Jeff Kubiak is the principal of Nelda Mundy Elementary School. He taught for ten years as an elementary school teacher in grades 4, 5, and 6 and has seven years of administrative experience. Jeff strives to connect with students by bringing real world experiences to them, getting to know their names, engaging in lessons and play, and becoming a part of the learning process with them. He's always looked at education from a different lens: from someone who hated and struggled with school. Jeff vows to always do his best to help increase opportunities for all students to feel heard, noticed, celebrated, challenged and safe. There is not a day that goes by that he is not looking ahead to improve teacher pedagogy, student engagement and digital access for all.
Jeff works hard to push back against the old model of "Industrialized Education" and fight compliance. He commented that, “There is so much amazing talk about change...but education... is still very factory-oriented… He went on to describe the realities for so many teachers and schools. “When you look at our whole nation and the way that states push through the educational practices and mandates, it’s draconian and outdated.” Jeff mentioned the outliers as those innovative educators who reach and teach all of their learners, but he added that there is a contrast between where we are and where we could be. “We are moving at light speed with technology and medical advances, and we’re still very Flintstone when it comes to education.”
Jeff loves children's literature, and One Drop of Kindness is his first published children's book. He spoke about the intentionality of kindness. Jeff grew up with giving parents who did so much to give their children a better life. They also welcomed foster children into their home, and his parents supported over 30 children over the years. Gus, the main character in this story, is a foster child, going from home to home. “To me, that child is not acknowledged enough because that child might be a challenge, and that child might take more time, that child is going to have different attention and needs and things given to him or her to succeed” Jeff proceeded to explain that we aren’t in education to teach the students who can practically teach themselves. Our job is to support struggling kids and that we should all, “look at our hearts to make the world a little bit better.” The kindness of Jeff’s parents were beacons to him. Jeff encourages more intentionality and kindness everywhere but especially in schools. One drop of kindness is all it takes to fill a heart with love. Jeff is working on another book right now that looks at the many students and people that we come across everyday who usually aren’t enough support and voice called It’s Me.
Being a former world class swimmer and coach, Jeff looks at education from perspectives that others don't have. He knows what it takes to fail, struggle, win, and go through the daily challenges that we all face (look at the '88 Olympic Trials in swimming/Jeff Kubiak/200 Breaststroke). In that time, Jeff got to travel the world . Through that, he worked with a lot of people who had nothing. He shared the connection between coaching and teaching and what it means to be committed to helping kids thrive. Jeff constantly aspires to do better.
Jeff’s search for the songs for his P3 caused him pause for reflection. He was nervous, excited and happy. Jeff shared that, “It was super cool,” to prepare for the show adding, “Your perspective and point of view got me thinking in a different direction…” While he noted that the word reflection gets overused, it’s the key to improvement. Jeff enjoyed the format, and used each song to tell a distinct aspect of his life story or personality. “Music is pretty amazing, and it does connect people.”
Jeff’s nostalgic song is one that celebrates so many gifts from his parents and, especially, his father. Jeff has a huge connection of the Hawiian Islands because his dad worked two jobs so that he could take his family to Hawaii every year. Jeff’s father passed away last year as a result of Alzheimer’s and, in his honour, he returned to Hawaii with his mother and sister for Thanksgiving to pay tribute to him and his blessed memory. They were in Kauai the whole time and visited some of his favourite beaches, restaurants and sites that he loved. “It was very magical for the three of us to be there together. Very powerful, very emotional, but very joyful at the same time.” It also connects him to being a father. “My children were not easy as infants...this song was the number one thing that would calm our children…” It brings him so much happiness and love, and every time his family hears it, they all dance together, smile and laugh. “It really does fill my heart...” when he hears this song. Here is Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow:
Jeff’s identity song was selected because of the original song, the movie named after it, and this collaborative version that “transformed into the world peace song.” The three word title encapsulates a lot of how we need to improve as a world and the work that we need to do. Jeff expressed that every person has something to share and give and, when we can’t recognize that, we get pulled further apart. Jeff spoke about the sheer joy and love in the musician’s eyes that you can see in the video for this song. It’s truly transformative for Jeff because it looks at humanity and how we can strive to become a “better us.” Here is Stand By Me by Ben E King recorded by many artists as a Song Around the World for Playing for Change.
Jeff’s motivational song seems distinct from his other choices. “It’s a little edgy, and it does talk about failure and... to not give up...what you do when things are against you.” It helps him remember that it’s okay, and it totally fires him up. It’s one of those songs that his kids don’t get when respond with an eye roll whenever he plays it. Jeff plays it often. In this song, the word time comes up a lot. Jeff said that, “People don’t relish the time we have enough, and I realized that with my dad and the past couple weeks of vacation...giving time to someone else and their willingness to give you their time; it's a huge special thing that we can give to each other.” Here is In the End by Linkin Park:
If you want to find Jeff, you can reach out to him on Twitter, through Instagram and LinkedIn. His website is jeffkubiak.com. There is a One Drop of Kindness Facebook page, and you can buy the book on Amazon, among other places.
