Heart of the School Awards

Although the ensemble Shantay McKinily, 43, wore to the Heart of the School Awards certainly gave off a celebratory air, the Walter P. Carter Elementary/Middle School principal said it was just her usual “free” style. “I’m not good with conformity. So I’m not going to look like a typical principal,” she said with a laugh. “I have a T-shirt that says ‘Bougie Black Girl.’ I’ve had parents say, ‘You DO know you’re wearing pumps, an A-line skirt and a shirt that says Bougie Black Girl to a business meeting?’ And I’ll [respond], ‘Yeah, it’s OK. It’s fun.’ “My students and my parents love it because it makes me like an everyday person. You’ll sometimes see me in a suit, but I’m generally more relatable to everyone [this way],” the Northeast Baltimore resident said. There’s also a lesson in that style that McKinily said she wants to impart to students. “That you can be a leader and still be free, and be yourself,” she said THE REACTION: ‘My students say, ‘I want to look like her when I grow up; I want to be like her.’ And some of the parents say, ‘I never would have thought to put that together.’ … But I think because I have a strong presence, the outfit doesn’t take away my presence as a principal.” STYLE SPECIFICS: “My friends say I’m like a flower child. But I’m professional, too. … I’ll try to take everyday things and dress them up — urban chic. I like to wear very natural things, like the earrings. But I also like to make a statement with what I wear, whether it’s a graphic T[-shirt] or a flowy, long skirt.”