Forge Your Daughter to be W.O.R.T.H.Y.

Welcome to The Lyd's Off

What Happened to My Dream Deferred

I've taught PC Applications to middle schoolers for almost a decade now. While most of my friends were retiring I was venturing into a new career; I have wanted to teach for as long as I can remember. My degree from Kent State University is in Education, but when I graduated, a teacher's salary was much less than one of a mortgage loan originator. I was a single mom with two daughters, so I put teaching on the back burner. My dream would have evaporated there had it not been for Edie Cramer. She was a teacher recruiter and my work-auntie in the HR office at Columbus City Schools. She sensed I was not being fulfilled taking fingerprints and issuing ID badges all day. One morning she asked, "You have your MBA, don't you?" I replied, "Yes." Then she said, "I may just have a job for you, you'll be great."

Business Meets Education

"Have you lost your mind?", I squealed. "I haven't stepped foot in a classroom since I completed my student teaching." She said, "Alright, your TeacherMatch testing is at noon, and your interview is at 3". "What am I supposed to do Edie, pull TeacherMatch answers out of my...?" She smiled and said, "Yes." So as I was sitting in front of the screen waiting for the test prompts, I decided I would answer the questions as if I were a department manager and my students were my employees. Although my test score could not be revealed, I was informed when I returned from the interview, that it was one of the highest in the district ever.

Education Meets Business

Yes, middle school students hazing new teachers is as horrific as you've heard. But, I weathered the storm without much collateral damage; I still enjoy every single day I go to work. A sad reality for me though, is that too many of my students either don't know how learn or don't care to learn. The art of teaching is an immense science. Sometimes, though, aspects of the craft are hypothesized, scrutinized, and re-revised to the point of needing euthanized. Like in the medical profession (from my experience), teaching has become a practice of CYA. Rather than carrying malpractice insurance, we post standards and lesson plans. Are standards and lesson plans needed? AB-SO-LUTE-LY! But what do we do when students are not prepared academically or socially to meet the standard or complete the assignment? I believe this is the dilemma which feeds the achievement gap.

My Closing Message

While in the banking business I spent time with professionals from a variety of fields from homemakers and athletes, to entrepreneurs and musicians, CEOs, models, lawyers, actors...you name it. I observed that one characteristic they all had in common was their worthiness in pursuing their endeavor. I'm not talking about self-confidence. I'm making reference to a belief system they all possessed. They taught me that the genesis of success in any pathway one may choose is implementing what I call The Worthy Principle. They Work hard, Own their destiny, Respect life, Think critically, Hold themselves accountable, and Yearn to learn. This is the social business your daughters must own and operate to have a positive academic middle school experience and to succeed in life.

My passion is to teach your daughter how to start that business.