Mottos, Slogans and Actions
- PDF / 139,116 Bytes
- 2 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 34 Downloads / 220 Views
EDITORIAL
Mottos, Slogans and Actions McIntyre R. Louthan
Published online: 12 December 2008 Ó ASM International 2008
My wife, Fran, and I were eating lunch in the Sun Rock Cafe´ when a slogan captured our attention. It was on the backs of T-shirts worn by Cafe´ personnel and on an identical shirt being worn by the CEO of the Cafe´. The slogan was ‘‘To Guide, Assist, and Make a Difference.’’ The Sun Rock Cafe´ is the lunchroom in two of our grandchildren’s school, and the CEO is Randy Hudson, Principal of Spring Hill Elementary. This wasn’t the first time we had eaten at Sun Rock Cafe´ because Hunter and Ellison invite us for lunch virtually every time we visit Fayetteville, GA, and we had eaten with Austin when he was in elementary school. Our experiences at Spring Hill have been wonderful. We have been guided to classrooms, the library, and Sun Rock Cafe´. We have been assisted in the process of signing into the school, in locating a specific teacher, and in receiving homework for the grandchildren when we took them away from school for a week-long trip to Yellowstone National Park. Spring Hill has made a difference in our lives and in the lives of our grandchildren and their parents. Spring Hill lives up to its slogan better than most places I have ever visited. We initially saw the T-shirt slogan while waiting for Ellison to join us for lunch and were commenting on its appropriateness when the principal came over to our table, introduced himself, and asked if there was anything he could do to help. I thanked him for his interest, told him we were simply waiting to eat lunch with Ellison (Hunter eats later in the day), and asked where he got that wonderful slogan. ‘‘It comes from the Baffin Region of the Canadian Arctic,’’ Mr. Hudson said, and we chatted for a few moments more. He then moved to another set of visitors to M. R. Louthan (&) Box 623, Radford, VA 24143, USA e-mail: [email protected]
again offer his services in guiding, assisting, and making a difference. Toward the end of Hunter’s lunch period, Mr. Hudson returned to our table with a single page flyer describing the origin of the slogan. The Inukshuk (pronounced IN-OOK-SHOOK) are, according to the flyer, magnificent, lifelike stone figures which were erected by the Inuit people, who live in the Baffin Region, to act as a compass or guide for a safe journey. These primitive stone images were erected to make the way easier and safer for those who follow, and show a pathway to safety, nourishment, trust, and assurance. The flyer stated that if the Inukshuk could speak they would have said, ‘‘Here is the road. It is safe. You can meet the demands that this path holds. You can reach your goals and attain your vision of where you want to be.’’ Two sentences at the end of the flyer were prepared for the parents, grandparents, teachers, office staff, custodians, administrators, and anyone working with young people in the school. These sentences simply stated ‘‘Today is Friday, September 5, 2008. We hope that the Inook will be a daily reminder to
Data Loading...
