Leadership Lite
School Administrator, February 2019



A Song to the Heart
A high school student in Clinton Township, Mich., knew the way to influence her superintendent’s snow day decision was through music. So Daniella Grainger, a member of her school choir, recorded an original snow day song with her own acoustic guitar accompaniment and posted it on YouTube.

In less than a day, the minute-long video asking for a day off due to wintry conditions had 34,000 views. Most importantly, one of those clicks came from Superintendent Ron Roberts, who made just the call the talented student musician had sought.
SOURCE: Detroit News



Padding for His Career Rise
Tony Habra sold vacuum cleaners at 18, then made a few bucks delivering singing telegrams in Las Vegas while enrolled in casino dealers’ school. He put in almost five years driving cabs in Tucson, Ariz., and Los Angeles.

Those experiences all contributed to him spending seven years in the superintendency, most recently in the Paw Paw, Mich., district. He refers to his unusual decade of odd jobs to make a point about taking personal risks and learning self-confidence.

“After all,” says Habra, “if you can sing the Happy Birthday song in front of 100 people while wearing a Playboy Bunny outfit with fishnets and four-inch red pumps, how hard is it to speak to folks in a tie?”
 

Inspiration in the Chief’s Words
Marnie Hazelton turned a moment of anxiety into a lesson of inspiration in her role as superintendent of the Roosevelt Union Free School District on New York’s Long Island.

Hazelton was a district coordinator in 2011 facing the likelihood of layoff when she composed a letter to Barack Obama detailing her feelings of desperation. Two months later, the president sent her a handwritten response that offered solace and hope. “I’m rooting for you,” he wrote.

Now Hazelton uses the exchange of letters as a teachable moment when she meets with students who are working on story-writing skills. “Writing is a powerful tool, more powerful than I can say,” the superintendent told 3rd graders.

Obama, during his presidency, had a daily practice of reading 10 letters at the end of every day, chosen from the thousands received at the White House.
SOURCE: Newsday

 
 
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.