INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEWS
Embedded Files
A Day in the Life of a Hardworking Assistant Principal
By Grace Alexander
Grace: Please walk me through a typical day in your job.
Mr. Waters: The number one thing I do is problem-solve. People come to me with problems, and I help them.
Grace: What problems?
Mr. Waters: It depends on the day. Every day is different. Sometimes it is student problems, sometimes a teacher or sometimes parent problems. It is never my problem!
Grace: Who do you interact with throughout the day?
Mr. Waters: Mostly at my grade level, I talk to many teachers and Doctor Skon most of all.
Grace: What is the most challenging part of your job?
Mr. Waters: Managing other people's expectations and telling people things that they already know over and over again. For example, a kid gets in trouble, and everyone has a different expectation of how it should be handled, and sometimes it does not match up with reality.
Grace: How long have you been the principal?
Mr. Waters: Twelve years, and one of those years, I was a principal, and for the other eleven, I have been an assistant principal.
Grace: How did you pick your job?
Mr. Waters: The job picked me. I never thought I was going to be a principal. I had two bosses come to me and tell me over and over again to be an administrator. They basically bullied me into becoming an administrator!
Grace: What advice would you give new teachers?
Mr. Waters: Can I say three?
Grace: Sure.
Mr. Waters: The first is to have strong connections with kids. The second is to have good classroom management, and the third is to make lots of calls home, both good and bad, mostly good.
Grace: How do you deal with parent concerns?
Mr. Waters: I listen a lot. It depends on what the concern is. If it is a bully concern, I investigate, and if it is a teacher concern, I direct them back to the teacher.
Grace: What do you do when a kid is sent to your office?
Mr. Waters: I murder them, no; I am kidding. It depends on the kid and the situation.
Grace: What is your favorite part of BVMS?
Mr. Waters: The kids, that is easy. I love the kids, especially the eighth graders, even the ones I have to talk to all the time.
Grace: Thank you for your time!
My Chat with Madame R, The French Teacher
By Miah Jackson
Miah: Is it hard to teach different French levels since you are fluent?
Madame R: It is not hard at all because I am French and I like teaching it. At least it is not repetitive, there are currently three levels of French: French 1A/ 1 B and French 2.
Miah: What is your favorite part about teaching French classes?
Madame R: I like to teach culture, and I like my students to learn about French-speaking countries and to make sure they like it.
Miah: If you could teach another subject, what would that be?
Madame R: I would teach social studies because I was a social studies teacher in France, and I love history and geography.
Miah: How many years have you been teaching?
Madame R: I have been teaching French since 1999 which is twenty-four years.
Miah: Is there a downside to teaching?
Madame R: Yes, because it can get exhausting at the end of the day, but so rewarding when you see sparkles in the eyes of the students.
Miah: Did you have a job in mind before deciding to teach?
Madame R: Yes because I wanted to be an architect because I love architecture.
Miah: Thank you for your time.
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