Partnership Educators,
It was on April 1, of all days, the WJZTV news director called Gale into his office. If only it could have been an April 1st gag because it was Gary who hired this 22-year-old reporter in the first place. "You are no longer co-anchoring the news," he said grimly. I am sorry, it just did not work out.
Oh, she had seen it coming and truthfully everybody had. For all the on-camera spontaneity and empathy that had made her such a popular reporter in Nashville, it only made her look naive and amateurish in this major market in Baltimore. Every mistake that Gale had ever made over the last nine months scrolled painfully across her mind.
For example in the theory that pre-reading the news made it sound stale, Gail sight-read the teleprompter during her newscast that way, she explained to her colleagues, the viewers and I will be learning the news together.
But yet sometimes these nightly readings lead to stumbling and bumbling and sometimes grotesque mispronunciations. But there was something else. No matter how hard she tried, Gail could not remain detached from the stories she covered.
She recalled one assignment in particular where she was to interview a woman who had lost her home in a fire. When Gail and her crew arrived at the scene, they found the women wandering within the smoldering rubble in a grief-stricken daze. "This story is inappropriate to put on the air," she telephoned Gary. Told she would be fired if she refused, Gail proceeded with the interview, and hearing from the woman’s trembling lips that the fire had not only taken everything she owned but also the seven children, Gail too began to sob uncontrollably.
But WJZTV had another problem with Gail. What to do with her. Her six-figure salary still had years to run its course so it would be financially impractical to retire her. So station executives talked it over and they decided that she needed a new look. A makeover. "We are going to send you to the most expensive exclusive beauty salon in New York," they announced.
But because of an error in the brewing of an expensive concoction, Gail returned to Baltimore utterly bald. There was only one thing left to do for Gail. Let her hair grow back and drop her into an unobtrusive morning fill-in show called “People are Talking.” Let her make her mistakes and let her contract expire.
That was many years ago and people have been talking ever since. Because once upon a dashed dream there was a young reporter who was just simply too spontaneous and too empathetic for the news, who learned the hard way that there is a difference between reading a teleprompter and just plain talking and listening to people. Which she does as well as anyone ever has. Yes, you know who this bald news disaster is, don’t you? You might know her as Oprah Gail Winfrey.
Many thanks for your persistence in finding the "right fit" for our students within our system of schooling. Looking at our policies, processes, and programs and figuring out new and robust ways to help our students achieve great heights, build their personal interests, and find their place in their future is the grand work of schools. I am proud of our work and the plethora of opportunities that we have developed for our students to build their love of learning. Thanks for being the champion for your kids every day in your continued search for systems that get better and better results.
Superintendent Search Update: The interview process is moving forward as planned and will be continuing through the month of March.
Guest Writers: I have enjoyed writing these "
Stories of Us" pieces for the last six years and have just a few more weeks left before I transition out of this office. If you would like to be a guest writer for one of my last few futures "Stories of Us" episodes, please feel free to submit your fully written story to me. I will choose a few to share and give credit to the guest writer for that piece.
Have a fantastic weekend,
Rob