From the Desk of Mr. Mike Shukis
POTENTIAL
I have always agreed with the statement, “The greatest loss in the world is the loss of human potential”. I know firsthand how life altering it can be for someone to believe so strongly in the untapped potential of a student, a parent, a teacher, and even in a school administrator. The ability that we all possess, to know that we can influence others to help them to reach their capacity to improve themselves is truly what it means to be a teacher, a parent, and a friend. Oftentimes it is the people or students we least expect that can change things in the world. Everyone has great potential. The problem is that many of us do not give ourselves enough credit that we could be the ones to encourage, support, or believe in another individual so much so that they are able to reach the stars.
Here is an example that recently took place at Marian Central. I know a teacher at Marian who possess a quiet but deep relationship with Jesus, who prays often and most importantly seeks to be open to the movement of grace in their life. This teacher, like many of us here at Marian, prays for their students every single day. A couple years ago, this teacher noticed one of their students had a special interest in a specific subject. They provided some encouragement and suggested some additional reading. This teacher remained a constant presence in the student’s journey, always encouraging, teaching, challenging, and yes, pushing when needed. While I never heard this teacher say it out loud, I knew they saw something special in the student. The teacher wanted this something special to bless the student, bless the world and to put a smile on God’s face. In simple terms this teacher cared. They knew the student had a gift and that if the student did not develop it, something would be lost. Recently, this student came back to Marian for a visit, and put a smile on the teacher’s face as they talked about the success the student has had in their area of interest/college major, the same interest the teacher encouraged while they attended Marian Central.
In the few years that I have been a part of Marian Central, I have had the privilege of seeing this kind of student-teacher relationship take place on numerous occasions and it reminds me that we all have the ability to encourage and support those around us. We believe in our students and will help them to achieve their full potential. We all possess this power to dramatically impact those around us to a point where the world can change and be a better place. Think of how much joy this brings to God when we help each other grow to our full potential.
Mr. Mike Shukis
Superintendent
