Principal-Director (11-03-08)

This Halloween, I paid attention to the various costumes being sported by the current crop of trick-o-treaters. Among others, I saw a princess and a knight, a ninja and a dragon, a lion and a horse, a multitude of witches, at least one “Hannah Montana” impersonator, and the usual assortment of football players, cowboys, and army soldiers.

The one costume that was missing was that of a school principal.

In fact, I don’t recall seeing any teacher costumes. Now I realize that next heroes and villains, ghosts and ghouls, dressing as a teacher or a school principal is not very glamorous or even terribly interesting. I wasn’t surprised or upset by the lack of an educator or administrator in the ranks of make believe.

However, it got me to thinking. You know, when I was kid, I never imagined I would someday become a teacher. And I certainly never had any dreams of one day being a grade school principal. Do any kids have that kind of ambition? I have yet to meet them.

No, I knew from a pretty early age that I wanted to be an entertainer of some sort. Music was my first love and for a while I had hopes of growing up to be a professional musician.

But reality is a cruel mirror, and it didn’t take me very long to realize that while I was good, there were plenty of other people who were much better musicians than I. Even to this day I enjoy playing and performing music, but I have no illusions as to my ability to make a living as a musician.

After attempting several majors in college, I entered the school of education. I have never looked back.

I decided to try administration after the birth of our third child when I realized that I needed a way to increase my income. While this was the primary motivation, I also knew that I had many of the leadership qualities that might make me a good administrator.
I had discovered my aptitude for leadership while directing plays at Wheatland High School and then helping produce movies at Inman.

Not long after I began my career here in Hill City, I began to see the similarities between leading a school and directing a play. Both jobs require putting people in roles where they can truly shine. Both jobs require the ability to organize and acquire materials in order to create an environment where the performers can be successful. Both jobs require management and inspiration. In short, my love of being a principal stems directly from my love of being a director.

This week, I was able to actually enjoy both roles simultaneously. Working with the third grade teachers and students, I wrote and directed a screen adaptation of the story, “The Battle of the Mad Scientists” originally written and told by the Grammy winning recording artist Bill Harley. I held auditions and chose three primary actors, and also wrote individual lines for every third grade student. I held before school rehearsals and we filmed the movie after recess Monday and Tuesday afternoons.

Our movie “premiered” at the Graham County Economic Development Council’s Halloween Film Festival this weekend. We won both the Critic’s Choice and the People’s Choice Awards and netted $380.00 for our third grade classrooms.

While I was thrilled to be able to step back into the shoes of a writer/director, I am equally elated for our third grade teachers and students. Everyone worked hard, acted brilliantly, and together we produced a film of which we can all be proud.

In order to do this project I had to obtain permission from Bill Harley’s office in Massachusetts. His public relations representative was enthusiastic about us making the movie and I am excited to see what Bill Harley thinks of our efforts. I am also eager to see what local residents think after we get our movie on the local cable channel.

In the meantime, I can return all my focus again to being a school principal, until I find an opportunity to be a principal-director once more.