Stories have the power to humanize those around us. They provide insight and data that numbers alone can’t communicate. I have often spoken of this power in the professional learning I lead, and I did so in the last issue of this journal. But what I never realized until recently was how deeply my own story, rooted in my upbringing and my family’s culture, shaped my approach to education and leadership. Growing up, when my siblings and I would do something that brought the family honor, my parents would say (in Arabic) that we “lifted their heads.” The saying connotes that our choices and our success caused them to stand taller, knowing that what they sowed in us reflected well on the family. My family’s