The Achilles Heel of Change

Achilles was one of the principal players in the Trojan War, and star of Homer's Illiad.  He was handsome, strong, cool, a real legend.  I guess one can equate him nowadays with, oh, Derek Jeter (the World Series is on my mind) or a stud football player.  However, Achilles had a bit of a problem.  He was invulnerable except for his heel (seriously, his heel?  Where do people come up with these ideas?!).  And, of course, he was killed by an arrow shot...yes... in his heel.  Bad luck for po' Achilles.
I was reading today about identification of gifted and talented students.  Always a juicy subject.  I like the work of Joe Renzulli (well, that would be Dr. Joseph Renzulli to me, since I've never met him... but I did meet his wife, the esteemed Dr. Sally Reis of gifted education fame), and I in particular like the three conceptual rings of giftedness (above-average ability, task commitment, and creativity).  That model makes giftedness more personal, less of a numbers game.  I was reading an article that was written by Dr. Renzulli, and in it he referred to the Achilles Heel of Change.  Being a language arts teacher, I loved the metaphor, and it inspired me to write about change as it pertains to Harriet Bishop.  He writes, "Even the modest changes in the status quo inevitably raise concerns and questions on the parts of practitioners who might be affected by the proposed changes."  Harriet Bishop is experiencing changes in the status quo, and many are affected by the changes.  That has been duly noted, and extensively considered.  But what has changed, really?
We have an increased number of identified gifted students in our school.  They have not necessarily been identified as "gifted" across the board - meaning that they may be gifted in one area.  But they certainly are needing challenge in their daily school lives.
We are working hard to flexibly cluster our students based on many things, and that means a shake-up of how some things were done in the past.  Pre-assessments, figuring out grades between teachers, the list goes on and on.  What the list provides, however, is a better, fuller way to meet the needs of ALL students.
We have two new programs in our school - strings and Spanish.  Scheduling of time and space has been a dance.
We have a mission statement that takes into account the needs of all learners - all of them.
These are all changes to Harriet Bishop - ones that we can't take at face value, and ones that we must serve fully.
Renzulli then writes, "The Achilles Heel of change is not guidelines, but apathy."  (Isn't that awesome?  I think so!)  If we believe in the change that we have instituted, then we must mobilize.  We must become the change we want to see (Thanks, Ghandhi!).  Apathy isn't part of the equation.  It just isn't.  We have work to do - all of us...the entire Harriet Bishop community - staff, students, families, the community.  We can question the changes, because that makes us reflective of the process.  We can voice concern - AND celebrate the successes, because that forces us to take a broad look at exactly what is going on.  But we must be committed members of the team.  There are wonderful things going on here at Harriet Bishop.  There always have been wonderful things going on at Harriet Bishop. 
Let's look at Achilles again.  The reason he was vulnerable in his heel was because when he was little, his mother Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him into the River Styx ("come sail away, come sail away, come and sail away with me!").  Well, she got most of him - all but his heel.  Trying to completely protect didn't work, and that was ultimately Achilles' downfall.  Every single thing, every single person, has an Achilles heel.  Knowing what it is, is the best way to protect against it.  We can celebrate all that Harriet Bishop has been historically, and celebrate the new things that Harriet Bishop has embraced, knowing that they are good for all learners. This is GOOD change.