Meet the Core 4 Champions: Dane Beasley
Dane Beasley is an operations manager in Performance Management in the Human Capital Management Department and has worked for Dallas ISD for 9 years.
What attracted you to education?
The joy of being able to help people attracted me to education. We have all come across someone that truly inspired us by the way they treated others. The professionalism, kindness, and enthusiasm from my high school English teacher, Paul Finnen, has had an impact on me to this day. The passion he had for teaching and his authentic connection with students set the standard for how I wanted to make a lasting impact in education. Whether we were discussing the character motivations in Things Fall Apart or developing sound logic to prepare for one of our many classroom debates, Finnen had a way of inspiring us to not only think outside of the box, but to also respond responsibly. While I only taught for a very short period, one thing I always carried with me was the satisfaction of helping people and treating others with kindness. Enjoying the work that you do will also carry you a long way.
What do you do for the district and how long have you been doing it?
As the operations manager of the Performance Management team in Human Capital Management, I ensure that team members are supported throughout all phases of their appraisal process. Starting with their goal setting and ending with their end of year review, I model how to leverage different tools like Cornerstone or even the TEI Dashboard so team members can have an optimal experience throughout the academic school year. My journey in Dallas ISD began nearly nine years ago when I joined the TEI team in August 2015.
Why do you think the district’s culture tenets are important?
I think the culture tenets are important because they provide us with a common standard of what success and community looks like. If we have a shared understanding of the mission and goals, then we’ll all be marching in the same direction making it nearly impossible for us to fail.
Is there a time when one of the Core 4 tenets made a difference for you or someone else?
One of the most memorable experiences I’ve had since joining Human Capital Management started off quite negative. We have phone call support year-round, but our call volume is especially high in September-October during the annual TEI Scorecard release. We received a phone call from a very irritated middle school teacher. He didn’t understand why he received partial points on his SLO submission on his scorecard. Although he did very well on the other components of the scorecard, the SLO accounted for a significant portion of his Student Achievement component. I must have been talking to him for at least 30-40 minutes just trying to ease his anxiety about the mishap and encouraged him to check out some options he had to fix the oversight that he made the previous academic school year. When he learned that the revision might take a few days to process/complete, he became pretty upset and used some very, um. colorful language before he hung up the phone. I learned early on to have a short memory about negative experiences, otherwise you might be inclined to take things personally. The next day, one of my teammates stopped by my desk and asked if she could transfer a call to me, and I said, “Of course I can assist.” To my surprise, it was the middle school teacher from the previous day. He was simply calling to apologize about the interaction the day before and admitted his frustration and interesting choice of words were in response to something unrelated that happened on his campus. Before I was able to accept his apology, he reminded me that he admired my kindness the day before, despite his own impatience and frustration. Now, anytime I have an encounter that appears to turn even vaguely negative, I like to remind myself to just be patient and friendly because you just never know what someone else might be going through.
What is your go-to Core 4 tenet and why?
Friendly, without a doubt. It’s a constant reminder of my faith and like something my mom used to tell my siblings and I all the time: treat others the way you want to be treated. The truth is everyone has a battle they are fighting, so no matter the circumstance, being kind to everyone you meet can make all the difference. My time in this district has been filled with meeting so many amazing people, and part of what makes these experiences so memorable is how personable everyone is.
Is there something your coworker would be surprised to know about you?
I wouldn’t say it’s a surprise, but my coworkers know how much I enjoy watching football. Disclaimer: I can’t promise anyone reading this that I won’t bore/annoy them with my hopeless Dallas Cowboys banter. My coworkers would be surprised to know just how much I enjoy the NFL combine and NFL draft. It’s really a Beasley family event to be honest. My wife and I have watched a ton of the combine interviews, live workouts and viral moments over the last 10 years. Draft night is my favorite part of the process because we get to see the lives of nearly 300 athletes change for the better in a matter of seconds. While the Cowboys haven’t sniffed any post season success in recent years, they are very keen on identifying, selecting, and developing players. All of that starts with the NFL combine.
