Cool Coffee w/ Kansas Principals

CC#70: Debriefing the 2025 USA-Kansas Conference

In this episode of Cool Coffee with Kansas Principals, host Rick Sola welcomes back familiar guests, as well as a couple new guests, to reflect on the recent USA Kansas Conference (2025). The conversation highlights key takeaways from the conference, including the importance of networking, effective leadership strategies, and the role of student leadership in shaping school culture. The principals share their insights on effective delegation, the challenges of leadership, and the significance of taking time to recharge during the summer.
Chapters (timestamps do not account for intro)
00:00 Introduction and Guest Introductions01:33 Reflections on USA Kansas Conference09:10 Keynote Highlights and Takeaways15:10 Effective Delegation and Leadership21:21 Working with Top Principals26:01 Summer Plans and Unplugging32:15 Final Thoughts and Networking Opportunities
Connect with this episode's guests:
Dr. Todd Dain -- Shawnee Mission South Principal (X: @SMSouthTDain)
Mr. Mark Mahoney -- Shawnee Mission South Athletic Director (X: @SMSRaidersAD)
Mrs. Kelly Whittaker -- Ottawa High School Principal (X: @kelwhitt217)
Dr. Johnny Lewis-- Ottawa High School Assistant Principal
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FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT (AI generated)
Rick Sola (00:01.932)Hello and welcome to Cool Coffee with Kansas Principals in what will be our last official full feature episode of the 24-25 school year. We'll relaunch again in August. But we have some guests here today and it's appropriate to have a couple of these guests because they are friends of the show, been on here multiple times. And one of them was our very first full feature with Dr. Todd Dane, who is joined also by his assistant principal, Mr. Mark Mahoney.
Welcome, Todd Mark.
Todd (00:34.456)Thanks for having us guys. Good morning. Happy to be here.
Rick Sola (00:38.144)And then also on the other side, we have also frequent guests on the show. Mrs. Kelly Whitaker joined by her assistant principal, Dr. Johnny Lewis of Ottawa, Kansas. I should have mentioned Shawnee Mission South. I think we know that, but for Todd Dane and Mark Mahoney, but then Kelly and Johnny from Ottawa High School. Guys, thanks for joining.
Kelly Whittaker (00:58.799)Thanks for having us on this gloomy Tuesday morning.
Rick Sola (01:04.31)Well, the last time I recorded was with Brittenhart and the power literally was going out on us and it was much worse. So this, this isn't quite as bad, but we'll take it. So summer is in progress. We all just connected last week, just less than a week ago, we were at USA Kansas, which is what really this episode is really featuring is just the USA Kansas conference, which brought a lot of really good material and content.
I know there were some presentations that we were even a part of. But want to hear a little bit and share out kind of bragging on the conference, but debriefing the conference a little bit. And so we'll just jump right into it and kind of get into some of the more meaningful sessions. And we've got five of us here talking, so it can kind of just go free flowing. But I'll just open it straight up with.
You know, when you think back to USA Kansas 2025, the 54th annual conference, what was the number one takeaway for you? And maybe we'll start on the shiny mission Southside, either Mark or Todd, as you left USA Kansas.
Todd (02:20.408)Well, I'll tell you what, I the thing for me every time, I think it's the same. It doesn't mean that this year didn't shine, but every year for me, it's just the ability to network, to connect, and learn from colleagues across the state, and get great ideas. I, you know, there's some...
really exciting sessions that we attended. But I think just getting ideas from others and sharing those ideas has been the most impactful for me. And as a first time guest there, one thing that I took away was.
was so well organized, it was very detailed. With the ability to go to a session and then be able to unwind with a group of people and talk to them about what's going on in their buildings and share different ideas was super impactful for me and something I can take into the summer and the next school year.
Rick Sola (03:18.252)Kelly, Johnny, as you come back to Ottawa, and I know you're meeting Kelly, we're talking kind of before we hit record here that your 12 month contract, you're working all summer. A lot of those ideas that you get from conferences like this kind of percolate and then they develop and then they come to fruition in August. What was something that you walked out of the conference with?
Kelly Whittaker (03:41.313)I walked out, so there was a student leadership group, was shared by Jerry Johnson, he's the high school principal at Holcomb High School out there in western Kansas, and I really enjoyed listening to him and Joe Coles talk about how Jerry has taken leadership, student leadership groups with his juniors and seniors and really just transformed the culture within his building and more importantly built the capacity through his students to be leaders. He made a comment that we always talk about and kind of grumble.
about how our kids don't know how to be leaders, but we don't teach them how to. And I probably am the queen of saying that around my building. So I was really excited to listen to him share a little bit about his journey and his story. And I've already emailed him and looking forward to connect with him and pick his brain a little bit about what that really looks like and how it might transition to a building that's about three times the size as he is. So just kind of curious on what that could look like for us.
I think for me, I left there feeling really hopeful about the state of education in Kansas and just some of the positive things that are happening there. Last session where we just kind of heard lots of good news about education in Kansas was good for me to hear and see and made me grateful. One of the sessions that I loved, I went to a session on our behaviors and our kind of emotional regulation impacts student regulation and so it was
talking about how to help teachers get emotionally regulated when they're dealing with students who are dysregulated. And so two minutes into that session, I was texting one of our teachers who's really passionate about that same kind of thing. And we're ordering books and planning professional development around ways we can help our teachers center themselves when students become dysregulated or tap out and find some help and just identifying some triggers and some skills that they need to help.
regulate themselves when they're in those moments. So that was just kind of some good nuts and bolts things that I took with me.
Rick Sola (05:40.12)Kelly, you had mentioned seeing Jerry Johnson from Holcomb High School. I was in that session. I didn't realize you were in there, but exactly what you said is what I wrote down to come back to is how often we have leadership groups in our eighth grade, at every grade, but our eighth grade, we have some leaders. We want to have them be influential students. And I really asked myself, how do we teach them to be a leader?
other than say, you're a leader and here's some activities we're going to have you facilitate. How do we actually instruct them on what leadership means? How to be a leader at a middle school? That really stuck out to me and I really appreciated that session from Jerry and Joe. Johnny, you just mentioned you were connecting with your teachers. I guess a question for all of you.
Are you intentional about or do you or just kind of as you go to these conferences do you reach out to your teachers and kind of make it very publicly known what you got out of these conferences? Is that something that you try to do when you go away to these conferences?
Kelly Whittaker (06:56.291)think when it's applicable, absolutely. Anytime that we hear a good idea or something we could bring back to whether it's our building leadership team, maybe a small group of teachers that could lead some future professional development, we always are processing and trying to do that when we feel like it's right. Not that you're going to try to emulate somebody else and you want to be just like they are, but if someone's got a great idea and we know that that's a gap or a point of struggle in our building.
And how can we take that information and build some capacity through our team to do some great things for our students as well and learn from their expertise in that area.
Todd (07:34.394)Yeah, I would echo that and that when we go to the conference and bring back an idea or even just
sometimes you just bring back a question, right? And I oftentimes go back to my building leadership team with a question that I have from a conference and how can we apply this here at Shawnee Mission South or how can we make this relevant for kids? And I think one of the most prevalent pieces that we're focused on is making school relevant for teenagers in 2026.
Right? We have to continually evolve and make school relevant for young people. And the traditional high school, the traditional college-bound path and everything else that we all think about school is rapidly changing and evolving. And we have to continue to evolve and meet the needs of our learners. so those are the questions that I bring back to our building leadership team, oftentimes with different ideas and solutions from other principals, and then using that to fit what
we need here.
Rick Sola (08:41.08)It's been brought up already a couple times, just the conversation that you have with other principals. You know, we all connected in this room last week at Wichita, not during sessions, but during in-between times or after times. And there's so much valuable PD, PLC, principal PLC that occurs kind of informally at these conferences. That's so great. I'm going to throw out a
I guess a subject from the conference last week and it just will just do reactions here. Let's talk keynotes.
Kelly Whittaker (09:21.078)yeah!
Rick Sola (09:22.008)Yeah, oh yeah. There were a few. We'll just start it off where the conference started. How would we, you know, just, we're debriefing the conference. Let's debrief the keynotes. Who wants to launch into that one?
Todd (09:44.27)Yeah, so I, you know, I I was so excited to have coach with us and share that story of of his of you know his team and young man that made all those shots and I think. That's not a new story to me, but I think it's good to.
Kelly Whittaker (09:50.659)the parade story.
Todd (10:05.366)remind ourselves why we do this and what we're all about. if the answer to our why isn't kids.
then we're in the wrong business. so I always get excited and emotional whenever we bring it back to students with special needs and that hits home with my family and what we live with. So it's always powerful to me that it comes back to our why and why we get excited and fired up about this thing that we do in schools.
And I'll take a note from Johnny, I called a couple coaches Friday morning, getting ready for this week and camps and summer weights and just try to get the enthusiasm I took from kids and how powerful they are and what we mean to kids. How far it goes just by loving kids and telling how much we appreciate them and kind of just puts a little fire in your belly. And I wanted to share that message with some of our new teachers and some of our veteran teachers that are getting ready to interact with kids.
in the school but not really a school setting this summer and want to get them kind of excited about the summer and next year.
Kelly Whittaker (11:20.215)And Rick, I always enjoy listening to Anthony McDaniel and Jessica Bernard, the two lawyers that presented at the end. mean, they weren't really a keynote, but they were a main breakout session for everybody. And I always enjoy going to their sessions because they talk about really tough and scary topics and they do it in a manner of which one, we can all understand. Two, they always make it very applicable to our everyday lives as educators and administrators.
And they just do it in a light-hearted but serious manner. So I really enjoyed kind of having that breakout at the end where they got to talk to everybody at the conference that last morning.
Rick Sola (11:59.648)Yeah, the team that I was with, had several from our district and there were some other lawyer sessions specifically with AI and how it's being used and how it can be used from a parent to type up a message, questioning, challenging perhaps some of the things, decisions that are made and so forth. And you can ask AI to kind of beef it up and make it sound like it's written from a lawyer and how AI is getting used in that way.
just kind of that frontier of AI. But certainly, anytime we hear from attorneys and people who are dealing with this, it's certainly applicable. You said scary. It can be when we think about that. I'll bring up the first keynote, the drummer, Mr. Schulman. I'm going to bring it up because two reasons. One, I got to be featured during that
that speech because I was selected and I received a drumstick at the end of it. you know, there are different things presented, but there was something in particular that stuck out and I wrote it down. And just kind of in a nutshell, Mr. Shulman is a career drummer and has worked with really the biggest names in the music industry all throughout his career. He showed a clip from Pink and I'm not sure if you remember, he actually showed several, but there was one
Todd (12:57.294)you
Rick Sola (13:25.932)where she gives him credit for the work he does, but for being the most positive person in the room all the time. And he explained that it dawned on him at that moment that he wasn't asked to be on all these different groups, whether it was Billy Idol or Pink or Cher or whoever, because he was the best drummer, that it hit him that it was what he brought to the table.
as a person and beyond that. And I just thought that was really a really good kind of aha for him, I'm sure. But just some insight on, you know, the things that we bring to the table, kind of the old adage, like you don't have to be the smartest person in the room. But how we present and carry ourselves is really important. And so I really did appreciate that message that was shared in that first keynote. And then
Kelly Whittaker (14:08.527)Mm-hmm.
Rick Sola (14:21.24)kind of Todd to your point, the coach that came in. I've heard that story before. I've seen the video before. But oh my gosh, you talk about emotional. And I actually got a book from him afterwards. he just, I mean, there was a long line, but he just sat and kind of talked and just a very genuine guy. So some really, really strong keynotes and presenters that were brought into USA Kansas for sure. Any other sessions? I just want to kind of, you know,
be able to share out as part of, you know, that's something we do here in the building I'm at is we just, we sit down and talk about, okay, you went to this, okay, talk about it, let's share out. Is there any other, are there any other sessions that you attended that kind of for the good, not just for those in this room, but those who might be listening to this podcast that's worth sharing out?
Todd (15:10.412)Yeah, you know, for what it's worth, I...
I want to give a shout out to Zach Murray and his team at Chanute High School. I thought they did a really nice job of sharing some of the changes that they put in place there, really to be very intentional about their purpose in navigating student leadership and student behaviors. Specifically, I love the idea of what they've done with their freshman introduction class, their freshman orientation course that they created for all
freshman that's required for them as an elective and that's one of those things that you talk to them afterwards and say hey how did you do this and who can teach this and where's the curriculum from and you just want to steal ideas and I've stolen a lot of ideas from other people I steal from Kelly all the time but that's one of those things that I thought was really a big takeaway for me and what they've done at Chanute and hopefully we can find a way to make that work here in Shawnee Mission.
Rick Sola (16:12.48)Awesome.
Kelly Whittaker (16:13.967)I went to one by this guy named Todd Daines, that was pretty good, it was on delegation and what I appreciated about that, we got to reflect on it afterward and one of the things I appreciate about Kelly is that she's really reflective and so after we were, you know, part of that session she was able to kind of be vulnerable and ask some questions about how she delegates and like asking me questions about how I perceive the way she delegates and just being reflective about it. So I think that was good for
Todd (16:18.222)You
Kelly Whittaker (16:43.981)to just think about how we work with our team and work with people in the building. So helpful stuff.
Rick Sola (16:51.584)So we got the presenter himself right here, Dr. Dane, in a nutshell. Can you share a little bit about that delegation that you talked about in your session?
Todd (17:02.508)Yeah, you know, a little bit we focused on how to build capacity in your team and specifically the delegation triangle. it's actually a piece from Model and Edix and
