Where I Stand on Painting Walls and Wearing School Uniforms...

In another professional life, I was the principal of South Lake High School in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. I had the good fortune to know many great people there, but one particular student stands out. For the sake of anonymity, we'll call him only "Joe". Joe was a very bright young man, musical, creative, and a fan of somewhat flamboyantly outwardly expressing himself. He dressed unconventionally (but not inappropriately), wore his hair long and disheveled, had multiple piercings, tattoos, and was a fan of many bands of which no one else had ever heard. He was the kind of teenager who strikes fear into the hearts of some of our adults on appearance alone, but in actuality, was an extraordinarily friendly, polite and respectful person. I had many great conversations with him in the cafeteria and hallways and always enjoyed his unique perspective on the world. On the occasion of our senior honors night during Joe's last year in high school, I heard a voice from behind me say "Hey Mr. Bearden". I turned around, and while the voice was unmistakably Joe's, I didn't initially recognize the young man standing there, hand extended. Joe had cut his hair, was wearing a navy blazer, khaki dress slacks, and a very nicely tied tie. I said, "Wow...Joe...it's a whole new you." He smiled sheepishly and said something that revealed to me not only what kind of a person he was, but also what kind of parents he had...Joe said "Yeah...my ma puts up with a lot from me, and she never tries to get me to change who I am. I know how important all this stuff is to her, and all the family is here, so I thought I could do something for her. Gotta be a good scout...". After the ceremony I saw Joe's mother beaming, taking dozens of pictures of Joe with friends and family, and Joe patiently smiling through it all. I remember thinking at the time...there's a parent who gets it. Allowing a young person to explore his / her creativity, and helping to cultivate freedom of expression is a gift that keeps on giving.

As a community book project, our faculty book club chose the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Dr. Pausch passed away last Friday, but left as his legacy to his children and the world a book account of his final lecture delivered at Carnegie Mellon University as part of their "Last Lecture" series. Unfortunately for Dr. Pausch, his "last lecture" was made all the more real by the terminal pancreatic cancer to which he eventually succumbed. One of the things that struck me most about this book, and Dr. Pausch's extraordinary life was his ability to create throughout his life, both as an individual and as an educator. He makes clear that his childhood and his wonderful parents helped forge the foundation that led to his ability to reach not only his own childhood dreams, but to enable others to reach theirs. A story from his childhood illustrates the role his parents had in fostering his creativity and future success, and changed my views on wall-painting...

As a young boy, Dr. Pausch asked his parents for permission to paint his bedroom walls with symbols, art and phrases that meant something to him. Despite his mother's reluctance (for obvious reasons), his father ultimately convinced her to allow him to paint. With the help of a friend, he painted various symbols, artwork, phrases and equations on his bedroom walls. Despite his mother's initial resistance, apparently the art work grew on her as she never painted over it, even after her son moved out of the house. Pictures of the art work can be found in the book and were used in his actual last lecture. It struck me when reading that as parents and teachers we spend a lot of our energy stifling the creative urges of our students and children. Some of this is done for obvious reasons, and some of the rules and constraints we place on young people are clearly necessary, but the decisions as to where to draw those lines have long-reaching implications. In Randy Pausch's case, his parents' acceptance of his artwork clearly had a lifelong impression on him. It was significant enough in his childhood for him to recall it in his final speech, and he had an amazing career as a virtual reality creator based largely on his ability to think creatively. Dr. Pausch's parents, like Joe's mother, "got it".

Recently there has been some discussion in Grosse Pointe regarding school uniforms. A few public schools have successfully implemented a school uniform policy. While I see the merit, and understand the sometimes persuasive arguments in favor of a standard school uniform, it's not a policy that I endorse. As parents and educators, we spend an awful lot of time creating policies and rules that stifle creativity. Some of those policies are necessary to protect our property and our students' welfare. However, as students grow older, their desire to find themselves and discover an identity grows stronger in direct opposition to the adult mission of control. I've spent more than twenty years working in schools, and am firmly convinced that what students wear to school is the least of our problems. In fact, restricting what they can wear is probably counterproductive in most school environments. Anyone who goes into an elementary school can see the difference. At the elementary level, kids love to go to school - they create all day! The older students get, the more passive the educational process becomes. We expect students to sit for long periods of time, take notes, regurgitate theories and facts, and do it all while conforming to standards of dress and behavior that most adults can't conform to. One of the greatest ironies in education is a school faculty meeting. The same adults who complain about student behavior are the ones who come to meetings late, disruptively talk to their friends during the meeting, grade papers, write lesson plans, and generally do things other than pay attention during a one hour meeting. Yet we expect our students to adhere to a higher standard than we ever can, and learn in an artificial setting which in many cases does not come close to replicating a real world environment. We need to change the way we deliver instruction, not what students wear during it.

While literally allowing students to paint walls might not work, figuratively doing so will result in a more creative, engaged generation. Education must be focused on project based learning that is interdisciplinary, rewards rather than stifles creativity, and embraces individual expression. The world that our students will enter is one that is so fluid that change has become the status quo. Students must be able to adapt, be flexible, be creative, and be able to solve problems by thinking imaginatively. Towards that end, I'm open to my own children painting their walls, and to our students expressing themselves through their personal fashion choices. We can learn a lot about education from Joe's mom and Randy Pausch's parents. With wise and measured guidance that encourages creative expression , we will give a gift that will keep on giving for generations.

Hiring Teachers

High School principals work twelve month contracts in most districts. I often get asked what I do in the summer months. One of the most important things we do in the summer is fill openings on our teaching staff.

There is no doubt that the single most important part of a Principal's job is hiring teachers. Finding the absolute best possible candidate for our students and school is critical. Even in today's economy and time of teacher layoffs, we still have the occasional position to fill. Due to a late retirement, this summer, we are in the process of hiring a high school English teacher. With the number of teacher layoffs in the area, and the number of people looking to start their careers in education, we had a staggering number of applicants. Over 150 teachers applied for our English position at North, many of whom are experienced teachers seeking new employment following being laid off in another district.

Our process is very thorough. We have an online application process, and access to all of a candidate's materials from a remote site. I spend hours going through letters, resumes and references. During this process, we narrowed to twenty-seven people who were brought in for a fifteen minute screening interview. From that group, we selected eight candidates who will come in and interview with a committee of administrators and teachers. Following the interview, each candidate will be asked to complete a writing sample based on an Advanced Placement writing prompt. We will then narrow from eight to two or three candidates who we will bring back for a third interview that will likely include teaching a lesson to a group of summer school students. In between the second and third interview, we will do a thorough background check, including calls to references and former employers, mentors, and university supervisors. Finally, we will select the individual who we think offers the most to North and our students, and recommend them to our human resources department.

Our recommendation is not the end of the process. Candidates meet with our Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Tom Harwood, and go through a security background check before being officially offered employment., Following the signing of their contract, they are scheduled for an intensive three day orientation program, and assigned a mentor teacher who is typically a veteran staff person in the same department.

While the process is lengthy and intensive, it gives us the opportunity to meet a number of fantastic people. In several instances, we find two or more candidates we would like to hire, and the runner-up for one position might become our top candidate for another opening. Teaching is a "people business", and our most important resource in providing a quality education is our wonderful staff at North High School. Each time we have an opening, we take very seriously our responsibility to the district and our students to find the best possible person to fill that position.

Of all the things I do in the summer, hiring education superstars is at the top!