Smooth Sailing
By Allen A. Raymond, Publisher

My love of sailing began when I was old enough to walk. First, it was toy sailboats I'd excitedly push around in the bathtub. Then it was larger toy sailboats I'd try to sail in ponds or on the waters in front of our Connecticut summer cottage on Long Island Sound.

Finally, when I was probably 12 years old, I'd saved enough money to buy, with a last-minute cash infusion from my father, "a real boat." It was a small racing sailboat, one of perhaps 2,000 in a class of supposedly identical sailboats called "Snipes."

I say "supposedly identical" because, while all were built to a specific design, boat builders were able to tweak certain aspects – maybe a lighter mast, for instance – and, while staying within the rules, be able to combine (through trial and error) certain design options that would result in a slightly faster boat. And "slightly faster" was often counted in seconds, not minutes.

The true differences in boats, however, is not just "boat speed," although that is important. The truly significant difference is in the skills and teamwork of the skipper and crew. For example, as my boat's skipper, if I wanted to change course, I'd say, "Ready about," followed in seconds by "Hard a-lee."

At that instant I'd swiftly turn the boat in another direction, the crew would re-trim the jib on the other side of the boat, and then we'd both shift our bodies to control the boat's balance and speed.

Little was said, everything was timed precisely and, like a well-oiled machine, we tried to pick up a second or two on our competitors as we carefully (and skillfully, we hoped) worked our way around the challenging racecourse.

Sailboat racing is not a sport for people with short fuses and hot tempers, although it seems to gather its share of those types of individuals (because racing sailboats can be quite intense). Overall, however, it's peopled by individuals who can keep their heads when all about them are losing theirs.

In a sailboat, for example, one must instinctively know who does what when the skipper "hardens up" on a new tack (turns in a new direction) and suddenly the mast breaks. Been there, done that.

Like the attributes in a good teacher (and you and I would not be talking with each other if you were not such a teacher), successful sailboat racing requires magnificent teamwork, compatibility between skipper and crew (no matter the size of the boat or the number of crew) and specific skills found almost nowhere else – except, I believe, in your classroom.

Racing a sailboat – or even taking a leisurely sail on a beautiful day – requires an all-consuming commitment and a dedication to teamwork on the part of every single person on board the boat.
Commitment. Teamwork. Sound familiar? Your classroom, maybe?

As you know, month after month we personally visit classrooms all over the country, something we have been doing for 35 years. It is a joy – a "perk" of our job – and a tremendously uplifting experience.

During those visits we marvel at the skill with which you creatively manage your classrooms; it mirrors all of the attributes of an excellent sailor (you wondered how I was going to get there, didn't you?).

And, like a sailor, your skills, your collegiality, your coolness under fire, your love for what you do, and most of all, your commitment, are what make you as good as you are. I wish you smooth sailing – always.

Allen Raymond is the Editor/Publisher for Teaching Pre K-8.