SUPER MONDAY

A motivational and informational morning message from Superintendent Willis

Week 6 ~ September 15th, 2025

Super Monday Message

Legend tells of a Greek king named Pygmalion (Pig-May-Lee-Un). He was the king of the island Cyprus and he was disappointed in the inequities of his people. He committed to never marry and poured his time into sculpting. The king worked tirelessly to sculpt a woman from stone. The king felt this project required more than his strength and stamina, he also poured in his emotions and feelings for his people. With each stroke of the chisel he attempted to embody his hope and ideals for the perfect woman. 

His statue was named Galatea and Pygmalion was smitten by his own work. The elegance and smoothness of the stone allowed Pygmalion to imagine his art was more than ivory alabaster. Pygmalion began treating Galatea as a real person, bringing her gifts and adorning her with jewelry. Pygmalion wished for the “living likeness of his ivory girl”.

 Pygmalion remained faithful to the gods and made an offering at the temple to Aphrodite, the Greek god of love. Aphrodite acknowledged Pygmalion's devotion by causing the flames to jump upward three times. When Pygmalion returned home he felt to embrace his statue and as he did so the ivory felt soft . Aphrodite granted life to Galatea and she became living flesh. Pygmalion and Galatea became a love story for the ages and a lesson in love’s ability to bring life. 

In the centuries since the writing of Pygmalion’s tale, the lesson of the story has taken on greater meaning. In 1968, researchers wanted to know if the story of Pygmalion could improve classroom performance. They told a group of teachers that they had developed a method of identifying which students were the best of the best. They listed these students and told the teachers they wanted to identify when these exceptionally bright students would “bloom” intellectually. In reality, the researchers had merely randomly selected the names of the students they had given the teachers. The students that the teachers believed were gifted grew intellectually at a significantly higher rate than the other students that school year. The researchers called this the “Pygmalion Effect”. The students became what the teachers believed they already were.

This self-fulfilling prophecy research has been repeated in different ways and has resulted with similar findings. When teachers believe their students are talented, special, and bright, they grow at a faster rate. The Pygmalion Effect has also been proven true in reverse. When a teacher believes that students have low learning potential, students tend to learn at a lower rate.

As one more great example of this effect I’ll point to a famous Utah based movie that, perhaps not coincidentally, was released the year following the first Pygmalion Effect research. That movie is Johnny Lingo. 

The movie is set in a remote pacific island where local customs require men wishing to marry to bargain in cows for their bride with the bride's father. The story follows Johnny Lingo who is believed to be the shrewdest of wealthy merchants who always gets the best deal in a bargain. Johnny Lingo intends to bargain with Moki in order to marry his daughter Mohana. Mohana is believed by the village to be very plain and the village believes Johnny desires Mohana because he will have to pay very little for her. The village is shocked when Johnny offers the enormous sum of eight cows for Mohana, more than had been offered for any woman on the island. The island believes Johnny Lingo has lost his mind as he pays the cows for Mohana and leaves the island with her.

A year later Johnny returns to the island with Mohana and the island is again astonished to find that Mohana is now anything but plain. She is a beautiful, confident, and intelligent wife to Johnny. When Moki sees his transformed and confident daughter he rages that Johnny has cheated him, “She is a ten cow wife”. When a friend asks Johnny what happened, Johnny explains that before, “Mohana believed she was worth nothing….now she knows she is worth more than any woman on the island.” Johnny insists that, “she was always beautiful”. 

Our perspectives of the present, shape the reality of the future. Positive speaking and positive believing have the power to change individual people and the world for good. Believe in our students, believe in our nation, the best is yet to come. Have the best week 6.

Super High Fives

Just a couple of the awesome recent accomplishments that need a big thank you.

• A super high five to Eric Jessen! Mr. Jessen is running a great school counseling program. He is leading a great number of programs that are a great benefit to our students. We appreciated his presentation to the school board Tuesday. 
• A super high five to our PHS student body officers for their “You Got A Friend In Piute” campaign. We’re grateful for good students setting good examples for the younger generation of students. 
• Super high five to the Gooseberry organizers for making another fun trip for our 3rd grade students.

Other Super Information

• Representative Katy Hall of the Utah Legislature is doing a survey about high school athletics and practice schedules. Parents, students, and coaches are allowed to participate.
• Link To Letter From Representative Hall Explaining Survey
• Link To High School Sports Survey
• Fall Sports Calendar 2025
  • Link to subscribe to PHS Sports Calendar
• 2025-2026 School District Calendar
• USBE Parent Portal

Super Weekly Schedule