how to how to rotate that delegation triangle where you can release some of that control and a lot of times I think building principles struggle letting go struggle with letting go of control and most most building principles got that way got to that position by out working out hustling out studying their peers and as a building principle that
model doesn't necessarily work. Because you can burn out very, very quickly by trying to do it all. And you really have to be trust willing to trust your team, to trust your administrative team, your office team, your teachers, to build some of that leadership capacity in them to make sure that you maximize your opportunities there in the building. it's just really about how you can
leverage that delegation model and let go of a lot of the responsibilities and share that, share that leadership capacity and in the end empower your whole team.
Rick Sola (18:27.232)Yeah, I'm curious, what would you say, Dr. Dane, as far as, you sometimes I see that, you you mentioned that burnout and, you because it's hard to delegate and sometimes it gets challenging to delegate when you feel like you've been burned by delegating before. It's almost like, I always feel like sometimes micromanaging is bred from
Todd (18:46.018)Yeah. yeah.
Rick Sola (18:53.962)inept or if someone not following through is like, I'm just going to do it. How do you recover from that or what would be your thoughts on that?
Todd (19:02.562)Yeah, I take it all kind of with a grain of salt. And when I have conversations with principals, sometimes I'll say, why don't you delegate that to your athletic director? Or why don't you give that to an associate principal to do? And sometimes their response is, well, I would, but they'll screw it up. And I said, sometimes the best thing to do is to let them screw it up, and then
use that as a learning opportunity to help teach them through the process. And anytime we navigate one of those scenarios here, I always take the blame, right? So I shoulder the blame for any of those mistakes or errors or missteps and understand that it's my responsibility. And then ultimately, it is my responsibility because I didn't do...
I didn't do my job in making sure that I detailed everything in the delegation process. I didn't give them enough information on the front end. I didn't do enough check-ins. I didn't follow through with the reflection and the details at the end. So I think there's a process to effectively delegate. I've been on the end where I've delegated and I didn't give enough background and I didn't give enough structure. And then I had to
correct my approach as the delegator to make sure that those team members know exactly what the expectation is on the back end and why we have to do things a certain way or what the parameters are. So again, I do think as principals sometimes we're shy about delegating because we have been burned and
I've the one thing that I've learned. I've been the principal here for 10 years now and in that 10 years I've had 14 different associate principals and I've gotten better at delegating. I've gotten better at training them.
Todd (21:00.994)But it's a process where I also know when I have new ones come in, I've got to allow them to make mistakes because that's when they learn too. And I got to keep giving them opportunities to grow in the process. that's one of my objectives as a principal is to help grow my team, to get them where they want to be.
Rick Sola (21:21.59)Right, now that's really great and thanks for going into that a little further and I think that's something we all can relate to certainly. Question for Mark and Johnny, what is it like working with the principals of the year?
Kelly Whittaker (21:37.207)you
Todd (21:39.15)It's great. I've known Todd for 20 years. I come from a place where I know exactly what he wants and what he needs and his work ethic. So it actually makes my job very, very easy. He has an expectation. I know that if it's not met, he'll tell me. And that's OK, because that's how we grow and get better. And I'm constantly growing.
Kelly Whittaker (21:59.054)Yeah.
Todd (22:04.002)That's what was so great about the conference was to talk to other people that live in your world to kind of bounce ideas off of them, see how they learn from their mistakes and how to help me grow as an assistant principal in AD.
But it's an honor to work with Todd and our team. there's never a dull moment at school. And it's not work to me. I enjoy it. I'd like to go back to the conference because we're under construction right now. And it's real now. We're back to work. But it's pleasure.
Rick Sola (22:35.031)Ha ha ha.
Rick Sola (22:38.634)Awesome.
Kelly Whittaker (22:40.655)I kind of ditto what Mark said. I really appreciate that the expectations are very clear. The bar is high.
And if you don't meet it, there's going to be a direct conversation about it. Not a mean one, but a helpful, reflective one. And I really appreciate that. I appreciate receiving feedback if I'm not doing well and also hearing when I'm doing well. And I get both of those things and I really appreciate that. I think one of the gifts that Kelly has that I really, that helps me want to come in to work with her every day, she does a great job of bringing our focus back to what is best for students in this moment and kind of putting aside.
listening to all the different sides of things, then to kind of pull us together and say what's best for kids in this moment. And you know, that's my own why every day. And so it makes me want to get up and come here every day and it's inspiring. And I also just want to mention that I have a couple of times when we were recruiting teachers this spring and we knew they were a little close on which school they were going to go to. Kelly has never mentioned it, but I have said, hey, just so you know, you got a job offer from the Kansas principal of the year. you know, any
Todd (23:49.198)you
Rick Sola (23:49.44)You
Kelly Whittaker (23:50.603)thing we can do to try and get them, you know, I'll do it. So, but I do think it's reflective of this is a place where we take what we do seriously and good things are happening here. So it's a, it is a selling point when we're talking to prospective new staff. So I've tried to use that as well.
Rick Sola (24:07.544)Well, those are both really nice answers for both of you. was like, you you put that out there and we're streaming, like, who knows what they're going to say? Like, I mean, I didn't know if we'd be 10 minutes in and like, another thing, you know. No, obviously two top notch principals and that I was admiring the rings that come with it at the conference. And so I wanted to bring that up, but obviously two top notch principals.
Todd (24:19.63)you
Rick Sola (24:35.82)But also having talked with Kelly and Todd, I know they speak often and very highly of their team, which is both of you. Mark, we had a chance to talk quite a bit at the conference. It was good to catch up with you. both shared a district in our past, but haven't really chatted very much. that's really the value. I think some of the biggest value of these conferences is just that networking and talking. Mark, you mentioned
wanting to go back to the conference and because of the construction kind of made my mind go to November, we have the KPA conference, which is a mini version of this and it's extremely powerful as well. And so just an early plug for that coming up. But yeah, the networking is just just an incredible piece and a lot to be to be brought back to our buildings. And I think all of our buildings are going to be better for those who attended this conference. So
A very critical piece, I think, in our world is really kind of at that time where we're at right now, which is summer. The pace is a little different. We're about to break for summer, if you will. At the same time, personally, I have found summer sometimes doesn't lend itself to that mental break because you're gearing up so rapidly and quickly for the upcoming year. But it is important to do so. So from each of you, just quickly,
What is it that you're gonna do to really kind of be intentional about allowing yourself time to unplug, recharge, because we hear that often, but I don't know how often we allow ourselves to do that, but what's something that you're gonna be doing this summer just to kind of let yourself get away?
Kelly Whittaker (26:19.065)for me as a high school administrator. Our evenings are very busy and so we're constantly go, go, go, go, go during the nine months of the school year. And so my favorite thing to do just in the summer is that when I leave work, I can actually leave work and very rarely in the summer must I finish a task before tomorrow morning in order to walk in and feel good about where I am. So I tend to use my evenings more just to be with my family, to work out, to just kind of...
relax and unwind. One fun thing I am doing this summer, I bought my mother tickets to see Caitlin Clark play in Indianapolis. so I'm going to be, hopefully she gets her little hamstring healed so I can go and watch her play in Indianapolis with my mom. But that's just kind of what I try to do is connect with my family and do those things that we just don't have time for during the school year, especially as a secondary administrator, because we are at work all the time and at activities in the evenings and on the weekends.
Rick Sola (26:54.487)Wow.
Kelly Whittaker (27:15.439)I wouldn't trade it for the world, it's important to take advantage of that down time and that slower pace.
Rick Sola (27:21.889)Absolutely.
Kelly Whittaker (27:22.851)Yeah, kind of the same thing. have a almost, he'll be six actually next week. I have an almost six year old and then a 13 year old daughter. And so, you know, they, they miss me on those nights when I'm doing ball games and things. So just a lot of extra time with my kids, time at the pool. My daughter is a huge fan of the band, My Chemical Romance. So in August, they're doing a reunion towards first time they've toured in a long time. So in August I'm taking, Kelly's actually letting me miss.
one of those first days in August when teachers are back so that can do this. We're flying to New York to watch My Chemical Romance at Citi Field and my daughter is so excited that she and I get to do that together. So she's like super pumped. like talks about it every day. We've been planning it since that was her Christmas gift. So we've been planning it for a while. So yeah.
Rick Sola (28:11.254)That's awesome. And that's kind of going back. mean, they're a little bit of a throwback band at this point. There we go.
Kelly Whittaker (28:17.219)Yeah, she's old school. She's a cool kid. She's cooler than her dad at this point.
Rick Sola (28:22.008)That's awesome. We'll enjoy that. What a special time with her. How about Shawnee Mission South over there?
Todd (28:31.822)I'm super excited both my kids walked down the hill and are college graduates about three weeks ago. It's not gonna be relaxing cuz they're back home in the last four or five years, but we're super excited to have them home. And I'm a lot like Kelly at four o'clock for the most part. I don't take phone calls and don't have games to rush to so I gotta be back home with a.
dogs and my family and looking forward to just pool and relax and hopefully just try to unwind. But it never shuts off, but it's a little bit slower now.
Kelly Whittaker (29:05.967)Mm-hmm.
Todd (29:08.27)Yeah, I would say the same. I you know, I I leave work and I go home to my my real boss, the doctor Dane and I orders from her and but our kids are grown now and so it's actually a time where we can spend a little more time together as a couple and just unwind a little bit. I am going to spend a week in Seattle. So super excited about that with any SSP and illuminate. So we're going to go to Seattle and celebrate Kelly Whitaker and the POI is of 2025. And then I'm going to
Rick Sola (29:13.889)You
Kelly Whittaker (29:34.639)Woohoo!
Todd (29:38.176)be presenting at the United Conference there after that piece. So I'm excited to present again at the national level and
went to Seattle last fall and. Spent some time with the Superintendent there from Tacoma and he said that it basically rains every day in Seattle, August through May, but June and July is nice, so I'm looking forward to seeing Seattle in July.
Rick Sola (30:03.96)You
Rick Sola (30:10.006)That's awesome. And that kind of Kelly, we brought up the principle of the year, but kind of in a nutshell, the next steps for you with that you're headed to Seattle. What does that look like?
Kelly Whittaker (30:20.055)Yeah, I get to go to Seattle. I don't really know what it fully looks like because I've not experienced it before. Todd has been able to, but I get to go to Seattle to connect and network with other principals of the year from, principal of the years from other states. I've already been on some podcasts and been able to do a lot of really cool networking with them. So I've kind of gotten to meet some of them ahead of the experience. And there'll be some learning. There's a really cool gala, fancy dinner that we get to go to and you get honored.
They will select the national principal of the year at that banquet. And then I'm not, unfortunately, don't get to stay for the full conference because I'm going home to watch Katelyn Clark play. So going back to Indiana for that. then November 5th and 6th at our conference, we'll get recognized and honored one more time. I have told Carol Letty this multiple times. I think every principal should have the luxury of being a principal of the year at some point in time.
Rick Sola (31:00.216)Hmm.
Kelly Whittaker (31:15.695)You can take full advantage of it or not. The networking opportunities that have been afforded to me from the moment that I was named the 2025 Kansas Principal of the Year to right now have been honestly humbling. And I'm getting to meet and learn from some of the best administrators across the country and just very grateful for that process. I am a super reflective human. And so my team might get annoyed by all these great principals and leaders that I'm meeting and just trying to.
get ideas from them about how we can continue to make Ottawa High School a better place for kids.
Rick Sola (31:48.652)That's great. Well, and what you get from them, bring it back to us and we'll just keep paying it forward, passing it forward. so to all four of you, thanks for joining today. I know it's summer, so it can be a slower pace, but there's no shortage of things to do and to take some time out of your day to jump on here with me. I do appreciate that. And I look forward to catching you all here again soon.
wherever that may be across the summer, whether it's the KPA conference in November, but hopefully sooner than that. Any other final thoughts before we go?
Kelly Whittaker (32:22.351)Just hope to see all the listeners at the KPA conference in Wichita November 5th and 6th. It's a great opportunity. It's a networking. That is really where I feel like my journey as an administrator in Kansas took off. I went by myself. I didn't know anybody, got connected, met some people, got involved in the KPA Board of Directors and here we are today. So cannot encourage that moment for other administrators more. Just need to be there on November 5th and 6th.
Todd (32:53.176)Same, I had the same experience. The first time I went I didn't know anybody. And then I ran into Kelly and look out.
Kelly Whittaker (33:00.399)you
Rick Sola (33:02.296)Well, 100 % because I still feel fairly new, but same deal. And I've said it on here before, but just joining, obviously doing some of this now, but it's all the connections that we've made. I have had texts with both Todd and Kelly on a candidate, either coming to or going to me or going to them or whatever. So that's just one example. But then the things that we learn from each other are just priceless. And it just helps.
Kelly Whittaker (33:28.249)So.
Rick Sola (33:30.552)and having that network, it's comforting too, because there's some challenging moments and we know that and anyway, before we...
Kelly Whittaker (33:37.511)Rick and I think great friendships come from it and in our line of work it's lonely sometimes. We can't always have a lot of friends within our buildings just because of the nature of the work we do and so just being able to go a couple times a year and reach out to people and stay connected whether that's on social media or via text message or the occasional phone call like to me that fills my bucket because it gets lonely sometimes when you're an administrator because you just don't have a confidant.
to be able to problem solve. so the networking, the friendships, the learning, the reflective moments, I just can't encourage people to join Kansas Principles Association more.
Rick Sola (34:16.93)Well guys, thank you once again. I appreciate you and all that you do. Look forward to connecting here sometime soon and hearing about how great your summer was. Otherwise, have a good summer and we'll see you around.
Kelly Whittaker (34:27.363)You too. Thank you, Rick. Thank you for everything you do. Thank you.
Todd (34:29.836)Thank you.
 

