The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Leaders begin summer summit
With a hearty breakfast and whipped cream on top, Lorain City Schools leaders began planning out how teachers and students will learn in the 2018-19 school year.
Lorain Schools convened its School Leader Summit the morning of June 13 in the cafeteria of General Johnnie Wilson Middle School.
More than 50 school turnaround principals and deans gathered for the start of an eightday professional development period.
“It is so exciting to finally see the room of leaders we’ve been working for; it seems like, five, six months to find and match and meld, if you will,” said CEO David Hardy Jr. “To see it all finally come into one room, it’s really exciting.”
The eight-day program is a “powerhouse” schedule that will enlighten the school leaders to what is possible and inform them what to do, Hardy said.
Ultimately, the sessions will help the administrators create a narrative to live by “to say, you know what? No longer do I accept people telling me, it is not possible,” he said.
“Here is our opportunity to bring the comprehensive view of what it will take for us to be great for our kids and for our teachers,” Hardy said.
School in session
Music played as the new and returning administrators sat for official portraits and selected descriptive ribbons to stick to their name tags.
Clad in a white chef’s hat and blue apron, Hardy led the district administrators behind the waffle buffet to make entrees for the staff.
Whipped cream was an optional topper, along with maple syrup, strawberry and blueberry compotes and other items.
The group began with three rounds of introductions,
each time meeting new people to explain their ribbon selections, what excites them about their new roles and what keeps them up at night with their new roles.
For excitement, the administrators said they want to work smarter, not harder, and they crackled with the energy in the room.
One said she thought of being a change agent while building relationships and bringing the team along keeps her up at night.
Frank Jacinto Elementary Turnaround Principal Paula Baldwin, who served as assistant principal at Helen Steiner Rice Elementary, said the thought about her first day keeps her up at night.
“We’re not even talking about when the teachers and the students come back,” Baldwin said. “I’m talking about when I get there officially.
“I definitely want to make sure that I’m prepared before I come back. So these eight days are going to be so beneficial for me. So yes, I’m excited; I’m so excited.”
In the next eight days, one administrator said she wants to see how the eight elementary schools will move forward together, not separately.
Another said she wants to be a “sponge,” absorbing knowledge about the academics, the administrators and her building team.
Community norms
Chief Schools Officer LaKimbre Brown outlined six “community norms” for the
leaders to maximize the sessions: • Your school is my school • Be here now, every minute used
• Ground statements in evidence
• Stick to protocol and hear all voices • Have fun and laugh • Feedback, feedback, feedback: don’t hold back, with love
Bryan Hilko, who served as General Johnnie Wilson principal and will be ninth grade academy director of Lorain High School, said he was ready to have fun and laugh.
Brown asked if he would lead that charge.
“I’m all in, right now, let’s go,” Hilko said.
The Lorain Promise
Chief Equity and Achievement Officer Kenan Bishop described an episode from his youth to explain the quotation: “Personal narratives energize public narratives and shape our collective understanding.”
For Bishop, some of his learning as a youth stemmed from an attempt to iron a raincoat because he did not want to wear it wrinkled.
The results were “all bad,” but his mother made him read books and report back about the importance of reading clothing labels, which in turn led to his adult reading habits.
“We’re sharing our stories, not because it’s nice to share stories, but there’s a promise that we made to the city of Lorain every single day, correct?” Bishop said.
The Lorain Promise, the academic turnaround plan for Lorain Schools, is not an opinion or just a bunch of ideas, he said.
As the school leaders learn the stories of their students and relay those to the community, the narratives coming out of the schools will energize and shape the community’s understanding of what The Lorain Promise looks, feels and sounds like, Bishop said.
“So, we are the walking embodiment of The Lorain Promise,” he said.
Learning breakfast
As for the waffles, the administrators learned to pour the batter when the iron’s hot.
Hardy conceded making waffles is challenging and he has room to grow there.
“I learned that there’s more of an art than a science to it, so you have to really know the individual and how they like their waffle prepared,” he said with a laugh. “But it was a lot of fun and a great way to start off the day.
“It’s nice to connect with people outside of sessions and classrooms and things like that and enjoy some food.”
“We’re sharing our stories, not because it’s nice to share stories, but there’s a promise that we made to the city of Lorain every single day, correct?.”
— Chief Equity and Achievement Officer Kenan Bishop