Steve and I have a favorite story about our move to Michigan five years ago. Following a long day at a local job fair, I received a call from an insistent Human Resources Director. She encouraged me to accept a job as a middle school principal in Southfield. Steve was fully in favor. "You should take it. You'd be good at it!" he urged. A few days later, full of romance and new beginnings, we took time out to get married in a meeting house between the birches up north on Crystal Lake with our families. When we returned home to our new house, in a new city, I wisely announced, "I can't take the Southfield principal job. You'd never see me!" God had alternate plans. Instead, I joined Detroit Public Schools in charge of professional development for their new literacy program and later the Reading First Literacy Grant in thirty-two schools.
Five years into the Literacy Initiative, Steve is still my best cheerleader and we have accomplished:
* Over 500,000 hours of professional development devoted to literacy.
* 45 Literacy Coaches leading teachers to improve classroom reading instruction.
* A Reading Leaders Institute where principals learn to make wise decisions as instructional leaders.
* Literacy Walks for principals, coaches and teachers to observe master teachers in the Learning Community.
* State-wide recognition as an exemplary Reading First program.
* Rising test scores: an average 45% increase in students scoring at the proficient level on the 4th grade MEAP Reading Assessment. (Reading First Schools 2002-2006)
Dear God, when we grow weary in your mission, teach us to hibernate, to play with those who love us, to celebrate the breakthroughs, and to remember always that your timeline stretches through generations and can't be rushed. Amen.
Ginny Axon
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