Competency Review - C Granger

Domain I—Leadership of the Educational Community – Competencies 1 - 4

Competency 1 Area:

The superintendent knows how to act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner in order to promote the success of all students.

 

            The area of domain 1 is the one I needed some experiences in because in my career as an athletic trainer I have had to work with the community, but with a select group of students.  The first component of competency 1 is being an advocate for all students.  In order to enhance my knowledge in this area I met with my Superintendent and one thing he recommended is learning more about all the special programs we offered in our district.  Therefore, I met with the directors of all programs and discussed what special needs their student populations had and how a Superintendent could reinforce and support these needs.  One of the most interesting things I learned in this area included that we got out of a special education co-op agreement and made the decision to support these students on our own.  By doing this we were able to remove some students from special education that we misclassified and use the funding to more adequately meet the needs of our students.  The other components of competency 1 that work together in my opinion involve ethic including modeling and promoting high ethics, implementing policies to promote the educator code of ethics, monitoring ethical issues, applying policies in a fair manner and interacting with others in an ethical manner.  This was an interesting time for me to be working with my Superintendent as the district had to remove two people for questionable behavior and he was in a dispute with the school board.  First, I feel like he showed me how to act in an ethical manner in that he took the high road when the board disagreed with his handling of the situation.  He was very open and honest with me in discussing these manners and I applaud him for how he handled this, in fact he was asked to “retire early” when he refused to drop the investigation.  This has taught me a valuable lesson in that I have to stand for the things I believe in and there is no job worth compromising my morals for, and any school board who thinks I would do that is not one I want to work for.  In addition, in the area of monitoring the code of ethics I was able to work with the director of technology in reviewing my district’s acceptable use policy and ensure we had a policy that was current with the times of social media.  As a leader in this district this also required us to revisit components of the code of ethics to document we had discussed these issues with our staff.  On a personal note on how I will monitor the ethical issues impacting education I have been following the TexasISD website as well as joining the TAASP organization.  The combination of this research and the events in my district have made me aware of how frequent ethical issues occur in education and how it seems like these individuals are truly shocked when they are discovered.  My experiences in education have taught me that students will not keep things secret and those educators who have mde questionable decisions are eventually discovered.  As the leader of a district it is important that I put measures in place to support employees in their times of need.  I am a people first individual and I want to make sure I am on campuses, much like my Superintendent has been.  Doing this creates a foundation of quality relationships with individuals and when they are in times of need. The final portion of competency 1 involves interacting with all stakeholders in an ethical manner.  I am fortunate to have worked with a Superintendent who was active in the community and constantly attending events throughout the community as he allowed me to accompany him on some of these trips and showed me how to be good at the “political” aspect of leading a district as we are trusted with making decisions that are best for students and the district.

Competency 2 Area:

The superintendent knows how to shape district culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the educational community.

 

