Redding School District

It was 1952 and Bill was a partner at Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher.  That was a law firm in Los Angeles.  One morning a woman walked into his office who was seeking employment.  Bill greeted her warmly and asked her to please have a seat. Slowly the woman, smiling, did have a seat where she was asked.  Bill proceeded to have her tell a bit about herself.  The young woman began to do just that.  She was born in El Paso, Texas.  She was the eldest of three children and had graduated from a public high school in Austin and her father had always wanted her to attend Standford University and so she had.  She explained that she had completed law school in five years and graduated third in her class. 

Bill was quite impressed with her academic accomplishments and he added, what he believed to be a compliment, “Few west coast law firms would consider such a thing” but it seemed that the law firm of Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher was about to hire a woman.  Bill offered the young woman a job as a legal secretary.  It was then that the young woman’s beaming expression faded.  A secretarial job wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. 

Bill was astounded.  “What then are you looking for?” he asked.   She replied that she had hoped to become a lawyer.  Bill politely explained that such a thing was out of the question and he begged her to reconsider his offer of legal secretary.  He went on to explain that out in the real world she would learn how generous the offer really was.  What Bill had told her was true for sure.  She had already learned.  She had already visited every law firm in Los Angeles and San Francisco and this job offer was the only offer of any kind.  She was convinced that there were better things still to come. The young law school graduate turned down the secretarial job and went on her way.

Bill, the lawyer who disappointed the young law school graduate in 1952, continued to enjoy success in the practice of law.  His success culminated with his appointed as United States Attorney General in 1980.  You would know him as William French Smith.  But you might remember another name.  That disheartened young woman whose dream William French Smith did not make come true.  It was in 1952 when the law firm of Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher turned away an aspiring young lawyer who might have become that firm’s first female attorney.  This young woman could have settled for the legal secretary job but instead, Sandra Day O’Connor worked as a lawyer and became the first ever woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.  “It was a long road,” she would later confide. 

History tells us that what we think is true about systems and how things should work is often a function of the times and the rules we are forced to live in.  It takes the brave to question those times and look for innovative ways to come up with solutions that are out of the norm.  It takes the courage to step out and risk failure in order to solve problems that others tell you just can’t be solved.

As I walk about the district, I am convinced that we are more like Sandra Day O’Connor and not like William Smith.  I see staff members willing to take educated risks to do things just a bit differently in order to look for ways to help a struggling child access their education.  I am so proud of the fact that we are a district who cares about outcomes for our scholars. “I wanted to be a cattle rancher when I was young because it was what I knew and I loved it.” Sandra Day O’Connor.  See kids for who they can be, not for what the know and who they think they are.  Children only know what we are able to show them about themselves and the possibilities of their future selves.  Keep helping all of our students make connections with the better sides of who they are.

Have a great weekend,

Rob

Superintendent