Several days ago I heard about the death of a dear friend. I sat down and wrote a post about her, had a glitch in my computer, rebooted, and lost it.
I'm of the mind that everything happens for a reason, so maybe the tribute post wasn't what it needed to be, so I will try again. My second effort is below.
Michelle Karns was one of the smartest people I know. She was an educational consultant who worked for, and had contracts with, schools and school districts all over the United States.
She was also a grant writer with an incredible success rate in getting grants funded.
One of the districts Michelle worked for was Sacramento City Unified School District, and specifically, my school, to help turn it around. We were traditionally low performing. One of the biggest issues facing us was our leadership turnaround. We had four principals in five years. It's hard to move forward with that kind of revolving door.
Michelle worked very closely with principal number four, who had the longest tenure of two years. Their partnership was successful, and lead to a wonderful lifelong friendship.
Michelle was also a great motivational speaker and was hired to give keynote addresses at districtwide events far and wide. I had the pleasure of accompanying her to one in Southern California. She had that room, filled with thousands of people, mesmerized. She was in her element.
Michelle hired me to go on school visits with her. She needed a second eye to confirm what she was seeing. This was my first time walking into a school with a critical eye, looking for what was working and not working. It was an effective precursor to my later work as a site administrator.
Health issues slowed her down. This decline progressed to where she was confined to a wheelchair. However, even with those limitations, she continued to work.
During my first year as principal, Michelle had a longterm hospital stay. I would stop by to see her on my way home from work. When my Mom was hospitalized for months, neighbors and friends would check up on her, which my brothers and I greatly appreciated because we lived so far away. So in a small way, stopping to see Michelle was my way of paying it forward.
Many times conversations with Michelle were monologues. She was great talking to the masses, but wasn't as comfortable one-on-one.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention her generosity. Michelle was an author of several books and had tons of resources, many of them created by her, that she shared liberally. She had an incredibly giving spirit.
This doesn't begin to encapsulate all who Michelle was, and all the wonderful things she did, but I hope it gives an idea of the positive impact she had on my life, and the lives of so many others.
Rest in peace, my friend.
I'm of the mind that everything happens for a reason, so maybe the tribute post wasn't what it needed to be, so I will try again. My second effort is below.
Michelle Karns was one of the smartest people I know. She was an educational consultant who worked for, and had contracts with, schools and school districts all over the United States.
She was also a grant writer with an incredible success rate in getting grants funded.
One of the districts Michelle worked for was Sacramento City Unified School District, and specifically, my school, to help turn it around. We were traditionally low performing. One of the biggest issues facing us was our leadership turnaround. We had four principals in five years. It's hard to move forward with that kind of revolving door.
Michelle worked very closely with principal number four, who had the longest tenure of two years. Their partnership was successful, and lead to a wonderful lifelong friendship.
Michelle was also a great motivational speaker and was hired to give keynote addresses at districtwide events far and wide. I had the pleasure of accompanying her to one in Southern California. She had that room, filled with thousands of people, mesmerized. She was in her element.
Michelle hired me to go on school visits with her. She needed a second eye to confirm what she was seeing. This was my first time walking into a school with a critical eye, looking for what was working and not working. It was an effective precursor to my later work as a site administrator.
Health issues slowed her down. This decline progressed to where she was confined to a wheelchair. However, even with those limitations, she continued to work.
During my first year as principal, Michelle had a longterm hospital stay. I would stop by to see her on my way home from work. When my Mom was hospitalized for months, neighbors and friends would check up on her, which my brothers and I greatly appreciated because we lived so far away. So in a small way, stopping to see Michelle was my way of paying it forward.
Many times conversations with Michelle were monologues. She was great talking to the masses, but wasn't as comfortable one-on-one.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention her generosity. Michelle was an author of several books and had tons of resources, many of them created by her, that she shared liberally. She had an incredibly giving spirit.
This doesn't begin to encapsulate all who Michelle was, and all the wonderful things she did, but I hope it gives an idea of the positive impact she had on my life, and the lives of so many others.
Rest in peace, my friend.
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