            In the area of competency 2 I believe I have made tremendous strides in improving my knowledge and application.  I remember back to the first time I heard a principal discuss the development of a vision and mission.  As mentioned in the competency there is a responsibility in creating a culture of high expectation and rigor as well as developing a shared vision that focuses on the success of students utilizing common planning with constituents.  As a district we have had three campuses on state improvement required based on the PBMAS ratings.  That being said the Superintendent has allowed me to be actively involved in the review and modification of our district goals, vision and mission.  This was a unique experience in that as a small district with four campuses you would think this would be easily accomplished.  However, when you get four principals in one room thinking about the needs of their own campus and trying to unite them around a common goal is more difficult than I anticipated and this is where the Superintendent’s role in the process becomes clear.  He was able to keep the meeting moving in the right direction and help these individuals see the big picture and settle on goals and objectives for the district.  The result of this has been a commitment to higher level academic courses at the secondary level and higher rigor in all classrooms through the implementation of the Fundamental Five.  Part of my responsibility is leading some professional development activities to help our teachers improve instruction.  This experience taught me that teaching adults takes more prep work and is often more time consuming but is necessary to ensure that district plans are implemented with fidelity.  The next step in this process of shaping culture, and part of competency 2 involves the Superintendent monitoring the climate, the achievement of goals and objectives, as well as ensuring we allocate resources to adequately implement the districts goals.  When discussing these things to with my Superintendent we decided one of the best ways I could assist with this was to help oversee the high school allotment budget which would include some professional development funds.  When we approached the end of the first semester we as district leaders had to make some honest assessments about how we have done about achieving the goals we had set out.  In doing this we also had to restructure some our academic programs that were not as successful at reaching students.  We reviewed the data and saw we had a different subpopulation that was struggling, which was ESL students.  Therefore, the Superintendent decided to request additional funding to pay for three additional ESL aides.  As I become a Superintendent this was a good lesson in that we have to have a good pulse on what is going on in the district so we can make needed adjustments as we go to meet the needs of our students.  This brings me to the final four components of competency 2 asking the Superintendent to be aware of trends in education which I feel I have done during my internship by investigating programs that can help our students and in turn presenting these findings to the school board in an effort to add funding to support some of these programs including AVID.  Finally, competency 2 involves encouraging innovative thinking, promoting awareness to diversity, and supporting special needs students.  I feel by allowing me to lead the AVID program the Superintendent modeled allowing risk taking and supporting all students.   As a person who received services under special education I knew the importance of this but chose to enhance my understanding by attending the TCASE presentation on special education law.  While I learned in this time competency 2 requires my continued attention and learning. 

Competency 3 Area:

The superintendent knows how to communicate and collaborate with families and community members, respond to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilize community resources to ensure educational success for all students.

 

            In order to be a successful district that educates students in a an effective and efficient manner there needs to be consistent, meaningful and collaborative discussion between all stakeholders.  Part of this responsibility lies in the Superintendent competency 3 to be an effective communicator supporting public education, a good public relations program, identifying opinion leaders, establishing partnerships to strengthen the district goals.  As a person who previously worked in a large district I had never seen them work hard to get these things done, but in the small district I work in now this is much more challenging.  There is not a lot of businesses in our district and gathering support in these tough economic times has shown more and more with each passing year.  To combat this the Superintendent is constantly in the community and trying to build positive relationships with the four to five people in our district that have a large amount of money.  While this has helped gain support for some initiative this has also been a challenge as you strive to maintain ethical behavior as people who give money sometimes have an expectation of a return in their investment.  This is one of the strengths of my Superintendent as he is clear in his desire to support the needs of the students and the district but not at the expense of his morals.  One thing I was able to accomplish during my internship time was to visit the new owners of two businesses in our district and ask them to support our programs at the district.  By communicating with then early in the process with a written request for support I feel we have established a relationship that will last for years to come.   The next section of competency 3 involves gathering input from the stakeholders of the district, work with a diverse group of individuals to help students be successful, and gain support within the community.  The prime example for me within the internship was when I was charged with leading the implementation of an extracurricular drug testing.  As a new program this required me to educate the community as well as hold community meetings to answer questions and discuss the program.  While these meetings were often times lengthy and involved answering the same questions over and over they were a learning experience.  First, it taught me how to handle a difficult crowd and gain support for a new program.  It required me to be prepared, and consistent when answering questions from the community.  One of the main things I did was to prepare informational materials and placing them on the website so that anyone could access the information so when the meetings occurred they could be prepared with questions, and I appreciated being the one that people can turn to for information.  The final component of competency 3 is one that I have had the least experience with involved dealing with the media which in this day and age is critical to getting our message to the community.   I visited with the Superintendent about how he gets important messages out through the media and to the community and he explained the process that each major station in the area provide the Superintendent with an access code that they use when he needs information to be broadcast.  Overall if I am the leader of any organization, including being a Superintendent, communication is the key.  People within the district and the community need to know that the Superintendent can be trusted for their word and their communication with all stakeholders is how that is established.

Competency 4 Area:

The superintendent knows how to respond to and influence the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context, including working with the board of trustees, to achieve the district's educational vision.