CC#69: Principal Chat w/ Dr. Britton Hart of KASB

On this episode of Cool Coffee w/ Kansas Principals, Dr. Britton Hart, Assistant Executive Director of Leadership with KASB, shares his journey through education, highlighting the importance of servant leadership, humility, and teamwork. He discusses the challenges and responsibilities of being an administrator, the significance of building relationships, and offers valuable advice for aspiring leaders in education. The conversation also touches on the end-of-year reflections and the collaborative efforts needed to support students and staff in the educational landscape.
A Principal Chat with 2016 Kansas Principal of the Year and current KASB leadership
Dr. Britton Hart
Assistant Executive Director of Leadership with KASB
Contact Dr. Hart (email)
X: @DrBrittonHart
Chapters (timestamps do not account for Cool Coffee intro)
00:00 Introduction to Leadership in Education02:06 Britton Hart's Journey in Education08:31 The Role of a Servant Leader14:07 The Importance of Humility in Leadership17:19 Advice for Aspiring Administrators19:35 End of Year Reflections in Education22:21 The Value of Teamwork and Collaboration
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YOUR FEEDBACK ON COOL COFFEE IS APPRECIATED! 
Leave show suggestions, guest recommendations, questions HERE!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
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Contact the host: @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service.
Read more about the KPA HERE.
 
FULL TRANSCRIPT (generated by AI--timestamps don't account for CC intro)
Rick Sola (00:01.612)All right, hello and welcome to Cool Coffee with Kansas Principles. I'm here with Dr. Britton Hart, Assistant Executive Director of Leadership for KASB, but also the 2016 Kansas Principle of the Year. Did I get the year right? All right.
Britton Hart (00:15.798)You did, you did. That just means I'm getting old.
Rick Sola (00:19.106)Kansas principal of year by at the time the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals, Britton, welcome.
Britton Hart (00:27.97)Yeah, welcome to, yeah, thanks for having me. I did this years and years ago when Trevor Kurtzen was doing it. And so I enjoy talking about principles with principles and in that service role still.
Rick Sola (00:41.27)Yeah, I've had Trevor on here and he and I actually spoke before this even got started because I knew he had done this and, know, okay, Trevor, tell me, tell me your thoughts and secrets and all this thing. So, but yeah, it's been a lot of fun. And really the timing of this is I think apropos with USA Kansas coming up and a lot of our state educational leaders will be under one roof at the conference. And so really excited to
to go there here just a week away and really just continue to build upon those connections that I really think all of these organizations are really positive about. And it's really a major perk of the KPA, USA Kansas and KASB. do you see that? My power just went out. We're live. I'm still recording, but power just went out and it just came back on.
Britton Hart (01:29.954)you just left.
Rick Sola (01:38.452)well, we're back. We're back. But it's not really a live show, but it's a one-take show. So you just kind of get what you get here. But yeah, a little bit of context on that. We just had a torrential downpour at dismissal, which is now about an hour ago. But I just got in and soaked. And I appreciate Britton for being patient, because it was something else. Britton, as we.
Britton Hart (01:45.166)Yeah, no worries.
Rick Sola (02:06.452)As we get started here, your road in education goes all the way back to the classroom and up to and through the principal chair to where you're at now. But we'd love to hear about your road to your current position.
Britton Hart (02:19.874)Yeah, I'd give a shout out prayers to Grinnell and those folks there and superintendent, teachers and staff. I know they're, they're finishing up their year, but had a, had a tornado and obviously similar to hopefully you guys won't have any tornadic weather, but maybe just rain. Ironically enough, I started my teaching career in Olathe. I was teacher and coach at Olathe North, really enjoyed my time there and still have many ties and Mr. Herman and I are still.
been friends ever since and just a great district and a great school. Started teaching in 2000, I guess, so this is my 25th year in education and technology education teacher, track coach, had a couple of sponsorships, but really loved the kids there and loved the love students to be honest. That's why I got into the field and still love students. And that three daughters has come up through.
our system. My last one is still in school. It's going to be a middle schooler next year. so a little bit, a little bit bittersweet, but also a little nerve wracking to be a middle school parent. But that's been good. I transitioned from teaching at Alisa to a building level assistant principal, athletic director. I always thought I wanted to be an athletic director. And it's one of those jobs is you
you want to do it and you're excited to do it. And then when you actually get into it and you understand what the role is, there's a whole bunch of responsibilities. And really to be fair, that's where our parents and our students live and thrive and breathe there. Sometimes too much. Maybe, maybe need a little clearer focus on academics sometimes, but a lot of things move in parts and enjoyed that at Prairie View, which is just south of Lewisburg there. Left there after two years and went back, went to Emporia.
In a similar role, much larger district. I grew up around Emporia. I'm an Osage City grad and so I was a little bit closer to home. My mother-in-law and father-in-law were there and obviously still connected with Osage quite a bit. served many roles at Emporia, was assistant principal, athletic director, did career in tech, did SPED, did a lot of different things outside of just athletics.
Britton Hart (04:42.026)I became the principal in 14 maybe and was in that role for five years and then really wasn't looking to leave. My former boss, Dr. Jordan and Dr. Heim both were at the Kansas Association of School Boards and I can remember we were talking about can you come up and visit about a position and you know naively I kind of said well I'm not even sure what the School Board Association does.
Rick Sola (05:01.538)you
Britton Hart (05:09.902)I was really well connected in the principal association, was president elect that year. You know, just was in my mind living a dream, You know, I my own kids in my building and was enjoying seeing them every day and doing really good things from an academic and a culture standpoint and an employee high. And we decided to get our graduation rate up over 90 % at that point.
Rick Sola (05:20.663)Yeah.
Britton Hart (05:37.838)Just a lot of great things going on. And as you know, Rick, you hit that range in between that two to four years and some of the fruits of your labor, the change starts to kind of take hold. And so we did a lot of good things that I think really impacted students. And I'd like to think that while those things are still in place, but you started to get that excitement that everybody kind of going down the same path. And so when I talk to...
with Dr. Jordan and Dr. Mechel. Brian was gonna transition into a deputy role and like we'd like for you to work with, we primarily work with superintendents and boards. And so we, the ability to get into a board is through typically through your superintendent. And so like Dr. Yeager, for example, when I work with the Olathe board, typically he's the one that I coordinate with and then your board president, et cetera. And so.
The transition I've kept though between USA Kansas, I sit on the KPA board with Kara still as a liaison. We know most superintendents come through your role and so we think that's really valuable to make that connection. Not necessarily work day to day with principals like USA or KPA does, but have an awareness of who are some of these individuals that are up and comers that are going to be our next future superintendent leaders.
our job is to try to get the best people, kind like yourself, in those roles in front of the school board. School boards don't do that, you know, very often we hope. And so they don't have practice at how to hire superintendents, so we provide that service and think that's a very valuable process and also a really important process, not just for the students, but staff and the community that they may be leading. And so that's kind of a short pedigree of kind of where I started and where I'm currently at.
Rick Sola (07:33.026)Yeah, I appreciate the breakdown of the KASB and I hate to just say this out loud, but I wasn't entirely sure. Just like you said, when they approached you and kind of not knowing the ins and outs and it's not something I'm super familiar with. And of course we're on the same board with KPA and we've talked and come across each other multiple times, but very fascinating. One thing you mentioned early on is you talked about the
Yeah, you wanted to be an AD and there's some hidden roles and you didn't, you you see some things that go on from outside, like, I want to be an AD. And then you get in there and like, look at all these little things that you also have to do. I wonder how much of administration is that, you know, I kind of wonder about those, those incoming administrators or those who are pursuing degrees through the university. And then when you get into that role, it's, wow, this, this is part of it, you know.
Britton Hart (08:13.506)Yep.
Britton Hart (08:31.224)You know, I've seen over my years, that there's individuals that go into administration and they go into it with like a servant mindset. I kind of consider myself a servant leader. That's what we do at KSP. If you call tomorrow and you need help, we're going to try to help you in some way, right? I think a good administrator, whether you're an assistant or even the executive leader like the superintendent,
those people going into it with that mindset. It's kind like if I walked in your building and there was trash laying on the floor, would you pick it up? It's just one of those mindsets where you just do whatever it takes to get the job done, and you do it at a high level, and you model those, what I like to think of as high quality leadership skills, and you model those things, and other people, in most cases, will follow.
What I see is a gap though, and my colleagues at USA and I talk about this frequently, that sometimes people go into those roles and they don't have the right mindset. It's not that their mindset's bad, it's just not one that's maybe conducive to thriving in that role. And when they sit in that chair, they get in that seat, kind of my earlier description, I didn't know I had to do all those things. And I didn't sign up for that. And so that can be a little bit problematic. And so same way as I take
those experiences and as we start to help with superintendents get placed or we help train superintendents or grow them, giving them those kind of information, giving them an opportunity to talk about those things ahead of time so that they can make sure that when they do fit into that role, just like your role that you're in, you want it to be a good fit for you and your family and you want it to be a good fit for the school and the staff there as well. And sometimes I see that a little bit as problematic. The younger the administrator
gets, at times you don't have that foundational knowledge going from teacher to principal or principal to soup. And at times that can be devastating not having some of that experience. And so you can overcome it, but also it's helpful to have quality experience in the classroom, quality experience in the principalship before you maybe take that next step to ensure your success.
Rick Sola (10:45.174)Yeah, I was a seventh or eighth year educator when I made that jump to administration and I've worked with some colleagues and friends that have made that jump 20, 25 years in and they just have, they have that foundation. There's a bigger foundation there. And I recognize that, especially in hindsight, I'm in my 15th year administration now, but in hindsight, you know, some of those things, they come at you fast and furious and oftentimes early on.
It is kind of a first time or a not as common situation that you are dealing with or that you've had to deal with before. This will be a shameless plug here, but you mentioned the modeling of picking up trash in the hall and things like that. That was actually brought up. We had a panel episode with interviewing and we had several principals on there about just the interview process and walking around the building. And that was brought up as far as when you're walking the building and there's a little piece of trash on the floor, if that candidate
picks up that trash. That's definitely in the wind column there for that.
Britton Hart (11:45.794)Yeah.
Britton Hart (11:49.592)the year.
You know, I always look for also, you know, as we talk about this, I look for somebody that, you know, gravitates toward kids. And so when you're on an interview, do they naturally talk to students? Do they naturally, you know, kind of gravitate toward staff? Or are they really just kind of really formal? And so it's interesting how leaders, everybody is watching, right? And so how do we carry ourselves through adversity? How do we carry ourselves through times of celebration? But those are things that I think are so
important with the experience that you build over time. But another shameless plug though is high thrive on networking and the people that are connected in the field.
You don't have to be the smartest person in the building. You don't have to be the smartest person in the room. What you need to be, though, is a connector. You need to establish those relationships. I'm going to learn so much more from you, Rick, than you're ever going to learn from me. And with that mindset, I think you grow yourself. We're lifelong learners. It's not really an old cliche. It's the truth. And how do we surround ourselves by people that are better than us?
And I've always been really fortunate to have good teams and be on good teams. But I never felt like I was the best on those teams. I felt like I was way below everybody else. And I learned from those people. And thus, I feel like that's a...
Britton Hart (13:15.586)gratitude or an opportunity for success there because you try to find the best people that share the same values and you can do anything I think in this business that will impact learning and that's to me the cornerstone of our jobs.
Rick Sola (13:32.118)Yeah, I think you're tapping into humility a little bit when you talk about just being a connector, but you're not the smartest person in the room. You don't have to be being able to listen. And I think humility is such a piece of leadership and being in a building. And so I love to hear all that. And I kind of think of like the authenticity or being genuine that just resonates across the board, whether it's teachers or students or parents.
It only helps with situations, especially challenging situations.
Britton Hart (14:07.054)Yeah, mean, I mean, I'm gonna say majority cases, nine and a half out of 10 times when somebody came in, student, staff, parent, board member, superintendent, even that were upset with me or upset at a situation that I was helping deal with, all that, most of the time, they wanna be heard and they want their opinion to be valued. Doesn't mean you agree with them, it just means that, hey, Rick, I heard what you said, I'm sorry you're dealing with that.
versus automatically getting your guns up and trying to protect yourself or the situation. And those are things that, be fair, I think you learn along the way. And that servant mindset and that humility you're describing, I think those things all kind of mesh into the leader and the person you become.
But it takes practice. I'm going to screw up again tomorrow, but hopefully the next day I won't make the same mess up, right? And so that's how we get better, I think, as people. And it's certainly a great lesson for students to learn, because this world is hard. And you're to have a lot of failures. I heard a great thing, and it's a former colleague of mine. Most people go after success, and they think,
happiness is driven by the amount of success you have. And he said, which I thought was really spot on, happiness drives your success. Success doesn't drive your happiness. And so in this big bad world, there's going to be some great things. There are going to be a lot of bad things too. But if you can kind of have a mindset or kind of a mentality of, I'm going to be happy through these situations, good, bad, or indifferent, that will drive your success. And I thought that was really good.
Rick Sola (15:50.594)That's great. Sorry, my phone just went off with the severe weather. It's fine. Everything's fine here. No, I love that. And I was writing that down as you were talking. you still there? OK.
Britton Hart (16:02.883)yeah, I'm still here. I I coughed just a little bit. I didn't want to cough in your ear there.
Rick Sola (16:07.232)No, no, you're good. There's so much going on right now. I don't know if a listener might think I'm on the top of a ship or something, but there's a lot happening behind me. But that happiness driving success, that's pretty profound, really. especially, one of the things I love to do is work with aspiring administrators and having the conversations that...
kind of talking through a thought process and kind of like to your point, I always say there's a million ways to do lots of things and I'm not saying I've got it 100 % right, but this is the thought process behind that. But I think some of it, you know, are we chasing success or are we chasing happiness and then what drives what? I just, really like that. You know, as you sit now and you're several years out of the building, but as you work with principals and if you were asked,
Britton Hart (17:00.942)Thanks
Rick Sola (17:01.108)you know, by an aspiring administrator or maybe even a sitting principal for some advice in something, especially now that you can kind of see it, you know, maybe from a different distance, maybe a little more clarity. What advice would you give to an aspiring administrator or maybe a newer administrator?
Britton Hart (17:19.832)You know, I like that question. It reminds me of too, as we're talking about interviewing people, is when you ask someone, why do you want to become a principal? Why do want to leave the classroom?
I think that's always very telling to say, well, I want to help more kids or I want to impact more learning versus, hey, I want to have more free time or I want to make more money. And we know those things are not true because as you get into this role, your responsibility goes up, just like your phone's buzzing, you got wet sitting outside waiting for the parents to pick their kids up. And so that responsibility just continues to get bigger. But the thing that I think, the advice that I think is so valuable
is when things are going well, you give credit to your staff and your students. And when things are going poorly, you take ownership and you take responsibilities to make those things better. And those things...
As a young administrator, if you can pick up on those things early on, you're gonna be great in this business. But if it's about you and it's about you trying to find, hey, that was my idea or hey, this is my building, drives me crazy when I hear somebody talking about their building and they say, this is my building. No, it's not my building, it's our building. It's a kid's building. The only reason we're here is because we got students coming through that door. And so how do you set the culture of your building?
Kind of like Todd Dane does. mean, he's a culture dude. But it starts, think, with culture. And it starts with that understanding of we're getting into this to help each individual student. And we're getting into this for the benefit of someone else and not for myself. And I think that's such a, for young administrator, you want to know what you're getting into. And I think that kind of helps kind of guide. Are you doing it for the right reasons? And is it going to be a good fit for you?
Rick Sola (19:17.452)us back to that servant mindset, which carries through so many phases of a building, all phases, honestly, because really everything could become your job to some degree, everything will come across your desk.
Britton Hart (19:30.039)Yeah.
Rick Sola (19:35.062)So it's May and I know what it's like in the building. You know what it's like in the building, but what's May like for where you're at, at KASB?
Britton Hart (19:45.506)Well, that's an interesting question. So I live with a teacher. My wife is a teacher. And so you can appreciate everybody trying to end up the year and stressful.
I think my role, what I experience on a day-to-day basis is emails and phone calls with similar things just at a different level from board members and superintendents. And they're like, you know, they're stressed too. They need a little bit of a break, just like you need a break. And they need a little bit of downtime to be able to reflect because right now there's just not a lot of downtime. And the pressure that...
I experience as a principal is very similar to what our board members.
feel, what our superintendents feel, it is this constant demand of their time, their opinion, their everything. And anymore, it feels like the polarization of those demands are coming from different angles, just like you're experiencing sitting in your chair. And it just gets old dealing with that and it gets difficult to deal with that. And so I feel like at times, I don't mean counselor like people need counseling, but I feel like
I'm a listener. I'm like, hey, tell me what are next steps that you might try. Tell me some things that you're thinking about, or how did it go when you implemented that, and trying to help coach people through those tough situations, because you can't own that for them. All you can do is equip them with and instill them with some responsibility of power and some leadership that they can do it. And that's, hope, why they call, and I hope they keep calling, because they feel like I value.
Britton Hart (21:24.972)their role and it's respected. Each role is important no matter if you're a teacher or a school board member or parent. Those are all important. And so how do we work together to build a coalition that best supports students?
Rick Sola (21:41.9)Yeah, I love that. You can't just pick up the phone and call everybody about certain things that come across. In fact, it's very limited on who you can really talk to, especially if you're just kind of ground down. this time of year, mean, we see it with staff and teachers and students. And there are tough things that come up that really wear you down. But I love that role of how you articulated it. You're there sometimes just to listen and
Sometimes people just need that because you can't, there's just not everybody to call for certain things. So, no, that's great. Before we go, USA Kansas, we'll see you out there next week.
Britton Hart (22:12.344)Yeah.
Britton Hart (22:21.464)you
Britton Hart (22:26.184)Yeah, yeah, so I saw they're almost at 1000 registrants, which is exciting. And so yeah, I plan on being there. I'm out of town Wednesday, but I'm presenting on Thursday and then then we got meeting with superintendents, I believe on Friday. So yeah, excited to see some former colleagues and some people that that I haven't seen for a while. It's like once a year, get the band back together. And so I was looking forward to going so.
Rick Sola (22:51.542)Yeah, it's a great timing too. We're all wrapped up or wrapping up for the most part, and it's just nice to connect. I remember talking with you last year at this. It had been a while since I had been, but having gone last year. And I'm also presenting on Thursday. So just looking forward to learning from others and sharing a little bit myself. And it'll be great to connect with you. Hey, real quick before we take off here.
Bragging on your people. We always finish with a big brag on the people you work with and K-A-S-B and brag on your people.
Britton Hart (23:29.998)We have 11 people that make up our leadership department. We go all the way west to Garden City and Goodland and all the way east to Shawnee Mission and Olathe. so.
We got retired superintendents, we got a couple recovering principals, we got a few people that been in the HR world. We even got a board member that make up our team and then our coordinator. But just got dynamite experience and I value when we get into a space together.
It makes you smile because you're proud to be a part of that group. And like I said earlier, it's about surrounding yourself by people that are better than you. And if you have that ability and that comfort in your own leadership style.
Boy, to me, if you have a dynamic team, you can accomplish anything. And to me, that's a huge role of the role that you and I play, because you want to put the right people on the right seats, just like Jim Collins would say. And so I feel lucky to work alongside them each day. And I hope they would say the same about me if roles were reversed. So yeah, I feel fortunate to be there and certainly feel fortunate to serve school districts in the role I do. I think it's a, I always call it the ripple effect.
Rick Sola (24:39.106)Yeah.
Britton Hart (24:47.6)out there but it's an awful big pond and that's something that's motivating to me to get up every day and do a good job for Kansas kids because there's a lot of them that need our help.
Rick Sola (25:01.25)Well, that's a great analogy. And again, thank you for the time. I know there was a delay on getting this started today and it's busy, but really look forward to connecting with you and so many others at USA Kansas. yeah, we'll see you here very soon.
Britton Hart (25:17.39)Well, hey, I appreciate the opportunity, Rick, and appreciate your leadership, what you're doing. I will tell you, I have to go back and look. I can remember Gene Haddock and I, we added the communications position on that board when I was.
a new young principal and it was all about just starting a Twitter account. And so you've taken it so much farther than we started for sure. And I think it's important to tell our message and it's certainly important to make it louder than everything else out there. Because what you're doing and what the leaders across Kansas are doing, just like our teachers, is so important. And unfortunately right now we're not getting the support from some of our other colleagues across the state, you know, and we got to stick together during times like this for sure.
Thank
Rick Sola (26:05.184)Well, I appreciate that. And truly, I mentioned Trevor earlier, you brought him up. He and I talked a lot and he broke the ice on this and really that's what this is all about. It's just celebrating the awesome things that are going on across the whole state. And there are so many and that's part of what next week will be about. I hope to get a list of others so they can share everything that's going on. There's a lot to celebrate and it should be celebrated. but thank you so much.
Britton Hart (26:31.774)Absolutely.
Rick Sola (26:34.658)Dr. Hart, have good rest of the week and we'll see you next week.
Britton Hart (26:39.094)Hey, thank you much. travels. We look forward to seeing you. Yep, take care.
 

