Leadership Lite
School Administrator, May 2021 

Greetings That Seemed Out of Place

One of Paul Imhoff’s favored communication tools is to speak at small coffee-chat gatherings in private homes in Upper Arlington, Ohio, where he serves as superintendent. At times, the calendar really fills up, and Imhoff finds himself going from house to house to house.

One evening, he arrived at a home bustling with people. Imhoff went around the room, dutifully making introductions and thanking people for being there. After several minutes, someone he knew pulled him aside and asked what he was doing there.

“It turns out that I had accidentally crashed a wake!” reported Imhoff, the incoming AASA president. “Everyone was very kind as I apologized and made my way out the door and down the street to the real coffee chat.”



Tales of Tigers

Erik Kincade found an unusual way to teach principles of good leadership to young students. He published a book, featuring a super-striped tiger, semi-striped tigers and a stripeless tiger, titled Earn Your Stripes.

Kincade, the decade-long superintendent of the Fairview School District in northwestern Pennsylvania, relates a story about Sam, the tiger with positive influences on her followers, and Edgar, a tiger who is lazy and selfish.

Working in Fairview where the district mascot is the Tiger made the choice of animal at the center of his illustrated book most fit-ting. A Kickstarter campaign launched by the superintendent led to the initial printing of 300 copies, distributed within his district and to all elementary school libraries in Erie County, Pa. He’s since published two follow-up works full of personal improvement advice: Hey Ralphie, You’re Not a Tiger and Hey Ralphie, It’s What’s on the Inside that Counts.
 

Noisy Nickname

Kenmare High School, located in North Dakota a short distance from the Canada Goose Hiking Trail, acknowledges the abundance of geese by using the Honkers nickname for its sports teams.

The school has created a mascot featuring Hank the Honker and a six-foot goose costume for patrolling the sidelines of athletic events.

The area’s most populous bird is further promoted during Kenmare’s annual GooseFest every fall.

SOURCE: National Federation of High Schools
 

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. Email: magazine@aasa.org. Upon request, names may be withheld in print.