leadership in high schools

This past school year I worked alongside Linda Finn an educational administrative intern through SUNY Fredonia.  This summer Sandy Olson will be attached to the Hewes Center Summer School Program as she works on completing her administrative internship through SUNY Fredonia as well. 

Administrative Interns give Principals and Supervisors working in schools a unique opportunity to stop and take stock of process and procedures in the day to day running of an educational venture.  Most of the time veteran school administrators work on automatic pilot knowing or seeming to do exactly what needs to be done at the given moment.  Time to process information and challenge decisions does not come until the end of the day when school is over, by this time, students may have left school with hurt feelings, teachers may have left feeling ignored or paraprofessionals have left for the day without informing the office of some nagging problem.  In my mind even when the school is quiet, the principal may not devote time to valuable reassessment of the day because calls have to made to parents regarding disciplinary actions, email has to be answered, paperwork has to be completed and turned around so as to reach higher office and the demands continue into the night. 

Having an administrative intern for me is the greatest joy because I get to explain what is happening in real time, share my thoughts in real time, ask for in-put from another adult in real time, check for understanding of the issues with another school official and get another perspective from people who ordinarily work in school settings in other capacities - Linda Finn is comprehensive health educator throughout Erie 2 CC BOCES, while Sandy is a school psychologist at Panama Central School in Western New York. 

It is a privilege to be associated with an administrative intern program.  The goals of this program are to give an individual interested in pursuing educational administration the most succinct immersion in the working life of a principal/supervisor.  Examples of internship duties and exposure are as follows - hiring, staffing, participating in CSE meetings, writing memos, planning faculty and staff meetings, developing short school based programs, contact with parents, discipline of students, working with outside agencies, developing a administrative portfolio, interacting with teachers and staff, problem solving, assisting in writing grants, researching school based programs and assisting in the evaluation of teachers among other worthwhile opportunities that can be provided by the internship experience.   

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the interns that have been assigned to my office in the past, now and in the future.  You challenge my thinking and my practise and for this I am grateful because together we both learn.  To the teachers and staff of the Hewes Center thank you for your patience and understanding as you partake in the development of school leaders. 

This summer for the first time at the Hewes Center we have two non-Boces teachers who have been hired together with several paraprofessionals that have been hired to work but whom are formally trained and regularly work as teachers, counselors, nurses aides, bus drivers, and retired police officers.  Due to the large staff needs we are still looking to hire a teacher substitute for both our Hewes and LoGuidice Centers, two speech teachers and a substitute teachers aide.  This large a demand for paraprofessional staff has meant that for the first time in 6 summers we are hiring very recent high school graduates with tons of common sense:) and many commendations from teachers and high school coaches. 

Patrick Smeraldo, summer school co-ordinator,  has begun his work alongside me interviewing and screening summer staff.  We work the phones calling references and hunting down component school district related service professional like Occupational Therapists and Speech Teachers.  Every evening we assess where we are at.  Pat has developed a system that is displayed in the ‘war room’ this is where we keep a running count of all are staff needs and student assignments. 

As of today we have recommended for hire 32 new paraprofessionals for summer school, 2 special education teachers who are non-BOCES and a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant.  Still to go is the hiring of one full time speech teacher and one part-time speech teacher to service 9 days of this related service.  We are down to the wire tomorrow……… 

Thank you Thea Kester, High School Social Studies Teacher.   In addition to hosting your beautiful daughter and her children in from New Jersey this past week, you eagerly took on the mantle of developing a blog for Social Studies teachers grades 9-12. 

How did this happen?  Thea, Lauren Hanson, Teaching Assistant and I, met up and accessed the Edublogs web site and began following the instructions.  In the first lesson Thea picked out her design header and wrote a post.  We then invited teachers to respond.  I returned to my office and posted a comment to the blog immediately.  I am so excited. 

Thea is sponsoring the following blog.  http://hewessocialstudies3.edublogs.org.  The 3 represents the 3 high school social studies teachers at the Hewes Center of Erie 2 Boces - Greg G., Cindy J. and Thea Kester.   

The high school teachers at the Hewes Center teaching summer school will be able to  pioneer this blog with students over 6 weeks, July 7-August 15, 2008.  This is our goal anyway.  I will help feed this blog over summer school since Thea herself will not be teaching but both Cindy and Greg both teachers of Social Studies at the Hewes Center, will be.  I encourage others to visit this blog to show support and give ideas.  

Suffice it to say that Thea and I will be collaborating this summer.   

The Science Cart was introduced to parents via a letter that went home.  Three teachers were involved in the presentation - Unfortunately, only one family was able to attend.  While comments were very positive, I think the timing, 2 pm., was problematic.  It does not help that gas prices are soaring everyday either, - currently $4.19  Our open house in the Fall will feature the Science Cart and we hope to have more parents exposed to the wonders of practical experiments on gravity, light, motion etc.   

The week of June 10-June 23, 2008 is one in which the Hewes Center is featuring the Star Lab a resource on loan from the media center of Erie 2 CC BOCES.  All classes still in session are being introduced to the adventures of this model thanks to the trained interest of Marci Kupiec, teacher. 

A parent in the community who home schools 6 of her children will be visting during this time to expose herself and the children to the Hewes facility and the Space Lab.

Tonight I and three middle school teachers will speak at an evening reception hosted by the Arts Council of Chautauqua County.  We will be sharing collections of our thoughts and that of parents and families regarding the Local Capacity Grant that was awarded our Special Education programs at the Hewes Center early this year.  The collaboration of parents and the school, resulted in a grant proposal that eventually saw the production of puppet theatre by Das Puppenspiel.  Tonight’s presentation is key to the development of other proposals that we at the Hewes Center will write in the coming school year to bring arts into our school for the purpose of expanding the horizons of our students.   

Ripley Central School had  artists in residence - poets,  this year,  who reached out to parents and the community.  What a boost for the language arts programs there!.  This is a wonderful way for schools to invite community into our facilities and expand the mental borders of all residents.