CC#68: PBIS w/ Dr. Steve Archer of Delaware Ridge Elementary School

In this episode of Cool Coffee with Kansas Principals, Dr. Steve Archer, principal of Delaware Ridge Elementary School, shares his extensive experience in education and his insights on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). He discusses the transition from middle school to elementary education, the importance of building relationships with students, and the challenges of implementing PBIS. Dr. Archer emphasizes the need for a supportive school culture and the role of positive reinforcement in shaping student behavior. He also offers advice for educators looking to implement PBIS in their schools and highlights the welcoming community at Delaware Ridge.
Dr. Steve Archer
Delaware Ridge Elementary School
Bonner Springs-Edwardsville USD 204
Connect with Dr. Archer: archers@usd204.net
Chapters (AI generated--times do not account for intro)
00:00 Introduction to PBIS and Dr. Steve Archer06:30 Transitioning from Middle School to Elementary Education12:30 Understanding PBIS: History and Implementation18:28 Challenges and Misconceptions of PBIS24:41 Building Relationships Through PBIS30:22 Advice for Implementing PBIS in Schools34:21 The Community and Culture at Delaware Ridge Elementary
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We want to hear from you--take 2 minutes (or less) and click HERE to contribute!
YOUR FEEDBACK ON COOL COFFEE IS APPRECIATED! 
Leave show suggestions, guest recommendations, questions HERE!
Connect with Cool Coffee on...
Follow us on X: @KSPrincipals; @KPACoolCoffee
Facebook: KSPrincipals
Contact the host: @MrRickSola, rfsola@olatheschools.org, or KPACoolCoffee@gmail.com
The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service.
Read more about the KPA HERE.
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FULL TRANSCRIPT (AI generated)
Rick Sola (00:01.686)Hello and welcome to Cool Coffee with Kansas principals. I'm here today with Dr. Steve Archer, principal of Delaware Ridge Elementary School in Bonner Springs, Edwardsville, USD 204. Welcome, Steve.
Steve Archer (00:15.278)Thank you, Rick. It's great to be here.
Rick Sola (00:17.824)Yeah, I am excited to have you on here in part because you're going to be presenting at USA Kansas here in just about a month. And you're going to be talking about a topic that I have really found myself enjoying and getting into, and that is PBIS. And we'll get into that in just a bit. But once again, at the end of a long day, I just want to say thank you for coming on. And it's a Tuesday here. It's April 29th.
no shortage of things occurring in our schools and on our calendars. So to add this, I really appreciate it.
Steve Archer (00:55.086)Well, you know all about that full calendar, so I appreciate your time as well.
Rick Sola (01:01.28)Yeah, well, it is also a fun time of year and we'll just start off here, first question, probably what everyone wants to know is are the Chiefs going to be moving out to your neck of the woods in Bonner or KCK or?
Steve Archer (01:15.458)You know what, my primary concern is keeping them in the Kansas City area. And as long as we can do that, I'm gonna be a happy Chiefs fan.
Rick Sola (01:20.724)Okay.
Rick Sola (01:25.068)Yeah, it's funny because I was looking up, I wanted to see exactly where Delaware Ridge was. I was like, oh my gosh, you're really close to the speedway. And I know there's been rumblings of the chiefs. at least as of this recording, we don't really have any information. well, Steve, we'll start with where I like to start is just kind of a it's more or less a, I guess, introduction of yourself, but really your road to the chair of to Delaware Ridge Elementary School.
Steve Archer (01:53.55)Sure. Well, Rick, my road has been a very long one. This is actually my 36th year in education. I started in middle school, and if you told me all those years ago that I'd be an elementary principal, I wouldn't have believed it because I started as a middle school teacher.
did that for seven years, then between a couple of districts was a middle school assistant principal for a while, and then had a great opportunity to become an elementary principal. So I had worked up to that point in the Kansas City, Missouri school district, Raytown school district, and then went to Park Hill for the last 16 years in Missouri, then was able to retire from the Missouri system, but
I love working in school and so I couldn't imagine actually retiring. So I was very, very fortunate to see the opening here in Bonner and when I came here I could just tell it was a very special place and a place that I would want to take my next step. So I was delighted when they called me and offered me the position. So that's how I ended up here at DRE.
Rick Sola (03:05.451)That's great. I'm sorry, you've been you've been DRE, okay, that'll be helpful for me here, but you've been there how many years? Your first year in Kansas, okay.
Steve Archer (03:13.698)This is my first year in Kansas, I just retired from Missouri at the end of the last school year and immediately started here.
Rick Sola (03:23.818)wow, well welcome to the Kansas side of things and you know maybe the Chiefs will after all follow you over to Kansas so how about that?
Steve Archer (03:26.83)Thank
Steve Archer (03:31.086)Well, you know, I am a native Kansan. I actually grew up on the Kansas side of things. you know, one thing I've learned over time is we're a really great community regardless of which side of the state line it is. And so I feel very fortunate to have been able to grow up in Kansas City and then have a really great education career here too.
Rick Sola (03:53.452)Well, it's really interesting being on the Kansas side. hear so often, and I have a lot of, have a really close principal friend who's retiring this year, and you just never know. Often we see the other direction. Our principals here, our educators here, we're going over to Missouri. And so to hear it conversely, that would actually make it kind of an interesting topic for this show. All the same, but no, well, very good. So.
Steve Archer (04:05.346)Thank you.
Rick Sola (04:19.818)You know, I'm 21 years into education. I've been in middle school all but one of those years. I had one year where I was teaching freshmen at the high school. We had a transition here where I'm at. What's the biggest adjustment from middle school to elementary that you would say?
Steve Archer (04:38.254)Well, you know, with middle school there's typically just the three year span. And so you get like those 11, 12, 13 year old kiddos in elementary. And of course my school also has a pre-k classroom now. And so we have everything from four to 11 year olds here. so...
What I love about elementary is we just get to see kids grow up over time and get to see them develop skills and develop their personalities. so that is a really big difference. But I guess a similarity between the two is.
Kids just need adults who care about them, you know? And whether they're little or whether they're middle school, and even though I haven't taught in high school, I know they do too. And so it's just that common thread that goes all the way through. But definitely differences between middle school and elementary would be a lot around supervision, I would say, you know, making sure that...
As I recall in middle school, would have passing periods and kids would come and go as they needed to. And here at the elementary level, it's much more controlled by the teacher and making sure that we keep track of the classes all throughout the building as well.
Rick Sola (06:00.928)Yeah, well, absolutely. kind of it's really a pretty natural segue. You just mentioned the importance of, you know, kids at all levels. Those relationships are so important. And certainly there's differences in logistics in a day and what that looks like at the three different levels of school. Some may argue that middle school, the three years of middle school feels like five years of growth, but certainly a lot of lot of growth and lot of
Steve Archer (06:25.368)Thanks
Rick Sola (06:30.988)But it's a good segue to PBIS and again, really intrigued and why I wanted to have you on. So you're gonna be presenting on this at USA Kansas here in about a month and those who may listen to this podcast are likely to attend. And so what I was really intrigued of, I was reading the description of your presentation is the reference to 15 years in PBIS.
Steve Archer (06:59.916)Yes.
Rick Sola (07:00.894)And so as a school, we were mentioning before we kind of went live here, but as a school that I'm at, we're in our third year of implementation, that conversation of longevity and keeping it going and, you know, it's constant involvement. Seeing 15 years is really, really intriguing, but I think a good place to start really would be kind of your history with PBIS. I know you're a big fan of it, a proponent of it. And so, you know, just, guess, starting off with
with your history, how did that start with PBIS and what was that hook that kind of led you now 15 years in?
Steve Archer (07:38.808)You know, at the time I was in Missouri and my school had really good kids and we just expected them to come in and do what we expected them to do. And they did for the most part. Some kiddos struggled a bit with the expectations, but a lot of them just came in and did the right thing.
And when I became aware of PBIS, one of the things that really struck me is we're not recognizing the awesomeness that these kids bring into our building every day. And you know, everybody likes a good out of boy, out of girl every once in a while, even if we're doing the right thing. And so just that acknowledgement and again, going back to the relationship piece, you,
those positives draw staff and students together and build those relationships when
I notice a student being respectful or responsible or safe. That's a really great way for me to let them know you make our school a better place to be. And so that was very appealing to me that we got a chance to thank these students who were doing the right thing and sometimes seemed a bit unseen. It also struck me that as we were doing that, we would be able to catch some of the kiddos who maybe didn't always make the best choices, but if we
caught them at the right moment, we could positively reinforce those things that we were going after so that we would get more of that with in a positive way rather than really focusing on the negatives.
Rick Sola (09:26.666)So pushback, challenges out of the chute, especially starting up a program. It's one thing to have it and tweak it and adjust it, but starting it up, what were some of those initial challenges maybe amongst staff and whether a community or kids and that sort of thing?
Steve Archer (09:47.086)Yeah, I think that is a reality. I had parents who said, why are you rewarding kids? They should be doing these things. And that surprised me because it was their children I was rewarding. So that was a little bit of a surprise and that wasn't a big voice, but it was definitely a conversation that we had to have. My take on that is I get positively reinforced a couple of times a month.
in the form of a paycheck that goes into my account. I love what I'm doing. I love doing the right thing. But it's great to get positively reinforced with that paycheck. Our kiddos obviously are not getting monetarily paid, but we all like having those things that we know we've earned.
From a staff standpoint, I think we sometimes have a lot of work to do to reframe some of our thinking around behavior because a lot of us grew up with the good kid, bad kid binary kind of thinking and with PBIS and with several of the models, it's more of looking at teaching that behavior and that it's our responsibility to teach
behavior just like it's our responsibility to teach any of the content that students come in contact with over the course of a day. And so I know for me,
Certainly I've changed my philosophy of behavior over the years. so I think with any of the staff members, we just have to be patient but also persistent in helping shift that narrative to it's our responsibility to teach behavior just like we teach content.
Rick Sola (11:36.16)Yeah, there's a really good quote and I'm going to totally butcher it so I won't even try to, but the essence is, you know, if someone's misbehaving, we teach this or it, I think you know where I'm going. I am not articulating it well, but the main point is when a student acts out, we, and then fill in the blank with it's a consequence of some sort, which, you know, to that point, I'm curious of your experience with it is, you know, one of the misnomers that
Steve Archer (11:45.73)Yes. I know exactly. Yes.
Rick Sola (12:05.74)I remember when we went through the development and we continue as our district works with this, there are consequences still part of PBIS. And I think there's this, maybe if we're not totally informed on PBS, we think, well, it's a token reward system for things that we should be doing anyway and kids can never get in trouble. But that's not accurate.
Steve Archer (12:30.286)It's really not. I work in a real life elementary school. I dealt with discipline today and there were consequences. However, consequences don't always mean a negative thing. It just simply means the outcome of the behavior.
And so I think that's one thing is to stop just assuming the consequences are negative. But then also, you know, in the vein of conscious discipline, there's a lot of focus on natural consequences and logical consequences. The more we can look at the consequences that we have in place.
and determine are they natural or are they logical and are we keeping them close to the behavior? You know, I think the closer we can get to the behavior and shaping the behavior...
We simply have to decide, are we wanting to our vengeance for a perceived wrong that a child has done, or are we wanting to teach them for the future? Are we wanting a short term, aha, I got them, or are we wanting a long term, I taught that child, and I helped them see a more productive way to do things. And I think the more we can look at the child's future and helping them develop those more
appropriate skills and that sort of thing, the less we worry about getting kids. That having been said, we do still have to have an orderly environment. There's a principle of BIST that says the classroom has to be as good or better when you're here, or you can't be here. And so sometimes I say that to kids, you know, your classroom needs to be as good or better when you're present. Did you make it as good or better? If not, what do we need to do to fix that?
Steve Archer (14:21.364)And so I do think that idea of there are no consequences with any discipline model can be a real misrepresentation. But at the same time, we need to do our own soul searching as the adults and decide, are we trying to get long term gain that benefits the child or are we just trying to get vengeance for some perceived wrong because they inconvenienced us today.
Rick Sola (14:49.502)It's a really good, first of all, that's a really good quote. I wrote it down. If you're good or it's a good or better when you're present or, you know, you know, there's certainly a mind shift and, you know, we're a few years in and, and I think we have a lot of things really positive in place and that we're kind of adjusting and evolving and reassessing. But it's interesting too, there's a mind shift for students. And I have had situations where I've had students in my office or I've been out at a
Steve Archer (14:56.13)video.
Rick Sola (15:18.102)football game and I've had to address a behavior and I've had the conversation, I've had the necessary consequences if you will, and they've responded the way I would hope and ask and eye contact, nodding, understand. And I'd give them a, we have tokens, I would give them a token and it's like, wait, I'm supposed to be in a fist bump to conclude it. And I said, look, you're not getting a token because you just, you know, did.
Action A over there, that's not what this is about. But when I called you over, you came over. We were able to have a conversation. We talked about our program, our values here in the building, which I'm gonna ask you about if you have one of the acronyms that often go along with PBIS. Because it's really all about, we have expected behaviors. And when a student provides expected behaviors, especially in a situation where they've maybe made a bad choice,
It's a mind shift perhaps, but it's not inappropriate to say, I appreciate that. Because the alternative is they could have run the other direction or they could have cussed me out or they could have done this or that. We were able to have a good conversation, address the situation, and hopefully it doesn't happen again.
