Graduation: EHS: Supr. Heidi Carvin address:

Heidi Carvin, Supr of Evansville Schools addresses the profound, and the absurd--both aspects of graduation that parents and teachers and students are sharing.


Download File

(ed.note: I apologize for the shaky video. I will take a tripod next time. The content of this address was striking and I wanted it to be on record. )

Who am I? Where am I going? What is the answer and what if I only know the questions? How do we all fit in, parents, teachers and friends? Those are the profound parts of the speech.

Now to the absurd. As Supr. Carvin says, "some experts" say that the average graduate will have 13 career job switches in a lifetime....not job changes but career changes. The world of today is not vertical and heirarchical but flat. The challenge is the difference between the adults and students "text messaging skills." So we have teachers and parents who have lived and had experience in one or two jobs teaching students how to cope with a world the parents and teachers have no expertise with.

After a fully trained career, how does one proceed to the next 12 career changes? In a world where there appears no security and no job security whatsoever, why would one invest in such a career? How could one plan a family or even a marriage around such a career. Indeed many olders students have concluded thus.

These are questions that each GM worker is asking, and families of these workers--where do I go now to the next 12 careers. It almost requires a person to live to a very ripe old age.

This speech was only 3.5 minutes long. It has a lot of the questions that we all face. And also some positive affirmations about the rewards of the questions themselves and the voyage of discovery. Enjoy.