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The LaRoses – Mindi, Maddy, Lyndsi and Super Dave
No wonder he is more enthused than any living person in Culver City about the resumption of school for the new term on Tuesday morning.
He looks his age.
Or the age we all wish we were again.
From his standard red polo shirt to his crew-cut to his boyish face, his youthful appearance suggests he is just entering or just graduated from college.
Supt. Dave LaRose has been the No. 1 cheerleader with gravitas for the School District since the morning 13 months ago that he arrived from Washington state with enough authentic vigor to make half of Hillside Cemetery sit up straight.
Picture this, though.
Only technically is Mr. LaRose sitting.
His hands and arms constantly are in motion, likely covering 80 miles a day. He would go broke if they ran on fossil fuel.
From across the table, the boyish Mr. LaRose was persuasive.
Peering at Tuesday’s starting time, “This is really beautiful,” he said.
“I love it. What makes it unique…
“Mindi and I were talking about it last night. I have been doing this since kindergarten, right? So this is my 42nd start of school.
“What I like about it is this – the challenge for us as educators is how do we create an environment that has excitement, anticipation hopefulness that we always have on the first day of school.
What Did Mom Pack?
“Remember lunch boxes? I don’t see them quite as often anymore.
“Ah, that first day of school for you and your lunch box. And who is in your class.
“Those first days usually are holistic and relational, a time for you to get comfortable. You get to know one another. Build a sense of community in the classroom. And a sense of community in the school, which is absolutely essential.
But it also is ongoing.
“It’s not a task. You don’t cross it off.
“Creating that same type of excitement and anticipation.
“You and I,” said Mr. LaRose, the quintessential sports fan, “might call it pregame jitters.
“But those butterflies are different than nerves.
“Butterflies are about” – and here he turned up both palms simultaneously – “heightened anticipation and ready to do your very best, and being in tune with your environment.
“That type of excitement, that type of enthusiasm is something we would like to recreate as often as possible.”
Finally, Mr. LaRose was speaking with a heart weighted to near ground level with thick, rich, best-kind-of old-fashioned sentiment.
Tomorrow morning, while the sun still is reclining in the arms of Morpheus, Mr. LaRose, his wife Mindi and daughter Maddy will board the family’s favorite form of transportation for about a six-hour journey to the desert to deliver Maddy for her second year of college.
Maddy has been home since May, and all summer it was like old times, all four of them, including Lyndsi, together, celebrating their lives and good fortunes.
The Super, you see, lives what he preaches.
