My non-negotiable as a school leader is for students and staff to feel safe at school. There needs to be an environment where students and staff feel safe the moment they step on to the campus. My second non-negotiable is giving the students the tools to be successful in life. Whether that be academics, basic needs and anything that would help propel them to be global citizens. My last non-negotiable would be having myself and staff be relevant to our students, school and community. One of the main problems I see with some schools is the leadership is not relevant and they are so out of touch with this every changing society.
I have been working in education for nine years. Out of the nine years I have been in education eight have been teaching. I taught my first five years at Merced County Office of Education. There I taught Agriculture to troubled high school students in the court system. My day was split between two schools, one in Los Banos and the other in Merced. I loved teaching in the court community schools system, there I meet many students and educators that would have a profound effect on my life. As an Agriculture instructor I was able to go outside the classroom into the community and help different social project in our area. This lead to a great partnership with Habitat for Humanity and different food pantry’s in our community. Some of my cherished memories have been seeing my court ordered students that were outcasts of society donating eggs that our chickens produces and fruits and vegetables that were harvest from our school farm. The last three years of teaching have been for Delta Charter High in Tracy Ca. This has also been a great challenge for me. I was hired to create an Agriculture program from the ground up. In just two years at Delta I manage to build a great program, we now have three Agriculture instructors and a school farm. At the end of last year I entered the Master’s program for San Diego State emphasizing on leadership through technology. My leadership team asked if I was willing to take on another challenge working with online students and to help populate the program. This year has been amazing working with technology and building other fragment of your school.
Most of my memories from kindergarten through high school was playing sports with my friends. I used to hate school and if it wasn’t for playing sports all through high school I would have dropped out. I always missed school due to family hardships. I remember having to miss school countless times throughout Jr high and high school because I had to go to work with my father. Missing so much school made me fall behind on my studies which made it very hard for me to grasp my education. I was well liked with most of my teachers because I played sports and did well on the field. The teachers that could care less about sports I felt looked down on me. Not all of them but enough for me to feel uncomfortable in their class. It was like I was a bad person because I missed so much school and I was getting sub-par grades. Throughout all of my educational years from grade school all the way to high school only one teacher took the time to ask if I was ok physically, financially and mentally. Don’t get me wrong I have had some great teachers throughout my life but only one took the time to really dig deep into my life. Her name was Mrs. Wilcox, she was an older English teacher. She made me feel like I was one of her children. She made sure that my basic needs were met on a daily basis, Mrs. Wilcox would always ask if I was hungry, cold or anything that a child would need to feel comfortable at school. I feel that we have been burdened down so much with getting our students to pass tests, get good grades and so on. We have lost the common touch with our students, we need to make sure above all else that our students are safe physically, mentally and have their basic needs met. A students well being must come first.
Belief Statement
I believe the main purpose of education is to provide children with a safe and nurturing environment that prepares them to be global citizens. The responsibility for education is an active partnership among the schools, students, families, and all stakeholders of the community. Education should prepare students to succeed scholastically and socially so they can compete for quality professions and become productive members of society. Due to the needs of our ever-changing society, education is an innovative and evolving process. Visionary leader- As a visionary leader I need to share my vision to my sphere of influence. A vision that is clear, unique and will cause excitement coupled with anticipation. A vision that is long term with attainable benchmarks. Leaders also have to create an environment for their team where the vision can be accomplish with complete assurance in the task at hand. A visionary leader also has to foster his vision to the next generation of leaders when the time is right. Instructional leader - As an instructional leader communication is the key to increase commitment. A great instructional leader leads by example to the masses as well as in private conversations. We need to be well rounded in our approaches in instruction so that we can touch as many lives as possible. Finally a great leader inspires change and creatively to all they educate. Community leader- Is someone that has integrity and is transparent. This in turns creates open lines of communication, this is vital in serving your community. Being committed is also a trait a leader must have. Putting in time goes without saying when working and leading in the community. Empathy with the community you serve is just as important as others traits, a leader that can laugh and cry with the public is a plus. Lastly community leader is someone that has not lost the common touch and can walk beside the people they lead. |
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