Not I..........

On the two days prior to Thanksgiving break, our students participated in the Palmetto Bowl challenge.  Using coins, students voted for the team they most wanted to win the Palmetto Bowl (we even had a place for students to add coins if they didn’t care who won the Palmetto Bowl).  All of the money raised was to be given to Spartanburg’s HOPE Center. Because we had just finished our annual Boosterthon fundraiser (which was WILDLY successful by the way) and it was on a Monday and Tuesday before a holiday, I really didn’t anticipate a large amount of participation. I try very hard to have good rapport with our students and one student told me that she hoped Clemson lost the challenge and then asked, if they do lose, what are you going to do?  I thought on it for a minute and realized that I should just dress like a Gamecock if Clemson lost the challenge. 

During Thanksgiving weekend, Rosebro1 and I took the coins to coinstar hoping for at least $100.  Apparently Rosebro1 and I failed estimation in school, and were both amazed when the total given was $302.  However, I realized that CU had lost the coin challenge in a bad way… $92 to USC’s $211.  I realized that I had to quickly find a Gamecock costume and upon having no such luck without spending the $302 for rental, I decided upon my Chicken costume as punishment for Clemson losing the coin challenge.  As one who always tries to uphold my word, I donned my chicken costume all day- including directing traffic in the morning, during a parent meeting during the day, during classroom visits (I apologized already to those teachers), during lunch, and during afternoon dismissal.  That evening, not wanting to totally destroy the Rosebros’ social life, I did take off the chicken costume for Rosebro2’s school concert. I ran into a JBE parent at the concert and he asked me about the chicken suit. As we talked he said that he never can be too sure what I will be wearing as he rounds the traffic circle. Just two weeks ago I was dressed as Elsa, then Captain America, and I always participate in crazy hair day, pj day (a personal favorite), and any other special event any grade level is having. The father stated that he and his daughter often try to predict what I’ll be wearing as they drive to school and he enjoys the conversations so much with his daughter because as a football coach the mornings are about all the time he has with her right now. As he walked away, he stated, “you’re sure not like the principal I had in elementary school.”

I thought about that statement for the rest of the night. Was that positive or negative? Did he mean that as a compliment or was he judging the fact that I may be a little “less professional” than the principals so many schools have?  The more I thought, the more I realized that I was going to take it as a compliment? Yes, I ensure that our student recognition assembly (beginning of coffeehouse) is loud and exciting. I am as loud as I can get when showing excitement for our students. I play music at carpool. I take on every challenge to dress up, I make challenges with students (and usually lose), I dance with students, I will embarrass myself to benefit a child, I have been made into a humane sundae, been duck tapped to a wall (with a very bad ending), I’ve kissed a pig, I even watch their tv shows so I know the characters, I go to students’ church performances, dance recitals, and athletic events, I ensure I know every child by name, I sit on the floor and play board games with students when they need someone to talk to, I do breathing exercises with students when they are upset, and I can get onto a kid when they’ve made unfortunate mistakes. So that Dad was right. I am not like the principal I had. I do this because I don’t want a school like many other schools are.

My elementary principal, nice enough guy, was stern and scary. I never saw him except when I was “office helper” and he was always sitting in his office (and that was a long time before computers). He never spoke and I was so scared of him that I actually threw up one time when I was called to his office. I had actually won an award but even with that presentation he was somewhat cold and not at all enthusiastic.  School was the place I had to go in the morning and waited until my Mom picked me up in the afternoon. Until it became my social life in my teens, I really never enjoyed school. Of course I had two fantastic teachers who made me love learning, but school-not so much. I promised myself that I never wanted to run a school where children felt the way I did about school. I want kids to be excited that their principal wears an Elsa wig, will dance the popular dances, knows the characters on the Disney channel, will be so proud of your accomplishments that she will burst into song.

I don’t want to be “that kind of principal”. I want to be the principal that inspires, encourages, and cheers for our students. So today I am proud that I am not like "the principal I had."