This is a departure from my series “For the Leader…” I wanted to document my journey to where I am today and express my gratitude for all who have cheered me on to here throughout my career. You can read about the end of my journey in “The Journey to Here…How It Ends.”
From the Classroom…
As I prepare to graduate on this week of Teacher Appreciation, I’m reflecting on how my first step to here was becoming a teacher.
- Y’all. I loved kids. I taught 8th grade ELA for my first job and then I moved to the high school where I taught 9th and 11th grade ELA. Every day I was so excited to see them! My students brought such joy to my life! Going to work was not drudgery because being with kids was life-giving. They were so funny! Yes, they drove me crazy at times, but that wasn’t the norm. We made great memories in the classroom!
- I loved the teachers I worked with because we shared the same love for kids. Those teachers/friends made a lasting impact on me, and I am so grateful our paths crossed.
- I wanted to make a difference. Teaching for me was my response to a higher calling. I truly believed I could positively impact a child’s life, and the reality is…by the grace of God, I did. And even more so, my kids made an impact on me.
- I wouldn’t be here without having had great teachers like Jan Lyons, Donna Shepherd, Pamela Rudnicki, and Michelle DeLotto.
- Teaching has changed drastically since I was in the classroom and so have the kids. But, two things have not changed for those who are truly teachers at heart…the desire to make a difference in a child’s life and the belief (driven by love) that they can!
Here’s to ALL the teachers at ❤️ (regardless of your current position). Thank you for keeping kids first!
To being an Assistant Principal…
The next step in my journey to here was when I became an assistant principal.
- I had been in the classroom for three years, when Jeff Springer saw something in me I never saw in myself. He walked in my classroom and said, “There’s a cohort meeting in Cy-Fair. You need to go get your master’s degree so you can become an AP when the opportunity presents itself.”
- My first day as an AP I confess that I went in my office and cried. I loved teaching so much and wondered what had I done, but by the end of the day, I knew it was the right career move.
- I left the AP position after two years and stayed home with my boys. I returned to the classroom for three years and another principal, Brad Schnautz, tapped me for a new position, Assistant Principal of Instruction. He saw in me an instructional leader, and I learned so much about instruction as I carved out my path.
- Being an AP was one of the hardest jobs I ever had. In those days, APs were viewed as the “books, butts, and buses” of the career chain. I’m so glad that role is changing and we are investing in our APs as leaders…not just managers.
To all the assistant principals who are doing great things for kids, even when everyone would rather you take a pound of their flesh, hats off to you for making hard decisions on the daily while keeping kids first! You are so much more than “books, butts, and buses.
You are world changers.
To the Principalship
The next step in my journey to here was the principalship.
- Before I became a principal, I often joked about how there were 77 steps between my office as an AP and my principal’s office (I knew the exact number because he called me over the radio to his office multiple times a day!). What I didn’t know was that those 77 steps represented the chasm between his world and mine. I didn’t realize that until I “sat in the seat.”
- My first principalship was at an elementary school. I remember the day I found I was going into this position because, having come from high school, I only knew two things about elementary school:
1. My kids went.
2. Kids got lost on the bus on the first day.
- The learning curve was steep but I had some wonderful people who helped me along the way. I fell in love with those little kids. I could see the potential they had to be leaders even at an early age, and I was committed to giving them opportunities to give back to others and learn, “If you can be anything, be kind.” Looking back, I marvel at the clubs they started and the generosity of such young hearts.
- Now, I’m the principal of a middle school. Listen, if you can teach middle schoolers, you can teach anybody! I absolutely adore middle school kids! They are quirky, funny, and their hearts are still moldable. They just need people who will be kind to them in their hormonal state and help them navigate their way through a difficult season of life (although I will confess that middle school lunch duty often makes me question my calling).
- Of all the jobs I’ve had, being a principal has been the hardest, most challenging, and most rewarding job yet. The principalship is a “mantle”…an invisible weight you carry when you take on the role. It requires fortitude, an examination of your own values (including what you will tolerate and what you will not), and most of all, courage. The courage to be who you are and make decisions that keep kids at the forefront.
Cheers to every principal who is doing hard things under the scrutiny of the public spotlight, caring for staff members both personally and professionally, and most of all, making school a place where every kid feels “known well and loved anyway.”
You are the unsung heroes of public education.
