As the school year approaches the Big Hairy Audacious Vision (BHAV) for Pelican Rapids Schools is getting more streamlined and sophisticated as is our new buddy HARRY, the not so shy Big Foot. 

HARRY (Heart-Attitude-Respect-Resilience-WhY) came to Pelican Rapids High School last year looking to help students and staff be the best that they can be.  This year he is working to be even less scary and fit right in with the gang at both Pelican Rapids Schools.  He is sporting a new “refined” look and with this new look comes a more refined vision:

BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS VISION

Pelican Rapids Schools are the best schools in the nation to learn, grow, & work

To help students and staff understand what it means to be the best school in the nation HARRY decided to break it down this way:

• How will students and staff feel? - Members of the school community will feel seen, known and loved.
• What will you remember? - While at the Pelican Rapids Schools you were challenged to constantly create a better you.  You felt supported.  You had meaningful and rewarding relationships.
• Who do you want to become? - The person you were meant to be.  The best version of you.  Impactful, service driven and a positive force for good.
• What is our Mission? - To be transformational leaders working to help make each other’s lives better.

Students and staff will be called upon to take an active role in helping HARRY realize this vision during the 2022-23 school year.   We will be challenged to be proactive with our lives because in order to be the best we can be, we have to do what is best.  To help in this part of the journey HARRY will be using the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® as a tool to teach students and staff how to be in a state of constant improvement and growth.

• Habit #1: Be Proactive – Realizing that we are in control of our thoughts, attitudes, and actions.  
• Habit #2: Begin with the End in Mind – Having a vision, mission, goal, objective, destination, or plan greatly improves our effectiveness.
• Habit #3: Put First Things First –Deciding what are the most important things we need to do to reach our goals and be our best.
• Habit #4: Think Win-Win – Turning our sights on even higher greatness by looking at how we can help others achieve their greatness.
• Habit #5: Seek first to Understand and then to be Understood – Striving to be emphatic listeners.  Seeking to truly understand one another.
• Habit #6: Synergy – Working together to achieve more than we could do on our own.
• Habit #7: Sharpen the Saw – Realizing we need to take time to recharge our mind, body and spirit.

Creating the nation’s best school is a Big Hairy Audacious Vision but HARRY is a big enough fellow, with a big enough heart to help the students and staff at Pelican Rapids Schools move towards that vision.