The Act of Becoming
November 01, 2020
Appears in November 2020: School Administrator.
AS SHE ASSUMES THE SUPERINTENDENCY DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC, THE AUTHOR ASKS, ‘HOW DO WE BECOME WHO WE ARE MEANT TO BE?’
![Jill Baker and video camera](/images/default-source/school-administrator/2020-november/42-jill-baker-3.jpg?sfvrsn=c40ecfcd_11)
“There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there’s grace in being willing to know and hear others. This, for me, is how we become.” — Michelle Obama
I have Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, sitting in a prominent place in my new office in Long Beach, Calif. It’s there for many reasons. Obama, while she doesn’t know it, is a friend and mentor to me. The
book sits near the door to my office because it reminds me to listen for her voice when things get rough.
You know the words — “When they go low, we go high” — and, of course, many other life lessons and wisdom that
she offers in telling the story of her own becoming. The book also sits there to remind me of the significance of becoming, something that feels near and dear to my heart as I reflect upon my experiences from the past six months.
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Author
Video Connections
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic’s shutdown of school operations, Jill Baker has produced short video messages to her community to keep them abreast of the latest thinking and planning by leaders in the Long Beach
Unified School District in California.
The first, appearing on March 13 when the decision was made to cease in-person teaching, ran two minutes. Others, running longer, feature Long Beach students posing questions to the superintendent about
remote schooling and the superintendent interviewing students via videoconferencing on how they have been spending their time at home.
Baker was promoted from deputy superintendent to superintendent about 3½ months into the pandemic.
The videos can be found on Long Beach Unified’s YouTube Channel.
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