These are exciting times

By John Hendler
News Editor

Excitement was in the air after the Marshall Public Schools Board of Education selected Dr. Randy Davis to be the district’s next superintendent Feb. 19.
While Board Vice President Paul Beardslee and several other members called Davis to tell him the good news, those waiting in the hallway- a mix of teachers, administrators and public citizens seemed genuinely excited.
One told me that for the first time in a long time, she was excited about all facets of the school district coming together and working together.
These are exciting times- all the board needed last week was to play “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters in the background when they called Davis.
Have I used excited, excitement or exciting enough times?
Believe it or not, when I was Best Man at my friend Haydu’s wedding, I used those words some 20 times in a two-minute toast that I had failed to prepare for.
It went something like this: I’m so excited for you guys and all of us here are excited for you and I’m sure you’ll have an exciting life and exciting honeymoon.
Well spoken, eh?
Anyhow, during the meeting, school board members said that they enjoyed riding to the site visits for finalists Bruce Burger and Davis with teachers, administrators and citizens and that everyone seemed to get along really well and had an appreciation for what the other was doing.
One of the board members, Beardslee, I believe, joked that they should take more of these “road trips” to improve communication and morale.
Maybe he’s onto something.
Getting out of one’s comfort zone and placing oneself in situations where they’re not on guard sometimes can leave you seeing things or someone in a different light.
Having a chance to talk to someone out of their element gives people a chance to get to know one another without the auspices of rank- i.e. when you meet someone on an airplane or when you’re stuck in an elevator or something like that.
Speaking of rank, I once had a chance to play a round of golf with a Navy Admiral in Naples, Italy and we had a great time just talking and being outdoors.
We were just two golfers out on a Saturday morning.
So often, we’re caught up in our worlds with our guard up that we truly miss the essence of one of life’s greatest pleasures: talking and listening to each other.