Selecting the right school administrator can be quite the adventure. I recall my initial encounter with this process when I landed my first gig as a 2nd-grade teacher. The twist? I got to be part of the hiring committee to choose a new principal. Picture a "speed-dating" style interview session with each candidate, a whirlwind of five-minute encounters designed to make you decide if they were the principal of your dreams.
We had a medley of characters parade through. One dude strolled in, looking like a kidnap-magnet, and I vowed never to let him near my own offspring. Then there were a couple of real gems – folks I would've hired on the spot, no questions asked. But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. We had the dynamic duo, a pair of jokers who clearly thought this interview was an episode of a game show. They showed as much interest in working as I do in flossing, which is to say, not much.
And then there was, let's say, "the villain" of our story – a 4th-grade teacher who'd migrated from Wisconsin. She was, for lack of a better word, evil. She rocked a shawl, which, I'd later learn, was a fashionable, um, "blanket-chic" accessory, or perhaps a relic from the Three Amigos. It served as her cloak of insecurity, empowering her to reign with a tyrannical scepter over her fellow teachers. You guessed it, this charming character landed the principal gig.
My days working under her rule were nothing short of interesting. She seemed to think teaching was no place for a show, which, in my humble opinion, is absurd, especially when you're dealing with young kids. They need that extra sprinkle of magic and enthusiasm to hook their attention. Eventually, she showed me the door, deeming my teaching style as incompatible with the elementary education world. She even threw in the classic "men shouldn't be in this field" line. Oh, and my reading scores? Well, they soared to the stars by the end of the year, despite reading being my supposed Achilles' heel. Guess her crystal ball had a few cracks.
Oh, the saga of my "villainous" principal continued with a twist that could rival a daytime soap opera. She was so profoundly inept at her job that she ended up in the hospital, plagued by severe panic attacks. You see, she just couldn't handle the pressures of being an administrator in a brand-new school, especially one located in a highly affluent community.
To put it in context, her predecessor was a veritable rock-star of the educational world. He had ascended to fame with his stellar leadership skills, later taking the helm of all the principals in the district and even rising to the ranks of superintendent. The guy was a legend, and I would have gladly camped out for his autograph.
In stark contrast, my principal was nothing short of a dud. She had her favorites, an exclusive club of Type-A females with control-freak tendencies. They'd march around like generals in an army of mini-adults, instilling a power dynamic that would make you contemplate homeschooling your kids as a viable alternative.
These favorites were like characters out of a Shakespearean tragedy, hell-bent on molding their tiny charges into submission. "To bend or not to bend?" seemed to be their daily mantra. You'd think they were training the next generation of robots rather than nurturing young, creative minds.
In the end, my stint under her rule was a roller-coaster of absurdity and sheer disbelief. It was like working in a circus tent where the ringleader had a flair for the dramatic but none of the competence. You couldn't help but wonder how the universe had decided to drop this quirky character into the world of education. But, as with many things in life, it was a journey worth undertaking, if only for the amusing anecdotes it provided. Stay tuned for more tales from this peculiar chapter of my teaching odyssey.