Lead by Example
A superintendent creates a yearlong internship for a high schooler to share the real challenge of organizational leadership
BY DUANE (D.T.) MAGEE
/School Administrator, September 2019



Norwalk, Iowa, superintendent D.T. Magee (left) with Noah Percy, a Norwalk graduate who spent his senior year of high school as the superintendent’s intern.
One of my passions as an educator is creating authentic learning experiences for students where they have a chance to succeed or fail. This type of experience was on full display at Norwalk’s Day on the Hill, an annual event that brings Norwalk students, educators and citizens to Iowa’s state capital to meet with state legislators.

I stood back and admired Noah Percy, the first superintendent intern I worked with through my school district’s relaunched career internship program, as he led a group of Norwalk High School student leaders in discussions with state senators and representatives about the student council’s legislative priorities: (1) exempting female hygiene products from sales tax and mandating all Iowa schools provide free feminine hygiene products; (2) allowing schools to set their own school year start dates; and (3) requiring all teachers to receive suicide identification and prevention training and (4) increasing state funding for mental health services.

Noah and the students were articulate, asked great questions of the legislators and gave thoughtful responses to legislator questions. They came prepared with copies of a professional grade brochure to distribute. Needless to say, I was filled with pride at the leadership Noah displayed on this day and impressed with all of the work he had done with his fellow students to prepare for this event.

I learned a lot from Noah during his internship year. The success he displayed had a lot to do with how he and I approached this first-time internship. The following five principles offer a useful overview of how to frame a student internship in the superintendency.

» Plan ahead.
Noah already was a recognized student leader in our school district. (He served as the student body president his senior year.) I wanted to ensure I connected with a student in-tern who had an aptitude for leadership.

Noah and I had several conversations before he agreed to accept the yearlong internship, which would carry a full credit toward graduation. These planning conversations allowed us to get to know each other better, identify Noah’s interests, discuss my expectations for the position and brainstorm about possible projects he could complete during the internship, which ran from August 2017 through May 2018. I was determined not to allow Noah and me to fall into the old axiom: Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.

» Communicate clear expectations and provide choice.
Before my first meeting with Noah, I had developed a list of expectations for my future intern. Noah knew from the start that we would meet weekly. He would be expected to finish two book studies, complete a meaningful project by May, attend the Day on the Hill event, complete a behavioral profile assessment and make two presentations to the Norwalk board of education.

Within these expectations, I offered Noah a chance to make suggestions and choose a project he was interested in from a list of projects I had created that would benefit the school district. By giving him a choice on projects and a voice in the internship expectations, he was able to display his passion and talent for graphic design. (His final project, the NCSD Branding/Style Guide, can be viewed at www.norwalkschools.org/district/about-norwalk-schools/brandguide.)


D.T. Magee (left) and Noah Percy completed a book study during the latter’s yearlong internship with the superintendent.
» Adapt and improvise.
As Noah and I went through the year, it became evident that certain parts of our initial plan had to be adapted, modified and refined. We both had busy schedules, so making adjustments for meeting times was an ongoing reality.

Our weekly meetings focused on three big items: leadership principles, our current book study and Noah’s branding guide project and other projects he was leading. Each week brought new wrinkles to our shared work. Our ability to respond to current developments and issues enabled the internship to be a challenging and relevant learning experience.

» Make it real.
One key decision I made that encouraged Noah to accept the internship offer was asking him to select a project in an area of personal interest and providing him with support to successfully complete it.

No recipe or detailed plan existed for how Noah should go about creating a branding/style guide for the district. I created firm deadlines for completion, the specific areas I wanted addressed in the final guide (such as official district colors, fonts and icons) and gave him access to resources that would help his work.

Noah carried real responsibility with this project, and he had to sell his vision to Norwalk school board members and the district’s administrative team. He ultimately succeeded with his branding guide project, but he experienced a few setbacks along the way — at one point, he was overruled by the administrative team on one of his preferred color choices — and learned how to bounce back and remain on task.

How many high school students have the chance to sit in front of a school district’s administrative team to present a project that will benefit their district?

» Lead by example.
Noah’s internship took place during my second year serving as superintendent of the 2,900-student Norwalk Community School District, located on the southwestern edge of Des Moines, Iowa. I had been involved in the relaunching of our district’s career internship program (formerly the school-to-work program) and knew I needed to set an example for our school district and community.

If I was willing to work with a student intern and provide a personal success story to our school board, staff, students and citizens, I expected local business and organization leaders would be more willing to participate in this budding program and that our district’s investment in the program would be seen as a positive allocation of resources. I committed my time and energy to Noah and that commitment yielded a tremendous return for me and the Norwalk district.

Next Intern Awaits
Noah completed his year as my intern and went off to Columbia University, where he is starting his sophomore year this fall. I hosted another intern during 2018-19, Tanner Corder, who is a different type of leader than Noah. Tanner carried a passion for detailed policy work and data analysis so he worked on a data analysis project for the school board. His final project involved reviewing board of education meeting minutes since July 2016 to determine board member voting patterns as well as the number of times board members made or seconded formal board motions.

Working with Tanner has reminded me of the need for educators to be intentional about helping students to develop their particular talents and leadership abilities. Each year I tell the Norwalk staff that we have future leaders attending our schools, but we don’t know which students will emerge as leaders in our school district, communities, state and country so we better teach all of our students to be leaders.

By hosting superintendent student interns, I am sharing my time and talents with a potential future leader and it has proven to be a great experience for me, as well. Superintendents are unique leaders in their communities, and I believe many students would benefit by learning from the educators who serve in these positions.

I encourage my colleagues in the superintendency to consider taking on a semester-long or yearlong student intern. It’s an opportunity to share your leadership skills with talented students who walk our hallways.

As for me, I already have completed my plans to work with a third superintendent intern during the 2019-20 school year.


D.T. MAGEE is the superintendent of the Norwalk Community School District in Norwalk, Iowa. Twitter: @MageeDT