 

            For competency 4, which is the final competency in the first domain the focus is on how the Superintendent can have a larger influence on the world around them and had the largest number of areas that I identified as needing improvement for me personally.  The struggles I have revolve around the need of the Superintendent to be familiar with and respond to the local, state and national political system.  The reason I feel this area is still in need of improvement is because I have not spent much time on the national level of politics on education.  The one lesson I did learn from the Superintendent is to be aware of the political around your district.  One of the things we did together during my internship was to review the tax rates and revenue information and he recommended that when I am a Superintendent I attend the local county tax meetings.  The second portion of competency 4 involves defining roles for the board and superintendent, working with the board on solving problems.  I feel these things are items I will gain more experience with as I get a Superintendent job, but I also need to be aware of what behaviors lead to productive Superintendent-Board relationships.  To gain some insight into how this relationship is forged I reviewed the board manual.  As the leader of the team of eight it is important that I as a Superintendent, provide knowledge and support to the board as the leader.  During my internship I was able to attend one of the team of eight activities aimed at training new board members.  These types of activities are important in helping school boards be successful.  As my Superintendent told me we must remember that the people who serve on school boards are often not educators and it is our responsibility to ensure they have the information necessary to make informed decisions.  This is another example of why communication between the Superintendent and board is so important especially when there are new board members elected as they do not come to the board with the knowledge of what has been occurring on the board.  I witnessed this personally during my internship as I presented the drug testing information.  The presentation and discussion for possible action began before the election and those members were onboard but neglected to take action.  Thus, there was a period of time when we had to revisit the information and catch the new members up so an action item could be voted on.  The last two components of competency 4 involve protecting the rights of students as well as recommending policies to improve student performance.  As an athletic trainer I have always been aware of the sensitivity of student rights and as a leader I need to make sure I am following the legal guidelines in protecting teacher’s rights as well.  On the lines of recommending policies to impact student performance I was able to take over the AVID program during my internship.  This program had been in my district for five years but showed little progress and none of the intended results. This meant I had an uphill climb in selling this improvement plan to the district and the board.  Of all these four competencies in Domain I as a growing leader a lot of the improvement will come in the form of one the job training as it involves dealing with boards and constituents.  I am glad to have completed my internship with a Superintendent who was willing to let me take some projects and use them as examples of growth in leadership and show me I have what it take to be a successful Superintendent.     

DOMAIN II—INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP – COMPETENCIES 5 - 7

Competency 5 Area:

The superintendent knows how to facilitate the planning and implementation of strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment among curriculum, curriculum resources, and assessment; use the current accountability system; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance.

 

            Competency 5 focuses on curriculum and measuring student success.  In today’s education we are educational leaders are ultimately judged by the academic success of the schools in our district.  Therefore, it is no longer good enough for a Superintendent to be a good person but they must be a curriculum and accountability expert or at least have someone they trust in the curriculum department.  The Superintendent needs to understand curricular pedagogy, and ensure decisions to optimize student learning, ensuring proper alignment.  As mentioned earlier during my internship I was on the committee that reviewed the committee to reassess the curriculum we were using with the assistance of the curriculum department.  This was the first opportunity for me to look at data with the assistance of an expert and then use the information to make educated decisions about the future.  Part of the process is outline in competency 5 is using the data to determine student needs and make that the driving force behind the decisions we make.  Once again I addressed this in my internship by helping choose the tracts we would offer under the new house bill 5 graduation requirements.  This experience led me to realize that the Superintendent needs to have constant communication with the principals of the campuses for more detailed information than is available on a simple report.  During the internship I was offered the opportunity to attend some of these meetings and with as busy as the Superintendent gets I now know why they meet with the campus leaders on a regular basis.  The next section of competency 5 deals with the Superintendent ensuring technology is integrated into the curriculum.  During my internship I was able to work with the technology director in ensuring our technology use policies were in place so that we could implement additional technologies in the classroom.  One of those initiative was to implement a bring your own device policy with our students with a plan to move to a district provided device for all high school students.  As important to the curricular decisions is the Superintendent’s support of extracurricular and co-curricular programs and ensuring all staff members are knowledgeable on things such as accountability and measures of student performance.  Part of my internship involved finding ways to expand our extracurricular programs to meet the needs and interests of our specific student populations.  I am happy to report that with a change in leadership and a value added to these programs our student participation numbers.  Finally, although I have not done much in the internship to expand teacher knowledge of accountability it is in the plan for this semester that I will be meeting with teachers to discuss their classes performance on common assessments established by the curriculum department. Since I have had some experience writing a curriculum this will be the component that will help me model learning and leadership in ensuring our compliance with accountability expectations.  

