Some students in the Rainy River District are getting a hands-on look at what it’s liketo be a school administrator.
As a way to get students ready for the workforce, post-secondary, apprenticeship, and more, the Rainy River District School Board (RRDSB) developed the Pathways to Success program. From Grade 7 going all the way until the end of their senior year in high school, students explore, focus, and refine their exit strategy through the development of an Individual Pathways Plan (IPP). The plan allows for students to explore different subjects, topics and even careers that could interest them after gradutaiton, and work with guidance counsellors, teachers and their parents to work towards their planned future.
Looking for new and creative opportunities for student engagement, Sharla MacKinnon, Principal of Crossroads School, and the school’s Vice Principal, Sherri Allan, created the Principal for a Block program. Now, students can look beyond Student Council and Mental Health Leadership positions and further expand their education and employment horizons by learning more about what goes on behind the scenes at their school on the administration level.
“We know from living the life of being in academics for so long, students always see what it is teachers are doing,” MacKinnon said.
“But, do they really know what administrators do on a day to day basis?”
MacKinnon and Allan soon learned that students were quite interested to find out what an average day at the office looks like for them. At first, the program was open to anyone in Crossroads School from Grade 4 all the way to Grade 8. Since then, the program has been tweaked a bit.
“Last year it was just a short application form that they needed to complete. It’s not really a resume, but a couple questions and things that they think happen, why they would want to be a principal for a block, and what they think we do as administrators,” said MacKinnon.
“That question always led to interesting responses. And then this year, with the support of the Grade 7/8 teacher, we changed it to more of a persuasive letter.”
So, students in Grades 7 and 8 got to work writing persuasive cover letters in an effort to stand out from the crowd.
“The persuasive letters were really well written this year,” MacKinnon said. “It made it tough to sort through and choose just a few. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll be able to have had an opportunity to provide it to more students.”
In an effort to make thing official, students get their own lanyard and name tag, as well as a computer at the Principal’s desk.
“They quickly find out that neither of us are really at our desks all that often in the day. I think it’s sometimes a surprise for them,” MacKinon said.
“We have a little checklist that they have to go through when they’re living a day in the life or a block in the life of us administrators. We do walk throughs throughout our building, and they come with us. They have a clipboard and a notepad. They write down observations. They try to touch base with every staff member, interact with students, and prepare for the morning announcements.”
MacKinnon said the announcements are a favourite among students in the program.
“On their checklist of what they get to do in that block, they actually get to pick one student that they’d like to call down to the office,” MacKinnon said.
“They also get to choose an activity or a club to run during one of the nutrition breaks that day.”
Other tasks managed by the Principal for a Block students include mediating minor conflicts, see the staff room, and deny teachers the day off.
“It’s fun to listen to some of the students,” MacKinnon said.
“An adult said to one student, ‘You know, I was thinking, maybe I could just go home, hey?’ Smiling, the student said, ‘Yes! You can at 2:50 p.m.'”
The overall response from students has been positive and the program received a Recognition of Excellence at the Rainy River District School Board’s monthly Board meeting on Feb. 3.
