I was recently accepted into the School Admin Virtual Mentor Program. This program serves to connect new and seasoned school administrators by providing them with opportunities for mentoring through collaboration. I am looking forward to learning with experts in the field such as Amber Teamann, Joe Mazza, Paul McGuire, George Couros and my UPSD colleague Jeff Fries.
During the month of October, we were tasked to respond to the following prompt: "What are some ways that you connect with your school community?". Here goes!
When I was first hired at Upper Perk High School to serve as the assistant principal, I strongly believed that building strong connections with people would need to be my first and most important priority. In order to do this, I believed I needed to do several things. I needed to be present, transparent and genuine, show interest in others (and not only in their professional experiences but their personal lives too), ask questions and truly listen to the answers that followed. I also needed to show that I cared for my colleagues, students, parents, and community members. If I could be successful in demonstrating these attributes, I would build trust and help foster change throughout the school and community. I hope that I have succeeded in my first few months as a school administrator.
I have worked to connect with the school community by starting a Twitter page for Upper Perk High School. School administrators now frequently post about the great work we are doing in the school and district. I try to be present at extracurricular functions so that I can meet parents and students and engage in personal conversations. I also maintain a Google site on our school's webpage that contains important information and documents for parents and students. I feel it is important to be an active member of the community and always look for ways to pay it forward. Soon after joining the UPSD community, I signed on with Love Upper Perk. I now work with others to maintain their Facebook page. This experience allows me to build bridges between the school and community. How do you connect?
During the month of October, we were tasked to respond to the following prompt: "What are some ways that you connect with your school community?". Here goes!
When I was first hired at Upper Perk High School to serve as the assistant principal, I strongly believed that building strong connections with people would need to be my first and most important priority. In order to do this, I believed I needed to do several things. I needed to be present, transparent and genuine, show interest in others (and not only in their professional experiences but their personal lives too), ask questions and truly listen to the answers that followed. I also needed to show that I cared for my colleagues, students, parents, and community members. If I could be successful in demonstrating these attributes, I would build trust and help foster change throughout the school and community. I hope that I have succeeded in my first few months as a school administrator.
I have worked to connect with the school community by starting a Twitter page for Upper Perk High School. School administrators now frequently post about the great work we are doing in the school and district. I try to be present at extracurricular functions so that I can meet parents and students and engage in personal conversations. I also maintain a Google site on our school's webpage that contains important information and documents for parents and students. I feel it is important to be an active member of the community and always look for ways to pay it forward. Soon after joining the UPSD community, I signed on with Love Upper Perk. I now work with others to maintain their Facebook page. This experience allows me to build bridges between the school and community. How do you connect?
