Leadership Lite
School Administrator, May 2017

A Safe Harbor
Anthony Habra was hanging around the hallway of an elementary school to meet a lot of students in his new position as superintendent in Haines Borough, Alaska. Many of the youngsters wanted to know why he was spending time among them, clearly dressed for a more official setting.

One 3rd grader asked Habra, “Did they kick you out of your office?”

“No,” he replied, “I wanted to be out here so I could meet all of you.”

She nodded, apparently unconvinced of that rationale. “Well, you can stay out here until they let you back in.”


Twisted or Braided?
“Once a Pretzel, always a Pretzel.”

Anyone spending time in Freeport, Ill., recognizes that motto and embodies its spirit. Superintendent Mike Schiffman sees Pretzel Pride on display among alumni. To match them with volunteer opportunities, the district created a Pretzel Connection directory.


Special Powers
The top administrators in the Natick, Mass., schools staged a superhero skit at the district’s back-to-school convocation. Superintendent Peter Sanchioni dressed as Thor, and Anna Nolin, an assistant superintendent, was costumed as Wonder Woman. Others on stage were wizards.

Disavowing superhero qualities was the chair of the district’s school board, Amy Mistrot. She told the convocation: “If I had a superpower, it could possibly be budgetary advocacy.”


Reaffirming Identities
One day, while serving a few years ago as an assistant high school principal in Choctaw, Okla., Todd Glasgow was working lunch duty in the school parking lot, where his job was to check students’ IDs at the single exit. Only 12th graders with good grades were permitted to eat lunch off campus.

The school policy required passengers without their ID card to exit the car and return to the cafeteria, while drivers without proof had to return their car to the lot.

One student who pulled up to the gate without his ID pleaded with Glasgow. “‘You know that I’m a senior,’ he argued. I had to remind him, ‘And you know that I am a principal.’”

SOURCE: Todd Glasgow, superintendent, Geary, Okla.

Short, humorous anecdotes, quips, quotations and malapropisms for this column relating to school district administration should be addressed to: Editor, School Administrator, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Fax: 703-841-1543. E-mail: magazine@aasa.org. Upon request, names may be withheld in print.