Steve Archer (16:36.53)If you do need to address something again, how much more likely are they to partner with you the next time? Or how much more when they're tempted to do something, are they to think, you know what, maybe I don't do that? And so again, you're teaching for the long term rather than trying to catch them doing wrong. And that's really what PBIS is all about.
Rick Sola (16:59.062)Yeah, and really what you just mentioned there is I think why I like it so much is it encourages and promotes that interaction that can be very positive, even surrounding a hard or challenging situation or a poor choice. And it does, it builds those relationships, which goes back to the very start of this conversation. But it does not ignore or dismiss behavior, if anything.
It's an active program to correct it. So I was going to ask you, I referenced we use tokens here. What is your form of currency at Delaware Ridge?
Steve Archer (17:36.898)Yeah, we use the PBIS rewards app and so we have no physical tokens. All of ours is electronic. I will say it is a much more efficient system than when.
We started 15 years ago in my previous school and we had slips of paper and there were people who hand counted them to see you know how many have been handed out. I can open that app and very quickly tell you how many have been rewarded this month, how many for each category, each grade level, lots of very specific reports that I can get so that then we can move forward based on the data.
that we have. So it does make it a lot more efficient for us.
Rick Sola (18:28.332)Do students always know when they receive, I'm going say token, when they receive that recognition or does it just kind of appear in their bank or how do they know?
Steve Archer (18:39.97)No, they should know because really the token or the item, that is only part of it. I know when I catch a class in the hall, and this happens a lot and I'm very proud of it, but when I catch them in the hall and I stop them, you know, a lot of times I'll say...
I saw you before I heard you because you were so quiet and appropriate in the hallway and to me that says you were being respectful.
you were being responsible for your own behavior and you were helping keep our school safe. So you know what? I'm going to recognize you with not one, not two, but three points because you did all those things. so then they do know and a lot of times there's a place to put a comment. And if I'm recognizing the whole class, I'll enter that comment that says your class did a great job in the hall. And so then they know they're going to get those added. I will also say in the
classroom, one of the things that has been a benefit to teachers is they can recognize students with or without saying anything, but there you can turn the tone on or off with PBIS rewards. And you know I kid and say it's positively Pavlovian because as soon as they hear that tone
You can just see the shift in the body language and in the focus on the work and things like that because they know the teacher is noticing and they're looking for students to be that respectful, responsible, and safe student.
Rick Sola (20:22.848)Great. So your students, they have a device and the app is loaded on their device as well? Or is it a... Okay.
Steve Archer (20:27.946)No, the students don't, the teacher does. And so they can just use the app and they'll hear the teacher's phone ding. Or sometimes the teacher will walk through the room and say, Steve, I see you working really hard. I'm going to give you a point for being responsible or that kind of thing.
Rick Sola (20:49.6)We went round and round. That's why I'm curious because we talked a lot about tokens or electronic, and we ultimately leaned on tokens, and it has some challenges with that. The data collection isn't quite there as far as what you're describing. We landed on tokens for that kind of personal interaction, but it presents some challenges with every year we got to get the tokens back. There's always loss, and we got to repurchase, and there's a cost to the tokens themselves.
Steve Archer (21:07.309)Yes.
Rick Sola (21:19.692)You mentioned respect and responsible. What are your letters or posters look like?
Steve Archer (21:25.976)Yeah, so we had a building pledge before we started PBIS here in this building. This is the first year of our PBIS implementation here at Delaware Ridge. So we simply changed some of the wording. We didn't, you know, throw out the baby with the bath water and it says, I am somebody.
The me I see is the me I will be. I can be respectful, responsible, and safe. I can succeed. So that's the pledge that our students say every morning after they say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Rick Sola (22:00.716)Very good. And how about tier two? Have you had much work with that as you're building currently implementing tier two using the tier two model?
Steve Archer (22:10.574)we are, we do have some students who are part of our check-in and check-out. It's, you know, we're working toward developing those tier two and tier three interventions.
This year my main goal has been making sure that we have a solid tier one implementation, we have begun, you know, there are just some students who need that additional support of like a check-in, check-out and things like that. And so we do have that in place as well.
Rick Sola (22:42.956)We have found a lot of success with moving to tier two. We did a similar approach that first year. It was really all about tier one, trying to reach fidelity. Our kids, they know our values, ROCs is what we call it. then we, by getting into tier two, I feel like that's where, I think that's where a lot of value in PBIS is. That's where, you know, cause not every student is, know, tier one's not gonna just
be there forever. It's there for everyone, but it's not going to always fix a need or provide support. And that tier two has, you mentioned the check-in, check-out. We've had a lot of success stories with that. Most of the time, once the kids are in there and they get out, they don't go back in. Sometimes we have had a student or two that we reintroduced, check-in, check-out, but it's always successful while they're there. We're at the point of
Steve Archer (23:17.422)That's right.
Rick Sola (23:41.824)we're kind of broadening even from that part of the PBIS process, but very exciting. And when you have those success stories with students with challenging behavior, it's fulfilling, especially middle school.
Steve Archer (23:56.59)Absolutely. Yes, I remember those days. But you know, if we can build skills at the elementary that kids can carry with them into middle school, what kind of, I mean, that's a huge gift, not only to them, but to that middle school. To not just...
limp through and send them on, but to really help them develop skills that will help them grow as students and as people so that they can just use those in a variety of aspects of their lives. And again, it goes back to relationship, particularly with a check-in, check-out, or a check-in, connect. It's the relationship that really makes the difference there.
Rick Sola (24:41.558)So after this episode, and perhaps you'll have several principals in your session at USA Kansas, and someone's really intrigued, and they're like, I really want to take this to my building. What would be a piece of advice you would give to the upstart of the program at a building that hasn't had it before?
Steve Archer (25:03.374)It's definitely a team sport, if you will. This is not a principal thing. It is a building approach. Also, it is a framework. I came from a building that had implemented PBIS for 15 years. There are things that fit at Delaware Ridge. There are things that do not fit yet at Delaware Ridge. And to come into this building and
and expect all of those things to transfer would have been a mistake. So I definitely think you need to get, I think first of all, would do my research and find out about the premise behind PBIS. This is not a passing fancy. It's been around for a long time and it is an approach that has
the research and the evidence behind it. But then you also have to let your staff in on that.
and make sure that they understand that this isn't going to be the flavor of the year. This is going to be an approach that we take that we're going to build from the ground up in a way that makes sense for our building so that we can develop those positive relationships with kids. And what we're looking to do is teach behavior for every area of our building, classroom, assemblies, restrooms.
lunch, all of those things and really get all of that lined out with staff before the kids ever walk in the door.
Rick Sola (26:43.232)You know, one thing that I was really excited about when I started here, when we started PBIS, we have some neighboring shops and restaurants and things. you know, unfortunately not always were we the best representatives of, you know, after school and hanging out. And we tried to extend, we did extend our program across the street a little bit.
And we had a couple businesses that were willing to give out tokens and hang some posters and just show, of support it. try to, kind of to your point, from the elementary to the middle, I try to advertise this isn't just a Chisholm Trail thing or a school thing. We're talking about respect and ownership and that's a life thing. And so these are skills that you work on now, you hopefully sharpen. And sometimes we see that
two steps back in the process. That's where they're at in their lives, there's a lot of just kind of fulfillment with this program that has really been energizing even now that we're three years in, four years after the build of it.
Steve Archer (28:00.322)you're seeing good outcomes from that. I love that idea of a business partnership. I've not worked in a school that had a business close enough to do that sort of thing and so I
excited about hearing to hear that because what a great way to expand that out. know we've worked to add some things for our bus riders because it's very hard for a know one driver on a bus of all the students to take care of all their responsibilities to drive kids safely and to focus on that positive reinforcement. But we've come up with
with a little bit of a different approach. It's still in the spirit of PBIS though, and so that's a piece that I'll be sharing at the conference, just to talk about our initial successes with that.
Rick Sola (28:58.486)Well, and kind of to that point, that's what I really like about the program too, is it's customizable. Like you mentioned, what worked at your previous school either doesn't right now or it's not a good fit for whatever reason. And PBIS is a framework, like you mentioned earlier as well, but you can make it your own to fit your population and your community, is what I love about it. You referenced your presentation and...
teaser what what can people expect if they're going to be sitting in your USA Kansas conference here in a month.
Steve Archer (29:36.558)I think one of the things that I hope people will take away are several things, definitely it's a framework. And I am not a purist when it comes to behavior models because what they'll probably hear, what I know they'll hear is PBIS.
but they will also hear echoes of conscious discipline and they'll also hear pieces of this that we've brought into our work here at Delaware Ridge. And for me, it's about finding those positives that work within your school, but still being true to the spirit behind PBIS.
I think always keeping that teaching focus and finding out how you do that. And I'll just share how we did it or how we do it here and what we found works here. I mentioned partnering with our bus drivers who, you know, that's a very challenging job sometimes, particularly at the end of the day when the kids are kind of done and they're ready to be home. That can be a big challenge. And then another piece that I'll be sharing is how we
share some positives with parents as well. So we use some different approaches for that too, so that parents see that, you know, we care about your kid. We are glad they're here and we want you to know that they're a positive part of our learning community and that we don't take that for granted.
Rick Sola (31:14.048)Yeah, it'll be a great session and if anyone's listening to this prior to, definitely stop in. And I knew a little bit about PBIS where I'm at. We had a rollout probably 10 years prior as a district. I would say we've made a lot of adjustments and improvement and we've recast it and it's kind of the full, jumping in with both feet and it's been really, really positive. So looking forward to that. Steve, you're a year one principal in Kansas.
And KPA, it's a KPA podcast. What has KPA meant to you in the seven months, eight months that you've been with us?
Steve Archer (31:53.314)Well, I will say I've enjoyed the episodes of this particular podcast that I've been able to listen to and learn and just to get excited about some of the work that's happening in Kansas that I didn't know about before, you know, and so I'm really looking forward to going to the conference, going to sessions and continuing to learn because, you know, we work in education. We should continue to learn regardless of how long we've, we've,
been in education so I'm really looking forward to learning at the conference coming up.
Rick Sola (32:25.804)Have you been to the USA Conference, attended it before?
Steve Archer (32:27.662)I have not. I've always gone on the Missouri side to our MAESP conference.
Rick Sola (32:33.996)It's a great conference. I would also put a plug in, there's actually a KPA conference in November. So keep an eye out for that. It's a little smaller than USA Kansas, but it's in the same location, or it's in Wichita, but really, really strong conference and just great opportunities to network and learn from each other. Just fantastic. well, Steve, I'm gonna have us end on, you mentioned Delaware Ridge or DRE.
Bragg on your people here that you've gotten to know over the last several months.
Steve Archer (33:02.476)Yes.
Steve Archer (33:07.724)You know, I believe that some, most of the time you can really get the heart of the building by walking into the office. And when I walked into the school, it was very welcoming and I could go into details on that. But the bottom line is there was a tone in the office that welcomed me. And that has proven to be true across our building.
I say of the people who work here, they don't work here because they don't have other choices. They work here because they want to be here and they love our kids and
they love each other. it really is a wonderful learning community. And there are times that I will overhear people just laughing together or problem solving together or that kind of thing. And I just smile to myself and I'm just like, really? This is where I ended up. And so it's a very, very special school and a very special district.
I am surprised I didn't know more about this district before I came here, but I'm very grateful to be at Delaware Ridge now.
Rick Sola (34:21.472)Great, really nice words and just very neat to be able to come over and like you said, retire from one state on over here to another and to join a community that's so welcoming. And you're right, you can certainly feel a lot when you just walk into an office of a school. what an important message. Awesome for them to hear that. I hope they hear this, to hear you say that. But important for everyone to hear that because the office...
Oftentimes they're the ones that are interacting with the community, not us. Most of our parents are dropping lunches off or making phone calls. So, excellent.
Steve Archer (34:54.286)absolutely.
Steve Archer (34:59.64)That's right. Yes, and my front office, they're just some of the best of the best about that. Welcoming our families. Teachers come and they need something. They're more than willing to help with that. Somebody needs to step away from the office. Somebody else comes in and helps. That front office is such a hub of our building.
There are a lot of fun times that we have there, but then we also know how to take care of business. again, DRE is a special place. I feel very fortunate to be here.
Rick Sola (35:32.822)Great, well, thank you for your time. At the end of a busy day, a long day, and I look forward to, I'll meet you in person, hopefully, out here in Wichita in a few weeks. It's getting that close, so.
Steve Archer (35:45.004)It is getting close. Alright, thanks so much, Rick.
Rick Sola (35:47.98)Alright, thank you Steve.
 

