It was a simple little game that Mr. Monter (my first principal) played with random staff members as we came into the teacher workroom to check our mail, hit the restroom or make some quick copies. It was back when I actually drank soda and I was always down for it when he asked me, “wanna flip for a soda?”
It was a simple coin flip to determine who spent $1.00 in the soda machine. Mr. Monter would let you choose heads or tails. He’d flip the coin and if you won, he bought you a soda of your choice. Lose and you bought him one.
A simple game I thought. What I now know as a “defining moment” in my career. It was a simple game, but I now realize the sole purpose of this game was to spend a little time with each of his teachers. Two to three minutes max. Shooting the breeze, asking about family, what you were teaching in your classroom. Such a simple “game” on his part to take a couple minutes to build and reinforce a relationship with a staff member.
Truly, a defining moment for me and a precious memory as an educator.
Sadly, we lost Mr. Monter unexpectedly in 2013 at age 53 and not a day goes by that I don’t walk by the soda machine in the elementary teachers workroom and reflect upon this defining moment in my teaching career.
What I wouldn’t do to have one more coin flip with Mr. Monter.
“I’ll call heads!”
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