Competency 6 Area:

The superintendent knows how to advocate, promote, and sustain an instructional program and a district culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.

 

            Competency 6 overall highlights for me a goal in my career and why I chose to pursue a career in educational administration and that is to help students and teacher alike grow and improve.  I feel that my time as an athletic trainer is what attracts me to the facets of this competency in that I have spent the majority of my life to this time helping others and I have a passion for helping other improve.  The first part of this competency involves motivational strategy to encourage others to strive for the vision of the district.  This can be especially challenging since educators and in the field for a variety of reasons and they need to commit to the vision of the district.  My Superintendent knew we had a lot of changes this year as we increased the expectations of our teachers and students and he took a unique approach to the convocation this year inviting a drum corp to present and each person had a drum and they reinforced that if we all drum the same beat it sounds a lot better and we can get more accomplished.   This helped me in my internship as I presented the AVID improvement plan to the campus principals because they knew it had the support of the district and it was part of our vision and mission.  The second portion of competency 6 involves the Superintendent facilitate classroom management using research based practices, encourage high engagement, initiate district improvement efforts, addressing the needs of all stakeholders in the district, and establishing a process of measuring data to measure progress and improvement.  I feel I contributed to these efforts during my internship in growing the AVID program which is research based best practices aimed at improving the delivery of instruction and student achievement.  We have made great strides in this area this school year doubling our AVID trained staff as well as doubling our AVID student enrollment.  I feel that since the AVID system looks to identify “middle ground” students and challenge them academically which addressed our needs of the district and led to improvement as mentioned in competency 6.  As far as data analysis and use this was reinforced by the Fundamental Five program which talks about common assessment and how to properly use this data.  I was fortunate as an intern to be included in the team that reviewed these ideas and developed a district assessment and data review calendar.  Once we have this review completed we can meet with teacher individually to improve instruction using data.  The remaining portion of competency 6 deals with having a knowledge of special programs and allowing for instructional services and programs for these students, the effective and efficient deployment of resources to meet the needs of students, developing organization wide plans for  improving teaching and learning, and creating an environment where all students can learn.  For these components I believe it is important that we help our staff realize what the make-up of our student population is and the specific needs they bring with them to school.  As a district of nearly 80% low socioeconomic status they come to use needing a lot of support and compassion as well as educational deficiencies we continue to address with vertical alignment.  While working side by side with my Superintendent I was able to actively work with our new hires in providing them background on our students and community as well as being involved in training them on strategies for teaching the difficult student.  I    also have worked on the committee to improve our ESL program which is the population we have with the most need.  Personally this has been rewarding in that I have seen student growth and improved relations between teachers and students.  I feel the time I have worked in these areas have helped prepare me to be a leader that respects and grows all students.

Competency 7 Area:

The superintendent knows how to implement a staff evaluation and development system and select appropriate models for supervision and staff development to improve the performance of all staff members.

 

