It's one of the first things you hear if you join the military......."Don't volunteer for anything". Now if it's time to start going on recon missions, taking the point on an offensive, or trying out the effects of some new chemical weapons, that makes perfect sense. One too many "volunteers" in the military has suffered the consequences of their own willingness to be the guinea pig, prove their machismo, or obey orders blindly. The caution against volunteering is often based in the harsh reality of what happens to those who volunteer!
The same attitudes can, at times, also be evident in the life of most organizations. The "everybody's" think that "somebody" ought to do it, but often "nobody" does what "anybody" could do. Therefore, a small handful of folks end up carrying the vast majority of the workload for the entire group! There's even a principle that is used in business circles to explain this phenomenon! It's called the Prato Principle - ”20% of the people in any organization will do 80% of the work".
One of the blessings of being a part of Crossroads Christian School is realizing how often we "break" that principle! Our parents and staff are pretty amazing people! While it's true that we require parents to put in some "service hours" to help us keep costs down, the reality is most of you would serve whether you had to or not. In my brief tenure I've been incredibly impressed with the level of dedication of our volunteer force. In just the last few months we've seen dedicated painting crews transform our classrooms, parents going on field trips left and right, playground helpers come out of the woodwork, classroom assistants working with our teachers, tons of folks working games at our Family Fun Night, and now dedicated of "chilly" crews working on our Christmas tree lot! Whenever there's a need, we just put the word out and folks raise their hands to volunteer. Obviously they were never in the military!! :)
Some of you have already gone far beyond the call of duty!! And there are so many others worthy to be mentioned I can't even remember them all! Therefore, let me just say "THANK YOU" to "everybody" who decided they were the "somebody" that could do what "anybody" could do when "nobody" else was available. My former commanding officers back in my military days wouldn't believe it -- Volunteers who not only raise their hands, but actually seem to enjoying serving. It's been a phenomenal blessing to watch you in action and participate with you in service to CCS! You are the heart of the school and everything that is right about what we do here! I trust you will be blessed as much as you've blessed us!!
The same attitudes can, at times, also be evident in the life of most organizations. The "everybody's" think that "somebody" ought to do it, but often "nobody" does what "anybody" could do. Therefore, a small handful of folks end up carrying the vast majority of the workload for the entire group! There's even a principle that is used in business circles to explain this phenomenon! It's called the Prato Principle - ”20% of the people in any organization will do 80% of the work".
One of the blessings of being a part of Crossroads Christian School is realizing how often we "break" that principle! Our parents and staff are pretty amazing people! While it's true that we require parents to put in some "service hours" to help us keep costs down, the reality is most of you would serve whether you had to or not. In my brief tenure I've been incredibly impressed with the level of dedication of our volunteer force. In just the last few months we've seen dedicated painting crews transform our classrooms, parents going on field trips left and right, playground helpers come out of the woodwork, classroom assistants working with our teachers, tons of folks working games at our Family Fun Night, and now dedicated of "chilly" crews working on our Christmas tree lot! Whenever there's a need, we just put the word out and folks raise their hands to volunteer. Obviously they were never in the military!! :)
Some of you have already gone far beyond the call of duty!! And there are so many others worthy to be mentioned I can't even remember them all! Therefore, let me just say "THANK YOU" to "everybody" who decided they were the "somebody" that could do what "anybody" could do when "nobody" else was available. My former commanding officers back in my military days wouldn't believe it -- Volunteers who not only raise their hands, but actually seem to enjoying serving. It's been a phenomenal blessing to watch you in action and participate with you in service to CCS! You are the heart of the school and everything that is right about what we do here! I trust you will be blessed as much as you've blessed us!!
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