SUPER MONDAY

A motivational and informational morning message from Superintendent Willis

Week 22 ~ January 15th, 2024

Super Monday Message

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! The holiday is celebrated on the third Monday of January each year. That means that most years it doesn’t actually fall on MLK’s birthday. This year, however, we observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day on his actual birthday, January 15th. If he was alive, he would be 95 years old today. 

Today I would like to share four of my favorite parts of a speech Dr. King gave at a middle school. Mr. Barney shared this speech with me some time ago and I include a link to the full speech. On October 26, 1967 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. took a detour from his busy speaking schedule to appear at a middle school in Philadelphia. He was received with great enthusiasm and his words are still powerful today.

The speech is most often titled “What Is Your Life Blueprint,” as Dr. King tries to get the young people to imagine their life as a building plan where an education is an essential element. The first of my favorite quotes is, “‘Don’t allow anybody to make you feel that you are nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.” You should feel that way because it’s true, you are that important.

Another great quote is about telling students that no matter what career they pursue, they should strive to be the very best at it. He says, “If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of Heaven and Earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.”

Despite the opposition that Dr. King faced at times, he still encouraged patriotism. He told the students, “However young you are, you have a responsibility to seek to make your nation a better nation in which to live. You have a responsibility to seek to make life better for everybody. And so you must be involved in the struggle for freedom and justice.” Those words are still true today and in addition to however young you, it’s true however old you are. 

The last quote I’ll share are the final words of his speech. He encouraged students to press forward toward our dreams no matter what. He ended the speech with the words, “If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving!”

Great words to start a great day. Have the best MLK Day!

Super High Fives

Just a couple of the awesome recent accomplishments that need a big thank you. 

• A super high five to Troy Allan who has returned to Piute County School District as a part-time mental health coordinator. Dr. Allan will be supporting all three district schools and we’re excited to have him back. 
  • Here’s a link to a parent letter from Troy explaining some resources
• A super high five to CUES (Central Utah Educational Services) who recently received grant funding to provide free online parenting resources to school districts in the Central Utah Region. Click here to see more information
  • Parent guidance series events dates

Other Super Information

• Winter Sports Schedule
• Draft 2024-2025 School District Calendar

Super Weekly Schedule