Finding Your Gang: Lessons from Charlie Brown

You’re a Leader, Charlie Brown highlights the many ways the Peanuts gang demonstrates leadership and friendship. The book focuses on their strengths and, more importantly, how they help one another.

Sometimes, Charlie Brown reminds me of my Detroit Lions. Every year, the Lions play on Thanksgiving Day, and every year, I hope they win! It also reminds me of Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. He knows Lucy is probably going to pull it away before he can kick it, but he tries anyway.

The book offers some great advice for helping Charlie Brown work toward his goal. Visualize your goal. Make a list of what you need to accomplish it. Don’t work alone; find your gang. Stay positive, don’t let setbacks (like Lucy pulling the football away) slow you down, and, most importantly, keep trying!

These are simple but powerful lessons that can help all of us move forward and achieve our goals.

In It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, we see some of these same lessons. Linus remains committed to his belief that the Great Pumpkin will arrive to bring toys to all the girls and boys. Even when the Great Pumpkin doesn’t show up, Linus is ready to return next year. Sally demonstrates loyalty by staying with Linus, even though she doesn’t share his enthusiasm for spending Halloween in a pumpkin patch. And while life doesn’t always turn out the way we hope, there is something to be said for continuing to believe, supporting others, and getting back up when things don’t go our way.

As I reflect on the book and the show, I think about my daughter and her friends. It’s fun to stand back and watch her and her gang create their own adventures. I love seeing how they support one another, work through challenges, use their imaginations, and develop their own leadership skills. The holidays are such a great time for friends, family, and fun. They may not realize it, but they are learning some pretty important lessons.

As we head into November and the holiday season, I hope each of us has a gang of our own. We all need friends, family, and people who encourage us, believe in us, and stand beside us when things don’t go as planned. Sometimes we need someone to help us visualize our goals, sometimes we need someone to remind us to keep trying, and sometimes we just need someone to stand in the pumpkin patch with us.

I’m especially thankful for my wife, Susan, who is always there for me. She’s part of my gang, and I’m grateful to have her by my side through all of our life’s adventures!

We may not always get the outcome we hope for, and sometimes Lucy will pull the football away just when we think we have everything figured out. But with the right people beside us, we can keep trying, keep growing, and keep finding joy in the adventure. This November, I hope you take time to appreciate your gang and let them know how much they mean to you.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Gobble, Gobble!

Dr. Dave Dumon
Superintendent

ddumon@avsd.org

Upcoming events:

• November 6 & 20: ROAR & SOAR Family Resource Center open biweekly at AVMS

• November 18: School Thanksgiving Lunch at both schools during lunch

• November 26: Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Robles, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.