CC#67: A Principal's Perspective - Rick Sola - Work-life...balance?

A Principal's Perspective: Work-life...balance?
Rick Sola
Principal
Chisholm Trail Middle School, USD 233
X: @MrRickSola
Adam Grant quote--7/12/2022
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CC#66: A Principal's Perspective - Courtney McCartney - Dance Through the Storms

Perspective Topic: Dance Through the Storms
Courtney McCartney Principal Frank Layden Elementary Frontenac Public Schools USD 249
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The mission of the Kansas Principals Association, an organization committed to educational excellence and the lifelong success of all students, is to develop and support all principals through optimized learning, collaborative leadership, networking, and service.
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CC#65: A Principal's Perspective - Stacey Green - A Message from the Heart

A Principal's Perspective: A Message from the Heart
Stacey Green Pre-K-8 PrincipalStockton Grade SchoolUSD 271 StocktonX: @usd271sgs
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CC#64: A Principal's Perspective - Jeremy Thomas - Increasing Student Participation Through Enrichment Before/After School Activities

A Principal's Perspective: Increasing Student Participation Through Enrichment Before/After School Activities
Jeremy Thomas
Principal
Eudora Middle School, USD 491
X: @EudoraSchools
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CC#63: A Principal's Perspective - Mr. Heath Henderson - "If it were me, I'd want to know."

A Principal's Perspective: "If it were me, I'd want to know." (Todd Whitaker) 
Heath Henderson
Skelly Elementary/USD 490 Principal
USA Kansas Board of Directors
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CC#62: A Principal's Perspective - Rachel Buessing - The Importance of SEL on School Culture

Perspective Topic:  The importance of SEL on school culture
Rachel Buessing
Principal
Rock Creek Middle School
USD 323, Rock Creek Schools
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CC#61: Spanish Immersion in K-5 w/ Jenny Steele

In this episode of Cool Coffee with Kansas Principals, host Rick Sola speaks with Jenny Steele, the principal of Manchester Park Elementary, about her journey from middle school to elementary education, the unique Spanish immersion program at her school, and the challenges and successes that come with it. They discuss the importance of community support, the enrollment process, and the transition of students to middle school, as well as the significance of mentorship and compassion in educational leadership.
Principal Jenny Steele

Manchester Park Elementary School

USD 233
"Is this a sitcom?" - CC#24: A Principal's Perspective from Jenny Steele (10/30/2024)
Email: jlsteele@olatheschools.org
Chapters (time stamps do not account for CC intro)
(FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW)
00:00 Introduction and Background

