For the majority of my career I worked solely with middle school students. At the start of each year I would address the 8th grade class, the school leaders and models. A recurring theme in those talks was the concept of “legacy.” I would ask them what they hoped would be the legacy of the Class of 2012, for example (after ensuring that they understood what “legacy” meant, which they did). As I get older and further into my career I think a lot about my own legacy; at the schools I no longer work at as well as my current school. More than these, however, I think about my legacy as a parent.

I make no secret of the fact that as passionate as I am about my work, my own children are my highest priority. That may seem a bit strange when I’m parenting from 3000 miles away, but they always have been and they always will be what is most important. When I consider my “legacy” as a parent my focus narrows to the lessons I’ve taught my children. After a great deal of introspection I have to be honest: I’m not entirely positive what my children have learned from me. I could write pages on what I hope I’ve taught them, explicitly, implicitly, by word and by action, but I’ve never asked them. I’d like to believe that since they are both good students, kind to their friends, and seemingly happy and well-adjusted teenagers (yeesh, I have two teenagers) that they’ve learned many positive lessons from my wife and me.

If I had to zero in on just a few, it would be these:

1) Decency – Personally, I veer too often towards sarcasm and dismissiveness. Cynicism can trap one these days. Between anti-intellectualism and the derision of facts, it’s become too popular to decry this as a nation of idiots. It isn’t. Regardless, I want my children to be decent towards family, friends, and strangers alike. It needs to be a conscious choice.

2) Curiosity- I recently saw “Captain Fantastic,” a wonderful and unique film about a man raising his six children almost completely off the grid. Sparing the reader a detailed synopsis, what I admired most about the parental approach was the reverence for curiosity in his children. Again, it takes a conscious effort to get their heads out of Snapchat, Instagram, and Pokemon Go, but I really want my kids to be curious – about the world, other people, other cultures and ways of seeing the world. Work to be done on this one.

3) Love – Cliche? Maybe, but above all I want them to feel loved and to feel love. Otherwise, what’s the point?

This is what I hope my children have learned from us. In fact, I hope it’s what our students have learned from us, as well. That would be my wish for a meaningful legacy.

Cultural Observation: At our cross-district in-service last week we were led through a workshop on equity by members of an organization called First Alaskans, an native group dedicated to advancing Alaska natives through community engagement. There were many meaningful takeaways. One was the dismissiveness of Alaska’s nickname, “The Last Frontier.” It presumes that this land was not inhabited, not important or meaningful until it was settled by whites. Many Alaskan sayings and traditions take on new meaning when viewed through a native lens. I suppose the same could be said for much of American culture.