Q; What was your job/position before an assistant principal at CHS?
A; I taught for a dozen years as a high school English teacher..in a couple of different places. Most recently in Carbondale Illinois, and then 4 years ago we moved out here. And I worked in Missouri doing teacher trainings, so working with schools to help teachers learn different strategies and techniques to be better teachers!
Q; Why did you decide to work at CHS?
A; Well there’s a couple of different reasons. Number one, I wanted to get back into a school, for the last four years I wasn’t at one school in particular I jumped to a whole bunch of different ones, and I kinda missed the community of a school. And for another reason, I really liked the diversity that CHS had. That’s something that I think is really important for kids to experience as they are growing up, so I was interested in that as well.
Q; What is your favorite part about your job?
A; Definitely going into classrooms, and seeing kids learn and teachers teach, that’s the best part. I hate the discipline part, I don’t like it at all!
Q; How do you balance your life and your work at CHS?
A; You have to set priorities, and so far when I’m outside of work I have to make sure I’m devoting time and attention to my 3 kids. My wife and I have to make sure we are turning our brains off when we leave work. And then, I like to workout so I have to make sure I do that in the morning because otherwise it’s not gonna get done.
Q; What has impressed you the most about CHS students and/or faculty?
A; I would say a couple things. For the faculty, we are trying to re-envision the way we do professional learning communities where teachers work together to learn new things and use data to improve their instruction. And I’ve really been impressed with the way that teachers are open to new ideas. So that’s cool. For the students, very respectful…for the most part-not all but most! I think what gets hard in this job is that we see the same few kids and it’s easy to kind of associate them with the whole population. But that’s definitely not the case, there are tons and tons and tons of good kids doing their absolute best, trying as much as possible and that’s really encouraging.
Q; What motivates you about your job?
A; Well going back to that previous question about PLC’s and helping teachers, like that’s still one of my main focuses, is trying to help teachers teach better. And do the best job that they can do to help all students because I feel like that’s where everybody can get better-and me myself, I can get better, teachers can get better. We obviously worry about students getting better and growing and learning, but we need to too.
Q; How would you describe CHS culture?
A; That’s interesting, I don’t know. I think the whole idea that it’s a small school but a giant community, it feels very “homey”. It’s very tight-knit. And I’m not from here, so it’s kind of interesting sometimes to be “the guy who’s not from here.”
Q; What are some challenges you’ve faced with your job?
A; Well I mentioned the discipline thing, that’s not something I like necessarily. I have tried as much as possible to make that not a “threatening conversation” because I don’t want it to be that way. And as much as possible I try to talk about how we can do things differently or how students can do things differently, and give students a goal to shoot for. That and being able to go into classrooms because part of my day is spent dealing with discipline when I really would like to spend 90% of my day walking through classrooms.
Q; What do you hope to accomplish this year at CHS?
A; I would love to see when I walk into a class that students are excited about what they are learning, that teachers are excited about what they are teaching, and that it’s an environment that’s really good for learning. And we are getting there, and I think in some classrooms this environment already exists and some classrooms are excited about learning new stuff to help them create that environment.
Q; In your opinion, what are the qualities of a good high-school assistant principal?
A; A good communicator, someone who will talk to anyone and everyone. And somebody that knows how to share and distribute leadership. I think being able to have empathy or understanding is important for everybody, so that we understand where students are coming from and where teachers are coming from. I think that’s really important for everyone to have.
Q; What was your job/position before an assistant principal at CHS?
A; Before being an assistant principal at CHS, I was a K-8 elementary principal of a small rural school in Southern Illinois. There were only 115 students in my whole building.
Q; Why did you decide to work at CHS?
A; I had heard so many amazing things about CHS, and my neighbor and friend, Mrs. Kettler, has always spoken so highly of the students and staff, so when I was looking to make a change to gain high school experience, CHS was definitely at the top of the list.
Q; What is your favorite part about your job?
A; My favorite part about the job is the people. I love getting to know and work with our students and teachers. My background is in curriculum and instruction, so I love being in classrooms to see what our students are learning and how they are learning it.
Q; How do you balance your life and your work at CHS?
A; Finding a balance has always been tricky, especially when starting a new position. Being part of such an amazing admin team has made it easier. Everyone on our team is great about stepping up and helping so that we can all keep our families as a priority while still being our best at CHS.
Q; What has impressed you the most about CHS students and/or faculty?
A; One of the things that immediately stood out to me, even during my interview, is the pride and passion every person has for being a Kahok. It is much more than simply working at or attending Collinsville school. It becomes a part of who you are as a person.
Q; What motivates you about your job?
A; My biggest motivators are our students and staff; what we do in public education matters and has the ability and power to improve our world.
Q; How would you describe CHS culture?
A; There is something so special about CHS’s culture, and I don’t know if it can be fully realized until it is experienced. The Kahok culture is one of pride, dedication, and passion.
Q; What are some challenges you’ve faced with your job?
A; While every day is different and presents new challenges, the most consistent challenge I face is tardies, and I am open to thoughts and suggestions on how to improve it.
Q; What do you hope to accomplish this year at CHS?
A; To build positive relationships with students and staff
Q; In your opinion, what are the qualities of a good high-school assistant principal?
A; While many qualities make a good high school principal, several attributes are most important. First, a high school principal must be an excellent communicator, including expressing ideas but also listening to ideas. Most of the day is spent interacting with students, teachers, parents, and the community, so excellent communication skills are necessary. Second, a good high school principal is adaptable. Many situations during the day require the ability to think outside the box and be flexible with their thinking in order to understand. Finally, a good principal must be courageous. Being an administrator often requires us to make tough decisions, and tough decisions usually mean someone will be unhappy. It takes courage to hear all sides and decide what is best. It is one of the main reasons I ask myself daily and usually hourly, “What is best for kids?”. I want all of my courageous decisions to be guided by what is best for students and their learning.
Q; What was your job/position before an assistant principal at CHS?
A; I was an Instructional Coach
Q; Why did you decide to work at CHS?
A; It’s my alma mater-PROUD 2003 graduate
Q; What is your favorite part about your job?
A; It feels like home!!!
Q; How do you balance your life and your work at CHS?
A; That’s a tough one, when you love what you do-it doesn’t feel like work. But in all seriousness, I try to set aside time for just my family whether that is during the week or on the weekend. When I’ve had to devote more time to work during the week then I know the weekend will be just for family.
Q; What has impressed you the most about CHS students and/or faculty?
A; I am in awe of the sheer talent of our students-I literally sat in awe at Mr. Homecoming for example. CHS truly has an awesome staff and student body.
Q; What motivates you about your job?
A; The students-they are my passion.
Q; How would you describe CHS culture?
A; Energetic, exciting, and enthusiastic.
Q; What are some challenges you’ve faced with your job?
A; ahhhh….the ever changing world…social media is a huge challenge in my job!!! Bullies are a huge problem in my job!!! Seriously, I love my job, even on the worst days, there is always something or someone who makes me smile!!
Q; What do you hope to accomplish this year at CHS?
A; This year at CHS I hope to continue to work with the students to reach their greatest potential. I want all students to see their struggles as only minor obstacles. I also want to continue to make CHS the best high school….as an alum I am proud to say I graduated from here-I want students to be able to feel that same pride for years to come.
Q; In your opinion, what are the qualities of a good high-school assistant principal?
A; Someone who remembers what it was like to be a high school student and kid (those are two different things).
