Zoopotia... If you have kids 10 and under, you have surely made it out to the theaters to see this new animated film. A "cute" Disney animated film about a rabbit, Judy, who, who is SUPPOSED to stick to her assigned role in society and mind the farms, decides that she wants to make a difference in the world by becoming Zootopia's first rabbit cop amongst the "true" giant Rhino, Tiger, and Elephant cops. She is doubted by all, her family, her friends, and even the "supposed" law-abiding government officials, behind her back, of course, who think this cute little rabbit is not smart enough to see through their conniving deceit. Check out this quick trailer-
If you search on the web about the theme or underlying meaning of the movie, you will find many tie it "inclusion" or "racism". I mean, seriously, anyone can tie a movie or book to these hot topics these days... What jumped out at ME personally while watching this movie was the rabbit's perseverance, proactive attitude, strength in character, and ability to seek first to understand to determine how she could use her new-found-fox-friend's strengths to help her save the Zootopia society. OH THE HABITS, who knew there could be so many in one children's film!?!? They are oozing through this movie! The best part is that Judy can be found repeating throughout the movie, "Change starts with you" and "Anyone can be anything." It is unfortunate that no one believes Judy until she is able to prove them wrong at the end of the movie. She, one tiny rabbit, is able to show what a leader she can be just by believing in herself and her potential when no one else believed in her.
This is true to the leadership paradigm that we hold about our students. There will be some that are so resilient that they will believe in themselves and their potential without us telling them, and there will be others who will rely on these resilient models around them to help them see that change can "start with them" and that they "can be anything", and sometimes that message can come from unexpected places, even tiny rabbits that seem out of place :) True leaders help others see their full potential and live up to it, just like Judy does with the Fox.
As we prepare for our 1st round of our state STAAR testing tomorrow, I know that most administrators are fretting over what will happen and if their students will perform. I, personally, am the most calm I have ever been before a STAAR administration. I know that we have instilled the message in our students that they can be anything and that their potential starts with them. The rest is out of our hands! Our staff decided to design inspiration shirts for testing days this year that focused on the true meaning of what we are doing at CSE which state "We Can and We Will." This message is perfect for our students and what we teach them on a daily basis... You CAN accomplish your dreams and if you desire it and work for it, then you WILL. There isn't much more too it. Not sure about you, but that sure brings me peace to think about. Good luck on STAAR to all of my fellow Texas educators and go see Zooptopia if you haven't!!!
