Leadership Lite
School Administrator, February 2022

A High-Level Perspective

He bills himself as “the Poore Man on the Roof” — one day each year when Mike Poore, the superintendent in Little Rock, Ark., sets up a desk and brings along work papers and a laptop on top of the district’s administration building to call attention to the school district's collection of nonperishable foods and cash donations to support needy families.

Over the years, the mayor, a legislator and a chamber of commerce official have climbed the ladder to the roof for appointments with the superintendent. Poore uses a pulley system to transfer paperwork and maintain a supply of hot coffee.

Poore allows students at a different elementary school each year to pick the date after they study area weather patterns. They did Poore no favors in 2021 by selecting one of the colder days of the winter. TV news coverage showed the superintendent bundled up well for his roof-top stint.

Exhibiting His Brilliance

While visiting an elementary school classroom recently as superintendent of Renton School District in Washington, Damien Pattenaude was approached by a student who said to him: “Hey, Mr. P, I did a drawing of you.”

After complimenting her artwork, Pattenaude asked what was the rectangle pictured atop his head.

She responded: “The light shining off your bald head.”

A Hair-Raising Episode

On most days, Kellie Hernandez usually has her long, curly hair pulled up in a bun by 9 in the morning in her work as principal of Madrona Elementary School in Washington’s Highline Public Schools.

One day recently, Hernandez was chatting with some 2nd graders in the school cafeteria during lunch with her hair still down.

The conversation took an odd turn.

Student: “What happened to your hair?”

Hernandez: “What do you mean?”

Student: “Umm, why are you wearing a wig?”

Hernandez, laughing hysterically, began to pull up her hair.

Student: “Ohhh!! There it is.”

Hernandez insists she loves most aspects of her job but quips, “My wig, not so much some days.”
 
 
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.