Match, Hatch, and Dispatch
I’m not proud to admit that when The New York Times arrives each weekend, the section I flip to first is “Sunday Styles.” It’s not so much that the articles speak to me or my somewhat sheltered existence, but that they seem to allow me a glimpse into what those “people in the know” are contemplating, aspiring to, or actually living. The article that caught my eye this week was “People Magazine Still has a Bikini Body,” which addressed the all-important question of what to put on the cover each week in order to sell the most magazines.
“The cover brings people into the big tent,” notes People Editor Larry Hackett. The three most effective cover topics? “Match, hatch, and dispatch.”
For People, that translates to which high-profile celebrity couples have fallen in love, which babies are on the way or just born, and who in the public eye has died (ideally in an interesting manner). An eye-catching and interest-grabbing cover enhances circulation and revenue, and its success can be immediately evaluated on a weekly basis.
What could this possibly have to do with independent schools? The idea of match, hatch, and dispatch kept popping into my head throughout the day. I couldn’t help but think that it is a catchy way to approach that elusive concept of mission. Obviously, those same words would mean something different to a school’s constituency than to avid People fans, but aren’t match, hatch, and dispatch what education is all about? And don’t they provide a good framework for defining a school’s mission?
- Match: Whom do we best serve or should we seek to serve?
- Hatch: What do we need to provide in terms of culture and program to most effectively bring out the best in our students?
- Dispatch: What skills and outlook do we want our students to possess when they graduate and take on the world? (With a very long life ahead of them, we hope.)
Defining a school’s mission can be arduous — and so is staying attuned to that mission when faced with external vagaries such as the current economy, the latest educational fad, and whatever else can be tossed into the mix to test the resolve of the school’s leadership.
Match, hatch, and dispatch could keep you on track!
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