Stephanie Sasse

Principal Interview Reflection

The first that took place was Mr. Marty Crump. I enjoyed learning that he attended the
school he is currently principal of as a K-12 school, that he currently lives in the community and
has most of his life, and that the school he is serving as principal is the only K-8 school in the
county. I believe the grade levels within his school must offer an interesting dynamic, dealing
with issues that come up in kindergarten classrooms as well as the middle school scene. Mr.
Crump commented that he worked in restaurant management for a bit before settling into the
education field, but one piece that translated was customer service. In education we really do
deal with customer service everyday!

Mr. Crump’s definition of leadership was very refreshing to hear. Leadership is about
finding the direction you would like your school to go in, and then supporting the staff and
giving them the autonomy to make decisions. He acknowledged that teachers are in the trenches
daily, and he wants to know how to support and assist you so you can do the best possible job
you can. Throughout Mr. Crumps interview, I noticed a common theme of support, trust, and
guidance. He has had great mentors guiding him through his leadership experiences, and he
wants to offer the same for his staff and mentees. Throughout his administrative path his mentors
let him make mistakes and then guide him through fixing his mistakes and analyzing to make a
better decision next time. They also taught him to be more compassionate towards students
because many times students bring so much “baggage” to school it blocks them from basic
learning until we make a connection with them. These qualities in leadership have been talked
about many times throughout not only this course, but most of the Frostburg program. Making
mistakes and learning from them will make us better educators and better administrators in the
long run.

I found the teaching/ administrative path that Mr. Crump took to be interesting. Having a
degree in music education, he started his career as a band director and then teacher. Similar to
the other interviews, Mr. Crump noted he never thought he would be an Assistant Principal...and
then Principal….or work in the central office, and now he has done them all! I liked learning
about his administrative assistant experience. That position seems like an excellent way for
teachers to test the administrative world without fully committing. Mr. Crump stated that it was
more of a “building manager’ position- however and important experience to have!

Mr. Crump discussed how the accountability and educational leadership chapter seemed
the most challenging chapter from the options. He stated how often people only think of test
scores and how we can raise test scores in terms of accountability. I loved that Mr. Crump said it
is so much more than that. That we have a moral obligation to make our students want to be
learners, help them be engaged, and we are the accountability to them for their personal well
being and personal welfare. That was a powerful statement and an absolutely true statement in
my heart.

The next interview was with Mr. Gary Willow from Smithsburg Highschool. I found that a
lot of what Mr. Crump stated and felt, was true with Mr. Willow as well. Again, Mr. Willow never
thought his career path would be at an administrative level. However he is a firm believer that
the steps you take in your life and career are all meaningful and pieces will fall together in a
senseful way eventually. Mr. Willow was introduced into a leadership experience through his
first job in Baltimore County leading the AVID program. He admitted it might have been a little
above him at the time, but opened his eyes to leadership and the challenges that occur within
the field. He started his masters in Administration at Towson because of that and made various
connections which eventually led him to Washington County. Mr. Willow also talked of an
administrative intern position and how the connections and experiences he had throughout that
process led him to his first principal job.

Mr. Willow viewed leadership as setting priorities towards creating a common vision and
mission. It is the principals job to put systems in place that focus on student success, not only at
the high school level, but also beyond. A main takeaway I had from Mr. Willow was his
comments on deposits and withdrawls. Every relationship you have and every conversation/
interaction with that person will either have a deposit or a withdrawl. The goal is for teachers
and administrators to work together for the good of students, have trust within one another, and
that happens when there are more deposits than withdrawls. When we put time and energy into
building relationships, we have a better chance of working together and trusting each other to
reach these common goals. Mr. Willow discussed some of the “deposits” he like to do;
acknowledging when a teacher goes above and beyond or helps with something, comments on
a good lesson, writes a note, etc. It is human nature for us to enjoy and appreciate receiving
these things, and little acknowledgements add up.

Mr. Willows dissertation topic that led him to the 7 principal’s that had excellent feedback
in their schools was a reflective topic to hear as a teacher. He noted that these schools had
effective communication of feedback teacher to student, teacher to teacher, administration to
teachers, and administration to students. They personalize collaboration that led to this
excellent feedback. Effective feedback and communication is key for teachers and as we look in
the administrative field it continues.

Dr. Kenney also stated various common themes throughout the interview in accordance
with Mr. Crump and Mr. Willow. Dr. Kenney stated that becoming the “building leader” was not
leaving the kids behind, instead it is more helping the teachers becoming better instructionally
which in turn helps the students. I also enjoyed hearing how being the leader is not just working
with students who are misbehaving, it is also acknowledging when they are doing the right thing.
Another common topic was always putting the students first. Sometimes in order to put the
students first, schedules must be changed and that does not make the teachers happy.
However, the goal is that we are all working towards the success of the students and sometimes
things must be done to make that happen.

Dr. Kenney also noted that as she has been mentoring teachers within their building,
sometimes they have no idea what happens in the office while they are teaching. I can relate to
that because just when I walk through the office of my 700+ student school during my planning
or lunch period, it is crazy! So much multi tasking going on by every member of our
administrative team, constantly. I can only imagine what an entire day would be like.

Overall, a common theme in administrator preparation was allowing yourself hands on