03:02 Journey to Principalship

05:49 Spanish Immersion Program Overview

09:11 Challenges in Implementation

11:49 Curriculum and Instructional Strategies

14:51 Student Enrollment and Lottery System

18:13 Performance and Assessment

20:52 Transitioning to Middle School

24:01 Community and Support

27:12 Advice and Reflections

29:57 Conclusion and Future Outlook
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Show Transcript (AI generated)
Rick Sola (00:01.646)Hello and welcome to another edition of Cool Coffee with Kansas Principles. Today I am joined by Ms. Jenny Steele, Manchester Park Elementary Principal, home of the Timberwolves and USD 233 in Olathe, Kansas. Welcome, Jenny.
Jenny Steele (00:17.015)Hello, Ruck.
Rick Sola (00:18.798)How's it going? How was your Friday? This is a Friday that we're recording. It's a Friday in the springtime. How'd it go today?
Jenny Steele (00:24.365)Well, it's a Friday and you know, mid April, so it's good, you know.
Rick Sola (00:29.688)So I'll just start with a little bit of full disclosure. Oftentimes, principals, I'm meeting often for the first time after some email conversation, but Jenny and I go way back to like 2011 when I was a brand new administrator and Jenny was my counterpart assistant principal at Prairie Trail Middle School. So, you know.
We'll stay professional and know, task at hand here, but we do go back a little bit. So it's good to see you again. And I actually was going to bring up, so I will just throw this out there. Jenny and I are both big Seinfeld fans. And so we always had fun with a little bit of just kind of banter back and forth and even still through text messaging. I was actually going to bring up
Jenny Steele (01:14.607)Mm-hmm.
Rick Sola (01:25.39)in a little bit, but I'll do it now since I'm there back in October and we did a principal perspective blitz through the, this KPA podcast. You submitted, a perspective called, this a sitcom? Which I will put in the show notes for people to easily find, but, I loved it because there's oftentimes it does feel like it can be a sitcom with what we do.
Jenny Steele (01:42.159)Mm-hmm.
Rick Sola (01:53.92)I was wondering if you've had any sitcom moments in recent memory.
Jenny Steele (02:01.559)Well, yes, actually, and stuff that you, you know, you're not sure anybody would write. So I'm probably not going to share those here. Keep in mind, you know, we had our middle school days together. Now I'm in an elementary. And so I have some of the zany things that we had in middle school, but they have an elementary flavor to them now. But I still, I'm still caught off guard sometimes by a few of them. Yeah.
Rick Sola (02:10.605)haha
Rick Sola (02:28.32)Yeah, and you know, today it was a Friday and we had a pep assembly and actually it was a really good spring Friday. We had quite a few subs in the building, which, you know, we anticipate this time of year, you know, holding it together. But Jenny, before we kind of get on it, because I'm interested in hearing about or learning more and for you to share about the Spanish immersion program at Manchester Park. But.
want to hear your road to the chair. You're currently in the chair of Manchester Park as principal, but what led you to that chair that you're in today?
Jenny Steele (03:02.955)Right, well, you know, actually when I started in education, my goal was elementary and that's where I started. Shortly after I started teaching, an opportunity came up in middle school and I was asked to go there and frankly, I went there and...
And I didn't think I belonged there initially and I thought this is nuts man. And then after about two weeks, I really fell in love with middle school and I was there for as you know, know, a couple of decades.
But then, you know, a few years ago was, you know, was approached about coming out to Manchester Park. And I think it's partly because it's, it's the largest elementary in the Olathe district. So we have like 615, 18 kids out there. And so I'm, you know, I'm kind of used to a large population, you know, and Rick, plus it's also back in the, in that attendance area where you and I met, which was at Prairie
trail. So I was familiar with the community and you know really had a home there. Love the middle schools I'd been at but so that's how I ended up at Manchester and it's been it's honestly it's been a great at this stage of my career. It's been a tremendous rejuvenation of my brain. I think because sometimes you do something for a long time and you feel a little bit like you're on autopilot and so when an opportunity comes along where you
to stretch yourself a little bit, which is what I did. There was a lot of new learning. It has been an outstanding opportunity and I truly love it now. I absolutely do.
Rick Sola (04:49.856)It's interesting that you said you when you started at the middle school, you felt like you didn't belong. And I don't know that I ever shared this with you, the person that hired both of us, Dr. Yurkovich, who now I guess in some ways is kind of our boss all over again in a different way as board president. And I only shared this with her like within the last year, but that whole.
Jenny Steele (05:06.639)Follow her!
Rick Sola (05:15.49)I don't know want to say the whole first year, but that first year as assistant principal, I really wondered if I made a huge mistake on why did I leave the classroom and what I was doing I enjoyed and now I'm like fish out of water. And so to hear you say that kind of like didn't belong, like I really wonder if that's a very common feeling that a lot of us when we move into administration feel, but we don't you don't publicize that. That's that's that's not something you talk about. But
Jenny Steele (05:23.012)Yeah.
Rick Sola (05:45.614)Yeah, interesting to hear you say that.
Jenny Steele (05:49.047)Right, think absolutely that stretch to administration, when you're a teacher, feel like, you know, it's kind of, if you have that calling, you feel like it's a natural progression and you think, you know, I have my skills down and I think I, you know, kind of got it together and I can do that because I've watched others. And you don't, you have no idea what's coming to you until you're in that chair and in that position and you have to make those last, you know, put out the little fires and continue
to go and the next one comes at you. Some days are like that and that just takes a lot of you know it takes a lot of experience and practice and you're right we had a great mentor when we were both learning those roles and I I'm grateful for that because I really have I learned a lot when I was at Prairie Trail and that's helped me you know continue down this road.
Rick Sola (06:43.95)I don't even know if I want to say that you have a huge elementary school and it's you're actually a decent amount bigger than the middle school that I'm currently at. Just I mean that and I know that that your building is is the biggest there's a lot of growth out there that part of well Lenexa technically but Olathe School District.
Jenny Steele (06:48.983)Mm-hmm.
Jenny Steele (06:57.103)Yeah.
Rick Sola (07:08.886)And so, but it's interesting, the reason why I thought this would be really great to have you on is Manchester Park in a district of, what do we have, elementary schools, you're one of two that have a Spanish immersion program, and you are now, I think your oldest kids are now fifth graders, fourth graders.
Jenny Steele (07:19.448)Mm-hmm.
Jenny Steele (07:31.275)They're fourth graders. They're going to be fifth graders next year in the program.
Rick Sola (07:35.66)So I guess there's kind of a lot to the program, but I guess start us off with, I guess at its inception, this program that started with your current fourth graders as kindergartners, just a little bit of history to the Spanish immersion at Manchester.
Jenny Steele (07:52.175)Well, when I came aboard at Manchester, the Spanish Immersion kids were going into first grade. So I wasn't there for the opening of the program. And so I really can't speak directly to its opening.
I know that the our world language coordinator in the district, Mike Flint rope. He, mean this, he is, he's the heart of it. He truly is. He has a tremendous passion for this program and world language and world culture in general. And he is truly the driving force behind it. I, I would not be able to lead that program on my building with without him because he has such
tremendous insight. So, but as we've continued to grow, it's interesting in a building because it is a new program. The families involved are all very excited about it. It's, you know, we have a waiting list every year, but there are growing pains as with any program and this is still really kind of a new program because it's, like I said, that, you know, they're just going into next year will be the first year that will be K-5.
But there are some growing pains, but overall it's tremendously successful.
Rick Sola (09:18.232)What have been some of those challenges that you've worked through and maybe your first year, first year principal, really a big program and undertaking where we're at in the district, but what were some of those challenges that really presented themselves that maybe you feel like, we had them, we addressed them and we've gotten past them.
Jenny Steele (09:39.373)Well, I will say staffing is a bit of a challenge. And I think that was not probably recognized at the program's inception because these kids, they're half and half. They have a teacher who speaks English and they have a teacher who's fluent in Spanish.
primarily the Spanish speaking teacher, their native Spanish speakers. And those aren't always really easy to find. We've actually, the past three years have worked with KSDE on their visiting teacher program where they bring teachers from.
different countries to come over for a certain amount of time to teach specifically in that program. And that brings challenges.
because sometimes they'll these individuals come over and and and I'm not sure I mean they're given a ton of information from the state and from the district and of course at the building level but you know that's a big transition and and I think that it's it's tough I think it's a little tough for them to make and and some find maybe this isn't quite for me because they're leaving their families in another country to come over and so so that's a bit of a challenge.
Rick Sola (11:07.438)All right.
Yeah, no, I can imagine that. You mentioned that the students in class and you have the English teacher and a Spanish teacher. Is there kind of a percentage guideline that does it change over the course of their first grade, second grade that so much is in English in the class versus Spanish? Or what does that look like?
Jenny Steele (11:33.058)Okay, so in every grade level, so starting in kindergarten, the students are, say we start out with 44 kids, we'll say, okay, 42, it depends, you know, from year to year, but they're split into two groups.
And those groups, have half of their instruction in English and half of their instruction in Spanish. And then they flip, change classrooms, you know, halfway through the day. So all of their English language arts, of course, is in English. Their math and social studies and science, that's in Spanish. Then as, you know, when they start in kindergarten, it's a lot of
songs and movement and things like that just you know to get things rolling and to keep up with their busy little bodies and and keep them engaged as they continue to go through and then Then they start with some Spanish language arts as well But I will tell you it's pretty amazing to see that Their instruction is in Spanish. I mean, it's not just a little bit of a little bit of Spanish those teachers are using
Spanish the entire time and it's it's phenomenal to watch. It really is.
Rick Sola (12:55.84)Wow. For the students that are in the class, I guess I'm kind of jumping to an assumption that they are English speaking at home and when they go home, do you get a sense or get any feedback from parents that they're trying to also incorporate Spanish at home or is it really just for the most part they're at school and they go through the half and half and then at home they're, you know.
Jenny Steele (13:07.331)Mm-hmm.
Jenny Steele (13:22.573)Well, it's, they, we are, lot of dual language programs, say, where, you know, it's Spanish and English, often they're created because we have Spanish speakers that are learning English. And this is, and that's a way to get them more involved in the academic content. This is really the reverse. Our students are all, for the most part, they're all English speakers, and they're learning Spanish. Now, most definitely we,
We have students who they do have Spanish spoken in the home and so they come in with some Spanish and so in those homes they you know then their home and they're they're speaking a lot of Spanish but the majority of ours are English speakers and there's English spoken in the home.
Parents tell me that, yeah, they utilize it at home. The kids come home and they talk about it and they'll talk in Spanish, but primarily in the home they're speaking English.
Rick Sola (14:24.142)Okay. You mentioned 44, 42, 44. What does that translate as far as sections? You have your second grade right now. Is it just one classroom or are there two classrooms or?
Jenny Steele (14:33.081)Mm-hmm.
Jenny Steele (14:36.623)No, there are two classrooms. like I said, they're divided up. Say if you take in, you know, say we start with, you know, 42, then that means in each group they have 21.
And they are, yeah, two separate classrooms and the kids like they switch during the day. So the teachers don't switch, the kids do. And that's the right way to do it because the Spanish room is completely engulfed in, you know, culture and Spanish content. so that's a better way to do it because that way they're really kind of immersed with that within the physical environment, not just within the teaching portion of it.
Rick Sola (15:21.496)curious what that application process looks like. It sounds like there's some years where you have to make decisions and that can be challenging.
Jenny Steele (15:30.883)You mean for the students coming in? Yeah. So here's what it's a lottery system.
Rick Sola (15:32.942)Yeah, you said there's so many spots per year.
Jenny Steele (15:40.547)And so students, families, there's an application thing where they just sign up for the lottery. a student does, there are no certain qualifications, okay, for ability or, you know, how much Spanish they know, anything like that. It's truly a lottery. And we wait until after kindergarten enrollment is over before we close that lottery because some
Sometimes there are some families who come in for kindergarten enrollment and they're not aware of the program. So we certainly want to give everybody the opportunity to put their names in the lottery. I think ours closes next week and it is, I'll tell you, they are true to that lottery system. I say that because there's no favoritism played in there.
I've had, you know, we've had district staff members that say, hey, you know, can you get my kid into this program and that kind of stuff and they don't buy. They're they really I appreciate that about it because it really maintains the integrity of the program. And when we say it's a lottery, it is a lottery. The only exception to that is if a student is is, you know, chosen to be in the lottery, then their younger siblings, if they choose to are automatically
Rick Sola (16:44.685)Yeah.
Jenny Steele (17:05.931)a part of the program.
Rick Sola (17:09.484)I guess that's probably the best way, but maybe the only way to do it, because a lottery, it's fair. It's got to be accessible. I'm thinking of this in terms of like, I'm at the middle school, but we have our different levels of math and that sort of thing. Are there qualifications to stay, or is it really, I mean, this is just the program they're in, no matter what grade they're in, just like we would any other school.
Jenny Steele (17:25.763)Mm-hmm.
Rick Sola (17:36.28)They're going to second grade and it just happens to be now that you're in the immersion program. Are there qualifications that they need to maintain?
Jenny Steele (17:44.521)No, there are no qualifications like no particular performance criteria that they have to meet in order to stay in the program. We have students because keep in mind they start in kindergarten and we may have some students that even are identified to need some additional support as in know for their academics as they you know go through the grades and those are provided. So we
Yeah, there's no performance criteria. Now we do have some that...
As they go through the grade, sometimes the numbers go down a little bit. Okay, so like that 42 or whatever we started, won't have 42 of them in fifth grade is what I'm saying. People move and or some decide, some families, not very many though. Some make the determination that maybe this isn't right for their child, the transitions or the, you know, the dual language just isn't the right thing for their child and they may, you know, take their child out of the program honestly.
that's very few. I'll be honest, they normally really stay in it. It's a hard decision for them to make, particularly after they've been in it for a few years because...
Rick Sola (18:51.533)Sure.
Jenny Steele (19:01.007)those students like they stay together. It's this cohort, you know, and so they kind of have their own little family feel and the families get to know each other and so it's you know, it's a really tough decision for a family to make to say, you know, I'm not sure this is right for my child any longer. So
Rick Sola (19:05.099)Right.
Rick Sola (19:20.952)Those spots wouldn't be filled at that point you're in the program.
Jenny Steele (19:23.023)No, they're not filled like you can't come in and join in first grade and I'll have some families that move in and they know that we're a Spanish immersion.
building and say they're enrolling their second grader and they say, you know, I want my child to be a part of that. And that's not an option. The only exception, the only exception to that is if a student is moving to us from a dual language Spanish immersion program in another district.
