Fish With Your Faculty to Build Relationships

The Fish! Philosophy was born of wildly successful Seattle fish meisters. Their approach to work and life led Charthouse (click for the website) to frame a “philosophy” based on four very simple tenets: 1. Make someone’s day whenever possible. 2. Play at work and at home. 3. Be there for people with whom we work, live, and love. 4. Choose your attitude each and every day (and try to make it a positive attitude at that).

Steve Mintz from Charthouse facilitates a wonderful three-hour highly motivating and inspirational session with people who invite him in. He’s worked with corporations, non-profit organizations and, of course, school teachers and administrators. His work and the four Fish! principles remind us how important it is to invest time into building relationships. Schools are institutions of relationships, not just “houses of learning.” Trusting, congenial ties among people are the cornerstones of healthy learning connections.

What better way to bring elementary, middle, and high school teachers and administrators together than to spend a day involving them in engaging and uplifting activities? Fish! compels everyone to step out of their comfort zones and interact with peers in ways they’ve not interacted before. Not everyone will be on-board with this approach to fostering team-building, but it is important to take the risk and expend the leadership capital for the sake of creating a healthy and nurturing learning community.