Students learn the secret to success during Work Ethic Seal luncheon

Apr. 12—A group gathered Thursday at the Center for Rural Development to celebrate the fortitude and hard work of a noble group of students — the juniors and seniors who earned the Work Ethic Seal this year.

A total of 133 juniors and 145 seniors across Pulaski High School, Somerset High School and Southwestern High School earned the accomplishment this year, according to Roxanna Bishop, the Work Ethic Seal coordinator who works for Pulaski County Schools.

Bishop said that seniors who earned the distinction will receive a gold seal on the diplomas they will receive this spring, as well as a special cord to wear during their graduation ceremony.

Juniors receive several gifts as well, although those who qualified this year will have to re-qualify next year to earn that seal on their diplomas.

Students had to undergo strict criteria to receive the seal. They must have no unexcused absences for the 2023-2024 school year, no more than three unexcused tardies or early dismissals, no more than one disciplinary referral, maintaining a grade point average of 2.5 with no failures, and being involved in at least two of the following: an organized team sport, extra curricular program, part-time employment or a community service project. They must also have submitted a resume and completed an application to the Work Ethic Seal program.

"Part of the mission of education is to prepare our students for the transition from school to work and life beyond the classroom, making them college and career ready," Bishop said. "Having a strong work ethic is vitally important so our students will have a firm foundation in order to successfully be in the workplace."

In addition to their gifts and recognition, Work Ethic Seal recipients were rewarded with a luncheon at the Center, capped off by a special speaker in Kentucky Agricultural Commissioner Jonathan Shell.

Shell, also a former state representative, gave words of encouragement and advice to the young men and women who had worked so hard for their recognition.

And the first thing he noted was that failure is always a possibility.

He spoke from his own experiences, from losing an election and coming back to win, to losing buildings or crops on his farm due to tornadoes or other weather.

"My point in telling you that is that there are not just successes in your life. Failures will come too," Shell told the crowd.

"... Michael Jordan said he'd missed 9,000 shots in his career. He missed 26 game-winning shots in his career. His definition of success was not based around where he was at and what he was doing at the time. It's based around the work ethic he was putting in."

To overcome those times of failure and become a success, Shell offered several words of wisdom.

First, he stressed the importance of discipline over motivation.

"In your life, you have to have discipline," Shell said. "Discipline is defined, to me, as sacrificing the things you want today for the better things you want in the future. It's easy to have motivation at times. It's easy to do the things you're supposed to do when you have motivation. It' s doing the things you're supposed to do when you don't have the motivation is where discipline comes into your life."

Next, he said, was learning to love the work one does.

"That will carry you further than anything else ... because that work's going to happen, regardless of what goal, what end result you're trying to achieve. That work is going to be there regardless of the outcome," Shell said.

Third is pushing aside the anxiety and regret of indecision. "Worrying will get you no result whatsoever," he said. "It will add nothing to the results you have in your life."

And lastly, Shell talked about having the correct attitude to want success. "You can't control the actions of others. You can't control the circumstances that you find yourself in," he said.

Shell noting that he has an adopted son who experienced tremendous amounts of abuse in his life before joining Shell's family.

Shell the son is doing well now. "If you let your circumstances dictate your attitude and your performance, you will fail in life.... You are the decider of how your attitude is going to go, no the circumstances that you live in."

Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com