,
because we meet the needs of our students, not their wants. We are serving them
and sacrificing our time with friends and family, because we are planning
awesome lessons, grading papers, or writing notes home to families. We have
dedicated our time to our students and in turn, we have earned the right to be
called leaders. Leaders of our students, leaders of our classroom, and leaders
of our future.
As educators, we pass these leadership skills onto our
students because they are watching us every day. They watch us and our
intentional actions. They see us come to school full of passion, and probably
coffee, to educate them to the best of our abilities so that they can reach
their fullest potential. They see us love,
the verb, by providing them the education they need when they want to be
outside playing. They see us serving them and sacrificing time for them,
because they have a safe and happy place to come to every day, where someone
cares and loves them. Our students look up to us every day as someone they can
learn from, because we educate their future.
I would like to introduce you to your servant leaders, those
that some of you look up to. A leader at your school, a leader in your region,
a leader at the state level who has inspired you in some way, I’m sure, because
they all inspire me every day.
The 2016-2017 Student PSEA
Executive Board.
Meet your State Vice
President, Maria Wittman Maria is a Senior Early Childhood and Special
Education Major at Slippery Rock University.
Meet your State Secretary, Sam
Nagel. Sam is a Senior Secondary Education and History Major at the University
of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
Meet your State
President-Elect, Marie Hutchings. Marie is a Junior Elementary and Special
Education Major part of the Autism Endorsement Program at Kutztown University.
Meet you State PACE Director, Mallory Piercy. Mallory is a Junior Secondary Education English Major, Political Science Minor at Clarion University.
Meet Jess Porter, your Northwest
Region President. Jess is a Junior Early Childhood and Special Education Major
at Edinboro University.
Meet Haylie Schmidt, your
Midwest Region President. Haylie is a Senior Early Childhood Education and
Special Education Major at Slippery Rock University
Meet Victoria Rodriguez, your
Western Region President. Victoria is a Senior Mathematics Major with Education
and Special Education Certifications at Carlow University.
Meet Eli Imbrogno, your
Southwestern Region President. Eli is a Senior Secondary Education and History
Major at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.
Meet Emilee Stoner, your
Southern Region President. Emilee is a Junior Early Childhood and Special
Education Major at Shippensburg University.
Meet Emily Waggoner, your
Central West Region President. Emily is a Senior Early Childhood and Special
Education Major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Meet Danielle Sral, your
Central Region President. Danielle is a Senior Early Childhood and Adolescent
Education Major, Special Education Minor at Penn State Altoona.
Meet Tara Hartman, your
Northeast Region President. Tara is a fifth-year Early Childhood Education,
Special Education, and Child, Family Studies with a concentrate in Education
triple major, Psychology minor at Keystone College.
Meet Julianne Lowenstein, your
Eastern Region President. Julianne is a Senior Early Childhood Education and
French Major at Albright College.
Meet Emily Murray, your
Southeast Region President. Emily is a Sophomore Early Grades and Special
Education Major at West Chester University.
These individuals work hard year-round to create
opportunities for you that follow Student PSEA’s four pillars. They are the
backbone to this organization and are amazing servant leaders! Not only do we
have these amazing Student PSEA servant leaders at the state and regional
levels, there are many Student PSEA servant leaders that I know who lead on
college campuses, and previous Student PSEA members who lead in classrooms,
across Pennsylvania.
The following positions will be voted on at the 2017
Student PSEA State Conference in Greentree this April! (Mark your calendars)
Regional Positions
·
President
·
Vice President
·
Secretary
·
PACE
·
House of Delegates
Representative
State Positions
·
President-Elect
·
Vice President
·
Secretary
·
PACE
I encourage you to take the Character Dare Challenge that
has been posted on the Student PSEA Instagram over the last few months. Become
intentional with your actions, love, the
verb, serve and sacrifice, and become a servant leader. Start out small and
go big. Become a leader in your college’s Student PSEA Chapter. Become a
servant leader at the region level. Become a leader at the state level.
Wherever your will leads you, follow it.
Should you have any questions about becoming a servant
leader and want more information about any position, please do not hesitate to
reach out to myself, your region president, or your chapter president.
Lead with passion and
intention,
Shelby Pepmeyer
State President
