Once upon a time, there was a little brown mouse with a secretly big voice. This little mouse was well known to the lions, tigers, and bears of the jungle(and the occasional slimy snake) but managed to stay hidden away most of the time. Then one day, when the lions were on a retreat, jackals and hyenas invaded the savannah. The gazelles, monkeys and zebras fled this way and that, screaming with fear. The little mouse, worried about her friends, opened her mouth and roared. The hyenas and jackals stopped their yowling laughter and ran for their lives. The mouse was finally valued for her courage and wisdom. She decided her voice would always ring out.

I am now an assistant principal. In this week of errands and tears, of precious minutes and irritated nerves, of hurt egos and jealous tension, I have been greeted with cheers, hugs, smiles, notes, and letters of support. I have heard my own voice, set it free, and embraced a new identity.

And taking two cel phones and booting a student out of the gym doesn’t hurt either.