I don't make that decision, but Mike Flinthorpe does because he really, he and they can't just put it down to say, yeah, we've had that. My kid, you know, has been in that program. He looks into any researches that the program that, you know, they're coming from to make sure that it's the right thing for their child. Because the last thing we want to do is to put a child in that program.
and they're not successful. Because the academics is, I mean, it's not all about learning Spanish, you know. You know, there's an academic piece we have, an obligation to make certain that the students are performing and staying up with their peers in the content of, you know, math primarily.
Rick Sola (20:41.73)Yeah, that's a really good point because it's easy just to focus on and think of kind of singularly like we're just learning the language, but you're learning content. You've got core subjects and you've got a curriculum to maintain and you happen to be learning it in two different languages. But certainly that's a big piece. Have you, do you notice anything with assessment scores or anything at all with this or?
Jenny Steele (20:52.995)Mm-hmm.
Jenny Steele (21:06.607)Well, I'm glad you asked because we've been, you know, as you know, Kansas assessments for math and language arts won't start until third grade.
And so when we got our scores back this year from, you know, like last year's third graders, we were looking at those pretty closely because we wanted to make sure that they were staying up and they are. They're keeping up with their peers, which was, whoo, you know, a relief and was a joy and it was a celebration. But they are and we have the data to prove it that they are keeping up with their peers.
Rick Sola (21:34.936)Yeah.
Rick Sola (21:43.928)That's really great. Yeah, no, that would be, I can imagine a little bit of maybe nerves as you are about to open that email or that packet of scores that we're getting and hoping for. So yeah, no, excellent. You know, this time next year, and I know I'm sure the thinking about it is already occurring, but this time next year, you're on the cusp of passing on your first cohort to the middle school.
Jenny Steele (21:57.976)Mm-hmm.
Jenny Steele (22:13.07)Hmm.
Rick Sola (22:14.956)Being at the middle school, now I'm not the receiving school here, but being at the middle school, I can imagine there's gotta be quite a bit of planning and thinking through of that. I'm sure it's still being built, but what is that gonna look like?
Jenny Steele (22:17.987)Right.
Jenny Steele (22:32.108)Well, at this time, and we've been in some conversations lately about that, frankly, because we do have a group that's getting closer to middle school and what's that going to look like. And as you can imagine, some.
Middle school teachers have had a little anxiety about it thinking what are we going to do with these kids? How can we meet that need? So when they get to middle school it looks different, much different than in elementary and this is the plan at the moment and I know things can change. And I'm not the one to make those decisions, keep that in mind. But at this time the plan is when the first cohort, when they go to middle school, and you're right it's just
just two middle schools, the feeders for our two buildings.
In sixth grade, they will have a higher level Spanish class as one of their electives. Their core classes, all their other classes, they're back in with all their peers and so they're not getting that core content instruction in Spanish. So they have a higher level Spanish class. It's still in development, by the way, and that's in...
in sixth grade and then in seventh and eighth it will continue. It will be a higher level Spanish class.
Rick Sola (24:01.902)Okay, well I'm gonna hold you to everything you're saying here and nothing better change as a result of this. No, I've been kind of curious and certainly, you know, it's awesome the history of this many years in now, but yeah, that transition and I know I have all the confidence, all the people you've mentioned, including yourself, it's gonna be great. It's just so many things to think through and you're not.
Jenny Steele (24:04.813)Well, I hope nobody ever does that, but okay.
Rick Sola (24:30.798)I always think about, or I worry about the unintended consequences. We can make decisions, but then what then results as part of those decisions? so, no, very interesting and just really cool and very unique. a district as large as Olathe, just one of two schools participating in this right now, and to be a part of that's really pretty special.
Are there any area, like do you have any sister schools that you kind of stay connected with as like, I didn't know if there was any connection that you're, you know, that's been through it before as a mentor, if you will.
Jenny Steele (25:09.967)So, not really me personally. I know that a great deal of research and visits with other schools who have been trying this from around the country, actually, I know they were involved and a part of creating the program here. I know, I personally went to a conference.
with some district folks a couple of years ago. And interestingly enough, one of the schools we went to, they had a dual language Spanish immersion program in an elementary school. And that just, wasn't intended, you know, that that's not what the conference is about. wasn't, that's not why I was there, but I did spend, I was able to spend time with that principal who's phenomenal. And so we were able to talk through, you know, some of
but they've had theirs going a little longer than us.
It was a great opportunity for me to sit down and talk with her about, these are some of the challenges maybe and that I've had and it's even we're in two different parts of the country and she had some of the same. And so I was able to ask her a lot of questions about how did you work through that? And she was still working through some of them. So we were able to really bounce ideas back and forth. Although I was pretty new to it, she'd been doing it longer. think we both really kind of got.
quite a bit out of that collaboration piece and that was a tremendous opportunity for me.
Rick Sola (26:44.322)You started at the top of this show, if you will, you talk about the growth and the stretching in new ways. Well, I mean, my goodness, this is, you know, aside from transitioning to a different level from the middle school after several years at the middle school, but going to an elementary school was such a unique, really neat, but unique program, too. So there's a lot a lot to take on there right at the outset. But, no, that's all really good. And I appreciate you sharing that.
Before we hear wrap up, we mentioned our shared mentor who I know had a tremendous impact on both of us. And whether it was her or maybe some of the other leaders that you've worked with through your career, have you received any advice that you just feel like, wow, it stuck with you, it kind of resonated with you that we could put on the air here?
Jenny Steele (27:14.147)Mm-hmm.
Jenny Steele (27:34.305)Well, you know, I think I may have even said this in my little snippet of the podcast earlier.
Honestly, it was my dad. think about this all the time. because my dad many years ago was a superintendent in the state of Kansas in a smaller district. But he told me at one time, know, he says, Jenny, you're on any given day, there's going to be at least one person in your building that's going through a personal crisis. And you have to be compassionate and you have to understand.
and offer the support for them as human beings, but you also have a job to do. And that's to lead a school and to take care of all the kids there. Rick, I think about that quote, or that piece of advice every single day that I'm at work, because you know how things come at you and somebody's got this and they have this. And there are often times, I hate to say it, but there are often times that you're feeling a little worn down. You're like, man, I just, can't think about that right now. And I know you got a problem.
but we're gonna have to put that to the side. And I really, I remember that comment from my dad from years ago and it stuck with me and so that really, you that kind of gives me the motivation to make sure I'm listening and that I'm actively listening, not just kind of hearing what they're saying, but really taking it in and trying to figure out how best to work through those situations with folks.
Rick Sola (29:14.152)I love the compassionate focus on that because you said we still have the job to do and that's the hard. I've just discovered that repeatedly and maybe unfortunately, but any given school year there's really hard things that come up and there's really challenging situations, whether it's through the school or personal or whatever. The reality is the job doesn't stop, the building doesn't stop and it's
Jenny Steele (29:39.299)Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Rick Sola (29:42.112)ultimately our responsibility to make sure that we are still fulfilling our, not just obligations, but expectations, responsibilities, and helping to put the best place, put our school in the best place moving forward. And sometimes that can be hard, or I always struggle with, I don't want it to come across that I'm being cold to something going on, but.
Jenny Steele (29:57.293)Right.
Rick Sola (30:08.364)based on what you just shared, now we have to do this, whatever that may be.
Jenny Steele (30:12.567)Right, and that's hard and I think also, and I've kind of learned this as I've gotten older, is I think also we have to give ourselves a little bit of grace and there are times when there's so much coming at you and you find yourself, maybe I'm responding in a tone that may not be the best for the whole situation and trying to remember that that tone you just gave somebody, that's what they're going to hang on to. And that's not what I want them to hang on to.
and they're not recognizing that I'm kind of worn out and I've got this other stuff going on that's really a big deal, you know? And the other one isn't. And so to give yourself a little grace to where you have to kind of take a minute.
Rick Sola (30:50.349)Right.
Jenny Steele (30:58.927)Even if it's closing your door for seven minutes just to kind of breathe a bit, maybe sometimes it's going out and getting yourself a sonic drink just to get some fresh air so you can come back and get your brain back together to meet the needs that everybody's relying on you to do.
Rick Sola (31:18.776)Yeah, that pause button was one that stuck with me years ago and it's valuable. Sometimes we need it in that Sonic drink. is, you know, it's a good, for me it's quick trip. It's right down the road. And if I need to go make a run just to clear your head and come back more refreshed or whatever, but no, that's fantastic. Okay, two more things before we go. First of all, thank you for your contribution to
Jenny Steele (31:20.856)Yeah.
Jenny Steele (31:30.637)Yeah.
Rick Sola (31:46.536)this podcast, but KPA and truly what it's intended for, which is principals across the state to hear from and learn from and the sitcom perspective you did back in October. you what is the KPA meant to you as you participate in last several years?
Jenny Steele (31:51.257)Mm-hmm.
Jenny Steele (32:03.503)Thank
Well, here's what I will say and I mean this wholeheartedly. I'm a small town girl, okay? I'm up here in Johnson County, I know, and I love it up here. I love it. I'm in this big district that has given me tremendous opportunities. I mean, and I truly mean that. But I'm from Pittsburgh, Kansas, okay? I'm from Southeast Kansas. That's where I grew up. I'm a small town kind of person.
What I think we often forget up here in this corner of the state is that this little portion of the state is not at all like the rest of the state of Kansas. And I always want to try to keep that, you know, that ground, that center.
that it's not all about the hustle and bustle up here. And I love hearing from administrators from smaller districts. And sometimes I'll get on some, you know, some like state Zoom things and just to listen. And I love hearing from those folks because we have the same concerns and issues. They're at different levels and they're with different communities.
But it helps keep me grounded to know that somebody in Columbus, Kansas is dealing with the same stuff. They may not have all the resources we do, okay? Or they may. But it's important to know how people in other demographics and in other communities in Kansas that are much smaller than we are, how they're working through things. Because you know what? There are lot of really great administrators in the state of Kansas. And sometimes we get shielded
Jenny Steele (33:43.249)from that up here in our corner of the state. And KPA gives me opportunities so I can listen to that or I can read about it. And that is truly important to me.
Rick Sola (33:56.502)I love the answer because it just resonates exactly how I feel. I grew up in this area and I've worked my whole career here. Love it. Opportunities, everything that you just said. But the connections I've been able to make through this and the conversations I've been able to have through different parts, through people from different parts of the state, there's a comfort but there's a learning.
And you mentioned the hustle and bustle and sometimes it feels like that hustle and bustle can almost just kind of, you know, we're focused at the trees rather than like pull back here and look statewide. And truly, I have said it on here before, but that's really the point of this is just to share the story that's happening in the buildings all across the state because we have so much in common and it's really great to hear that. And so I love everything you said and it really, really resonates.
Before we go, Manchester Park, and I'm familiar with that community, because the middle school I was at before, I've fed right into it. Brag on Manchester Park and all the great things going on, all the great people that are up there.
Jenny Steele (34:58.735)Right? Yep.
Jenny Steele (35:05.071)You know what? Manchester Park is an awesome place. OK, I mean I know when people hear that we have 615 or whatever kids up there, they're like, oh my gosh, that's huge. But the building was built to accommodate that many students were not bursting at the seams. mean, we're OK. We don't we don't need any more right now, but I'm not going to be wrong, but we're doing just fine. Our class sizes are good. I have teachers up there. I have a tremendous mix.
of experienced teachers and new teachers. I've probably got, I don't know how many there are, maybe 10, 12 that have been there since the building opened. Rick, Manchester Park opened the same year Prairie Trail did. And yeah, so, and I remember that because I remember when we opened and Manchester opened the same year because they were a feeder. And so that says a lot that you've had people that have been there 21 years.
Rick Sola (35:48.857)wow. Okay.
Jenny Steele (36:04.943)and they're sticking around and they still are enthusiastic about it. A lot of them bring their own kids up there to have their own families a part of Manchester Park. That means a lot. And for a building who's been open, say 21 years, you we've had three principals up there. And so that, in my opinion, is a great testament to the community and that, you know, people want to stay there. Our turnover with teachers is really pretty low.
Of course, people move and they want to move on to other opportunities to refresh their brain just like I did, you know? And I'm all for that and I support people and I want to help them be where they want to be. Our kids are, they're awesome kids. We run into glitches every day like every school in the world. But they, you know, they have good families. We have a tremendous family support system up there and I've...
I really tried to embrace that, especially over the past few years to see what all they can actually bring for us in regard to support for the kids. Today I was up there, we're getting ready for our.
You know, today we're getting ready for our special showcase, which is next week. We have so many parent volunteers up there. They are decorating that school like you wouldn't believe, getting all the artwork up and getting things together. And those are just people just breaking their backs, man. I mean, I said I couldn't get up and down off the floor that quickly, you know, to do all that stuff. And I'm so grateful that you're here. So that's it. It really is a great a great community.
Rick Sola (37:36.384)I love the word glitches. I don't know why and maybe I don't know that I've, mean, I just haven't applied it to the school setting, but what a great kind of word. Yeah, sometimes kids just make glitchy decisions, you know, and that's where I love that you chose sitcom rather than like drama or tragedy or, know, something awful.
Jenny Steele (37:47.651)Yeah, that's right. That's right.
Jenny Steele (37:58.871)yeah.
Rick Sola (38:00.718)Because it is, can be very, and truly I do believe this, and actually a different mentor early on that I worked with said, you gotta laugh. If you can't laugh, then the job could eat you alive. You gotta be able to laugh and find some humor and comedy, and there are some sitcom-y moments. Well, Jenny, I really appreciate you taking the time. At the end of a very long week, and you know, we're just.
Jenny Steele (38:21.698)Absolutely.
Rick Sola (38:29.26)you know, several weeks till the end of the school year, but those several weeks feel like about two quarters sometimes with all the events and things that are going to be coming up and it'll all be great. But thanks for sharing about the Spanish immersion at Manchester Park and good connecting with you and have a nice, nice long weekend.
Jenny Steele (38:36.847)That's true.
Jenny Steele (38:49.549)Yeah, I hope you have a great weekend and it's always good to talk with you, Rick. Anytime, Zola, okay? All right, bye-bye.