on hard lessons.

Snuggling up with my pouty-faced pitbull and a supersized bag of Sour Patch Kids Xtreme, it was Netflix and quiet time in the Watson household.  Sharing a Netflix code with my brother miles away, coupled with my husband’s undying love for Marvel movies and my daughter’s new obsession with Coraline, the “Because you watched…” section usually disappoints.   

The formula fairies often offer  me something like Hotel Transylvania 2 or Captain America-far from my preferred taste.    

This time, though, Netflix got it right.  Hard Lessons, and it’s gritty eighties Valencia non- filtered movie cover caught my eye.  I love me a good teacher success story.

Five minutes deep, I had to IMDB it up.  Denzel?  Nawwww.  But it is true, teacher friends.  Denzel Washington, stars in the 1986 biopic about a New Orleans raised,  Los Angeles public school principal, Mr. George McKenna, who, in a matter of a few years, no less than transforms, not only an entire school, but the entire neighborhood.  

And this was a time when Bloods and Crips dominated Los Angeles.   The film reveals the power of gangs on school communities and the power of a principal to make education reign.  

Now I won’t divulge any more than this, but, it’s pretty evident that George McKenna was and still is one of a kind.  Many teachers and principals have come along with the hard core tough love and dedication that George McKenna has, but this man, or at least the way Denzel portrays him, is like Prince or Michael Jackson.  They have some innate magical powers.  

I wish I had the charisma of Denzel.  And the hard-to-pinpoint gifts of Mr. George McKenna.  His character in that film definitely does call me out on my nasty habit of relinquishing ownership (AKA blaming external factors) when times get tough.  As a school leader for decades, he stands by his belief that the principal is the number one factor in a school’s success.   

He takes ownership of his own role in education. McKenna knows the principal can’t do it alone, but knows that the responsibility of school success falls on us.  The adults.  Despite drugs and achievement gaps and poverty and adolescent apathy...it’s on us.  

Reluctantly swallowing some hard truth, there were lots of hard lessons for me in that film. Thank you Netflix.  And with music by Herbie Hancock, why did it take until 2017 for this movie gem to fall in my lap?  Needless to say, it’s definitely worth checking out on your next movie night.  

We may not all be George McKenna’s, but we do get one step closer each day.  

Last week, one of my colleague’s offered me some top notch reflection to brighten my day.  He said, "You know, when teaching times get tough,  I think to myself...this may be my seventh year teaching and I still haven’t figured it all out, but who knows...this could be the year."  

Hey teachers, each day, we are one step closer to being the Lebron James' of education...who knows..this could be the year.

Power to the teacher!