Leadership Lite
School Administrator, May 2018
One Deep Dive
Colleen Robertson, superintendent of the one-school Somis Union School District, northwest of Los Angeles, doubted the 260 students in kindergarten through 8th grade could raise $8,000. So Robertson publicly promised to sky dive from 10,000 feet if the students met the target for the annual fund drive of the Parent Faculty Organization to pay for field trips and library books.
That was enough of an incentive to raise $10,800, so Robertson dutifully jumped out of a plane and landed in a field near the school to the cheers of parents and children.
“It was an adventure like no other,” she quipped.
SOURCE: Ventura County Star
A Leader With Distinction
When Bob Nelson was named superintendent of the Fresno Unified Schools in California last fall, the Fresno Bee dug up what it labeled “10 fun facts” about the new boss of the schools. They included these distinctions:
» Nelson, a vocal performance major in college, auditioned in Los Angeles to compete on network television’s “The Voice”;
» He and his wife have adopted four foster children;
» He’s bald after shaving his head as part of a high school fund-raising campaign to support childhood cancer research; and
» Nelson competed in a semi-pro paintball tournament. (“It hurts,” he admitted. “But it’s really fun.”)
Explaining the multifaceted role of a superintendent to someone is never easy. That’s especially so when you’re facing a young student.
Cory Gibson, superintendent in Valley Center, Kan., counts as his most memorable explanatory moment when he faced a kindergarten pupil recently who innocently asked him: “How did you become a stupidintendent?”
The Music Never Quits
Music is Kodey Hughes’ passion, but it’s also his second duty as superintendent of Tintic School District in central Utah.
Four mornings a week, Hughes teaches music to nearly half of the district’s 250 students. His musician days began in 6th grade when he began playing a rusty old trumpet.
SOURCE: Deseret News
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.