Christopher Russo
Leading to Serve
I have been a Assistant Superintendent, a Director, a teacher, a father, a husband, a farmer and an artist. I have been to a lot of places but I currently call Paraguay home.
Christopher Russo's Story
Who Am I
I am a father, a husband, a dedicated educator of over 25 years, a visionary leader and challenger of thought. I embrace the charge of living my life to the fullest and to equally give back from the experiences that have shaped me.
Artistic Expression
Art and the expression there within has given my life dimension. Whether manifested through the brush, a hammer and nail, through the exploration of a new pedagogical approach, or within the dynamics of working with new team of individuals- there is fulfillment and creativity though its expression.
Imagination
Imagination has always served me well, from conceiving a new idea or trend, to problem solving using out of the box thinking.
Creativity
I have always believed that each individual holds an inner artist, and that artist can manifest through any endeavor, from financing to teaching, from managing to revisioning.
Taking Risks
Life is about taking risks to elevate the self and world around us. I'm not saying to do with wild abandon, but with intent and focus and with an awareness of impact.
World Citizen
I believe that our “selves” will change, evolve and develop many times to where we may not recognize who we are in the end. Teaching our kids that we are part of a wonderfully complex world and through the experience of becoming part and open to what it offers, can only serve to elevate us and make us better human beings.
Tolerance
I spent over a month in Nepal and much of that in observation of how Budhism permeated every part or Nepali life. Through experience comes appreciation, though appreciation one can find the building blocks to tolerance and acceptance.
Contentment
We traveled for break to Costa Rica spending time on both beach and in rain forest embracing a tropical peace and wayfarer's contentment. When open to it, peace and contentment can shape the best of our many selves.
Reflection
A week long drive through northern Argentina, through mountains of infinite colors and ancient stories. Through endless hours on the road we found reflection and through it an appreciation of life's journey.
Living through Experience
Whether working with hands and building a chicken coup, rehabbing an old house, or coordinate the building of a 21st century learning center--the knowledge learned has application. Geometry, negotiation skills, patience, physical coordination, artistic design--all are skills I was taught by those around me and further cultivated through their support and encouragement. Many times, and with good reason, it is seasoned with some greater or lesser constructive feedback. The picture is of the living room of our first total house rehab. Everything we had came together to transform this house into what we as a family wanted it to be.
My Beliefs...
I am often asked what I find is the most important job of an educator. As teachers, we understand well the power of story in our classrooms. The following story goes straight to the heart of what I feel is perhaps the most important attribute that an effective educator can help a student to develop.
At the age of two, a little boy sat on the couch with his papa. His father kissed him on the head and asked, “Little man, who are you?” A round face with big eyes looked up and responded,” I am me, papa. I am me!”
At five years old, his father asked him the same question again, this time while strolling through an antique car show. “Who are you, my man?” the father said, gently squeezing the little hand wrapped inside his own. An excited expression spread across the boy’s face. “Luke Skywalker, papa!”
At ten, his father posed the same question, "Son, who are you?" The boy was dressed in his baseball uniform and was getting into the car to go to his first game. “I’m a baseball player,dad,” he spoke with confidence, “and someday I’m going to play for the Yankees!”
At fifteen, the boy’s father looked across the dinner table and asked the question once again. His son wore a Metallica T-shirt. His face was partially covered by long, dyed hair. Next to the boy’s plate was a book by Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil. “Who are you?” his father repeated the question. The tone of irritation in his voice was impossible to hide. His son hesitated, not unlike a philosopher in the certainty of his own conviction, and responded, “I don’t know. How can anyone know who they are?”
At twenty-five, the same young man was asked the question again, but this time not by his father. His father had passed several years earlier from cancer, and four years had gone by before his mother took up the torch and continued the tradition of asking. "Who are you?" she asked in her best motherly voice. He was home from university after finishing his Masters. The young man responded with confidence, "I'm a college graduate and a world traveler. And I feel like I can do anything!" By 25, he had traveled and lived in some 15 countries and spoke three languages.
At thirty-seven, after being married for several years, his wife this time asked the question. “Who are you?” she asked. He considered the question for a moment. “I’m your husband, a father, and I am an educator. These are what define me,” he concluded.
At forty, the question was now memorized. Having been asked time and time again. "Who are you," he said, looking in the mirror. A middle-aged face, with deep reflection, stared back. He had been practicing answering this question for many years, and the answer should have come easily. But for some reason, it didn’t. There were so many professions he had, so many interests, so many life-changing experiences. How could he quantify/express/answer that question and do it justice? He looked at himself in the mirror a moment longer, tracing the lines on his face that hadn’t been there in his thirties. “I am me,” he said aloud, the voice of his two-year-old self coming through and taking hold. “I am me.”
* *. *
I want every child to ask this question of him or herself. For life will be filled with opportunity and experience beyond imagination. Our children's "selves" will change, evolve and develop many times to where they may not recognize who they are in the end. And this, of course, follows the natural order of things. So, amongst those changes, those many "selves" that will come and go, from the fifteen-year-old existentialist to the 37-year-old father or mother, our children need to remember the one thing that is constant and forever underneath it all. You are “you” and always will be uniquely “you.” And that self isn't one-dimensional but multi-faceted and for certain a completely beautiful self in all its many iterations.
As educators, and particularly as a school director or superintendent, it’s our job to help our students navigate, explore and expound upon this truth so that we get the best out of each and every child. This is the cornerstone of my leadership style and a hallmark of my personal philosophy.
So, when we ask our children who they are (often meaning who they’ll become), our response should be, “simply be ‘you’ and be the best ‘you’ that you can be.” And if they struggle, which a student will do to a greater or lesser extent, know that all of us will be there to challenge and support them, so they reach their best possible selves.