Does Your Mission Animate Anyone?

Mission statements should put into words the animating idea behind why our schools exist, but writing or revising a mission statement rarely feels like a satisfying task. The result is something either political, generated by splicing together some of what everyone wants, and thereby over-general, or merely a bland tweak on what roughly 1,000 other schools are already saying about their purpose. Rather than animate (breath life into) schools, too many missions are neutral or actually demotivate with their banality.

• We change lives!
• Students who will change the world.
• Creating lives of service beyond self.
• Getting graduates into Ivy League colleges.

Ok, so the last one probably sounds crass. But, it is the sub rosa mission of a number of schools, and why not just say it and be clear? Maybe clarity is what is missing in most mission statements. Really, what is missing most is anything that would animate the people in the school, teachers and students alike.That should be the criteria for a mission statement: does it animate the people who live and work in the school? Few would pass muster.