            The final component of Domain II is competency 7 which addresses staff development and evaluation and having procedures in place to ensure we are pushing for improvement of all staff.  Fortunately my Superintendent and I have similar ideas about staff improvement in that we feel that all staff should identify some short and long term goals that they feel will help them become not only better teachers, but also better people.  To begin this expectation it is important that the Superintendent models life-long learning.  Therefore, I have spent this time in the internship learning what types of activities Superintendents can attend.  At the advice of my Superintendent I attended the TCASE presentation on special education law and he began sharing emails with me form state agencies regarding legislation such as house bill 5.  I feel like these learning opportunities allowed me to share the knowledge with others in my district to improve their knowledge of upcoming legislation and what changes we need to make to comply with.  The next section of competency 7 involves the development of a professional development plan that identifies and addresses areas of need, using adult learning theories, and improving the knowledge of staff.  During my internship I was permitted to work with the curriculum department as they chose professional development activities and planned their delivery across the district.  The major professional development activity that we chose for this school year was the Fundamental Five and Cornell Note taking across the district.  I was an attendee for the Fundamental Five program and I developed the Cornell Note training.  Personally, I felt the Cornell Note training needed to be delivered in small group instruction.  Therefore, I took a group of teachers to training and asked them to share this information they learned within their department on how this strategy could be implemented in their curricular area.  This strategy has been particularly effective at reaching difficult teachers as they were more receptive to the information coming from a peer.  I believe that using this approach has allowed us to see significant gains in the implementation of this strategy since using this approach.  The remainder of competency 7 deals with the Superintendent facilitating learning, recruiting and evaluating staff, and supporting a climate aimed at improved performance.  The way I learned about these topics in my internship was through my assignment to the District Director position of AVID program.  In this position I was responsible for coordinating and leading the summer professional development for the personnel selected to help implement the AVID system.  Secondly, I have evaluated the teachers we currently have in place in the program and through consistent classroom observation have been able to make personnel recommendations for next school year as we look to expand the program.  The way I have supported the climate it to celebrate the things we are doing in the AVID program so all stakeholders know what we are doing to improve instruction and student achievement.  I would say this portion of the competency is the most difficult to master.  It takes time to get good at having meaningful conversations with people about their job performance.  I learned from my Superintendent how important documentation is in the process of helping staff improve or making the decision that they will not continue working in the district.  Moving forward I need to continue learning about principal evaluations and get more versed in the Superintendent evaluation tool.  It is critical when beginning a job that I know what the expectations are so I can make a commitment and plan to meet or exceed these expectations.

DOMAIN III—ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP – COMPETENCIES 8 – 10

Competency 8 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply principles of effective leadership and management in relation to district budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management, and technology application.

 

            Competency 8 is the first competency in Domain III which focuses on the Superintendent’s ability to lead others, and in the area of competency 8 the focus in on budget, finance and technology management.  The first section dealing with the budget asks the Superintendent to establish procedure to manage the budget, work with the school board to develop the budget, facilitate the audit, and establish procedures for financial reporting.  As I have heard throughout my career, money is one of the leading causes of educators losing their jobs.  During my internship I have been responsible for overseeing the athletic budget, AVID budget and high school allotment budget.  This has provided me an opportunity to work with the Superintendent, Chief Financial Officer, Accountant and School Board on the development, justification and presentation of the proposed budgets.  Equally as important as a learning experience has been the process of reconciling purchases.  In an effort to improve transparency within our district all purchases have also been presented to the school board on a monthly basis for review.  The more I interact with the school board the more I realize how important the relationship is between the Superintendent and the board.  As this relationship weakened in my district it was apparent in the frequent questions regarding expenditures and personnel decisions.  The strained relationship was a leading cause of the Superintendent being offered an early retirement package.  The second portion of competency 8 involves the use of resources to achieve the district mission, personnel decision making, managing time to enhance operations, using technology to enhance operations, following legal components of resource management and finally forecasting for future planning.  The important thing to remember is that the mission is a reference point and should be referenced when managing time, people and money.  Everything we do and the decisions we make should be aligned with the goals and mission established by the Superintendent and district leadership.  Once this is done we can then further justify expenditures by making sure the time and technology we have makes our operations more efficient.  During the time I have served in my internship I think the Superintendent had been progressive in these areas.  The campus improvement plans were completed earlier in the year and they were required to support the district mission as well as have budgetary funds to support them.  District wide the Superintendent pushed for improved technology to make us more efficient this included security cameras district wide and wireless internet throughout the district.  This has allowed for the implementation of programs such as bring your own device to help reinforce instruction and engage students in the classroom.  As far as future planning I have begun working on this as well with the district office.  We have been looking at recommended ratios to determine staffing formulas, and budgets.  By doing this we can adequately meet the needs of our students and prepare the school board for increased expenditures as our student population continues to increase in the lower grades.  I have witnessed in attending board meetings that they seem to have a lot of budget amendments for personnel as the positions were not built in the original budget creating animosity between the board and district personnel.  These experiences have prepared me to lead a district with transparency and input from stakeholders which I feel adequately addresses major components of competency 8.

