Superintendent delivers message of the power of positivity
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Dr. Joe Sanfelippo, superintendent of Fall Creek School District, which has gained a national following on social media since he was named to the position in 2011, delivered a keynote speech to Greene County teachers at a recent in-service day. Sanfelippo’s passionate, enthusiastic and humorous leadership earned him a National Superintendent of the Year Award in 2019.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Dr. Joe Sanfelippo, Superintendent of rural Fall Creek, Wisc., School District, shares a laugh with Central Greene School District seventh-grade biology teacher Erin Cunningham during a break in the in-service day conference last week. Sanfelippo uses social media to share the stories of teachers and students, and the #gocrickets hashtag has earned thousands of followers.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Teachers in Greene County school districts participated in Dr. Joe Sanfelippo’s interactive keynote speech during an Oct. 1 in-service day. Sanfelippo, a nationally recognized superintendent for Fall Creek School District in Wisconsin, spoke about the difference teachers make in their schools and communities, and how to use social media to share those stories.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Dr. Joe Sanfelippo, superintendent of Fall Creek School District in Wisconsin, has become a superstar in the field of education for using positivity, passion, and social media to share the stories of the students, teachers, and staff in the rural district.
Dr. Joe Sanfelippo, superintendent of rural Fall Creek (Wis.) School District knows the challenges and rewards of small, rural school districts.
So when the superintendents of Greene County’s five school districts invited him to serve as keynote speaker during a countywide in-service day for teachers and staff last week, Sanfelippo jumped at the opportunity.
Irrepressibly upbeat and a rock star in the field of education, Sanfelippo delivered a message of the power of positivity, technology and social media.
Sanfelippo’s efforts to build a culture that celebrates students and the entire school staff – bus drivers, custodians, paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers among them – and then use social media to tell the stories of the good things happening in classrooms have been impactful.
Since Sanfelippo was named superintendent in 2011 – he was the fifth in six years at Fall Creek, which has 850 students in one K-12 building – the school district, home of the Fall Creek Crickets, has amassed thousands of followers on its social media feeds, and the community has embraced the Go Crickets theme.
“Every single interaction matters because every single one of them has the opportunity to be the one that people talk about for the rest of their life,” said Sanfelippo.
Sanfelippo told teachers and staff they “have a profound impact on the people that you serve, on the kids, on your colleagues. You change the lives of kids. That’s what you do. You change the trajectory of communities because of the way you treat kids.”
He encouraged educators to “recognize those moments of awe that happen around you all the time,” acknowledge them, and extend them by sharing those moments.
Sanfelippo said school districts should build a culture of storytelling, noting that, in the absence of knowledge, people will make up their own stories.
He showed a Twitter photo of a Fall Creek High School senior walking a 4-year-old child down a hallway to class, and said, “That happens in our school, but you didn’t know that happened in our school until right now.”
He continued, “The story will always win. Data doesn’t drive a movement. The story behind the data drives the movement because the story connects with the emotions of the person listening to the data.”
Sharing the work of the students and teachers on social media has helped people in the community – and around the world – connect with Fall Creek and the Crickets.
It’s also built trust and pride between the school, parents and the community.
At Fall Creek, everyone’s contributions are valued. Each year, Sanfelippo gives away personal days to staff, and then he and other staff members do those jobs, including custodial work. New employees are given Go Crickets swag and press conferences, and a new teacher unexpectedly was offered her job by her favorite elementary schoolteacher, who had inspired her to go into the profession.
“We have to take care of each other,” said Sanfelippo.
Sanfelippo talked about the impact social media and cellphones have had on the world, pointing out in 2020 there were 1.4 trillion pictures taken – 2.6 million pictures every single minute.
“It’s made it easy for us to do this work, and easy to tell the story,” he said. “We change the lives of kids. That’s what we do, and that’s what we want them to see.”