Guest principals representing many of the community’s nonprofit organizations spent time in 17 of Waukegan Community Unit School District 60’s 23 buildings, with some teaching lessons in goal-setting, reading to younger children and making morning announcements.
A class of third graders at Andrew Cooke Magnet Elementary School collectively decided they wanted their guest principal Jane Ferry, the board chair of Three Brothers Theatre, to read them “The Bad Seed.” Ferry accommodated and drew the lesson from the children.
“The bad seed decided he wanted to be a good seed,” Ferry said. “He wanted to be happy. Even when something is tough, you should always try to be happy,”
Thinking about the picture of the bad seed in the book, the students had a response as well.
“Don’t judge a person by their looks,” one of the youngsters said.
Ferry was one of 17 representatives of different nonprofit organizations in the area to participate in the annual Guest Principal Day Thursday on district campuses, giving them a look at school operations and the children a new experience.
With a relationship already existing between Cooke and Three Brothers, Ferry said being a guest principal was an opportunity to strengthen the bonds and possibly arrange a workshop with the students in the future. Principal Stephanie Jensen said fine arts is a focus of the school.
Between reading the morning announcements and getting a flavor of the students’ day, Ferry said she enjoyed her time reading to the youngsters and other interactions. When she was done reading to the class, she was treated to a dance from an upcoming show the students were doing.
“They are an attentive group,” Ferry said. “You know you are doing well if you keep their attention.”
District 60 Superintendent Theresa Plascencia said in an email that Guest Principal Day is an opportunity to celebrate community leaders who impact students’ lives on a daily basis. There were some from organizations that run after-school programs, as well as those who help many of their parents.
“We were thrilled to welcome these community impact leaders into our schools, giving them an up-close look at the incredible work happening,” Plascencia said. “Events like this deepen the connection between our schools and community.”
Spending a few hours as guest principal at Greenwood Elementary School was Dulce Ortiz. She is both the executive director of Mano a Mano Family Resource Center and a Waukegan Township trustee. She spent some of her time talking to fourth graders about setting and achieving goals.
Asking them about some of their goals — they included spelling better, mastering long division and multiplying decimals — Ortiz said getting help from teachers and others is part of achieving occasion goals. Attitude is also important.
“We always need help achieving our goals,” Ortiz said. “To achieve your goals, you need the help of a community. You’ll be happy when you achieve your goals. Your school celebrates you when you meet your goals. There’s always an opportunity to meet your goals.”
For Germain Castellanos, the CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lake County, there was a lot of familiarity as he spent his morning at Oakdale Elementary School. He was a student there from 1988 to 1994, and he recognized many of the students as club members. There are 50 at Oakdale.
Also reading to students, Castellanos entertained a group of children who participated by raising their hands and singing on cue. Spending a few hours as guest principal, he had a sense of what they do before they come to the club.
“It gives us a chance to see what they are doing, so there is a seamless transition after the school day when they come to us for some enrichment,” Castellanos said. “Being here, I see myself in these kids.”
Though not going into detail, Aaron Arnold, the guest principal at Jack Benny Middle School and the executive director of Waukegan to College, said he had the opportunity to both learn about the school-improvement project and observe firsthand a less positive but necessary part of schooling.
Jack Benny Principal Issac Kirkwood said Arnold had the occasion to observe a restorative session where students involved in an altercation shared their feelings about the situation and what led to it. Arnold understood how it worked.
“The student had help understanding the impact of what he did and the results it had on others,” Arnold said. “He still had to live with the consequences.”
Along with the 17 guest principals, five other individuals from the community will assume the guest principal role on different days.