Competency 9 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply principles of leadership and management to the district's physical plant and support systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment.

 

            In the area of competency 9 the focus is on facilities that meet the needs of the district and ensures student safety.  The first two components involve planning for facilities that support the district’s mission and ensuring the physical plant is efficient and effective manner.  This topic in our district has garnered a lot of attention because we are considering the presentation of a bond issue and remodeling an existing facility to provide for some career readiness course that will help us to be in compliance with the house bill 5 requirements.  The presentations that were made to the school board on these issues during my internship were met with mixed results.  We have some older buildings that have not been maintained properly and with a little work could be useful in meeting the needs of our students.  The reason I think progress has been slow is the change in leadership we have experienced on our campuses and in the district over the last three years.  Whenever there is a change in leadership there is a change in perspective and it slows down progress.  I have always valued the contributions of the physical plant personnel and during my internship I wanted to work closely with the director of this department to learn more about how they plan and address concerns throughout the district.  In an interview with this person I learned that there workers are often certified in a trade and safe the district al lot of time and money by being able to complete a myriad of jobs and fix a variety of problems.  He told me the most important thing the Superintendent has done for his department is to treat them respectfully and recognize their contributions in front of all school personnel.  As a Superintendent I want to make sure I value all personnel in the district in how I interact with them and treat them.  The next section of competency 9 involves how the Superintendent addresses safety concerns or emergencies, and developing a plan for these situations.  These situations have gained more attention in recent years with the rash of school shootings and intruder incidents.  As a parent I want to believe that when I drop my students off at school they will be safe for their time there and I think we owe it to our students and their parents to take steps in that direction.  During my internship I learned the most about how a Superintendent responds to emergencies in the time when there were a large number of tornados in our area.  The night before we had seen a mile wide tornado within miles of our district and as the day progressed the conditions were right and predictions of a possible tornado.  We quickly gathered district leaders at the district office and reviewed all the information in an effort to make a decision on whether to send students home early.  Among the factors we had to consider was if someone would be home to care for these students.  In the end we decided to end school early, but I learned a valuable lesson about considering all options as the school may be safer for many students in the event of a disaster because in a small town we could mobilize the most resources if need be.  The last portion of competency 9 addresses the auxiliary programs of a district including child nutrition, nursing, and transportation.  Without these programs we could not help our students get to school and be healthy once they are there.  These individuals are often overlooked, but when I was charged with leading PK-12 summer school I saw the importance of these departments.  I became familiar with documenting number of students fed to ensure adequate funding and in the event of an audit we could justify expenses which before I was unfamiliar with the legal aspects of these programs, but am glad I learned in preparation of a career in Superintendent leadership.

 

Competency 10 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving skills to comply with federal and state requirements and facilitate positive change in varied contexts.

 

            The final Superintendent competency is competency 10 and it deals with the ability of a Superintendent to be familiar with state and federal requirements when making decisions.  The first part of competency 10 discusses the Superintendent’s ability to delegate responsibility to help attain district goals.  Although at times it seems like the Superintendent is on their own in leading the district when difficult decisions need to be made this does not have to be the case.  I will use the model I saw my Superintendent take and that is to surround himself with competent individuals with expertise in their area and allow them to do their job.  If it wasn’t for him acting this way I probably would not have been able to complete all he activities I did during my internship.  The next portion of component 10 addresses the Superintendent’s ability to use data to make informed decisions, use problem solving skills when making decisions, and using strategies to work well with others to build relationships to support change and gathering support for the needed changes while accounting for political factors impacting change.  In this day and age in education we have a tremendous amount of data at our disposal, but it is meaningless if we do not know what to do with it.   As the lead learner in a district we must be able to use this data but also be able to explain it to others so they can use the data to benefit them as well.  This is one thing I believe I definitely end the internship with more knowledge of as my Superintendent took the time to show me data not only related to academics but also in relation to property values and tax collections.  These pieces of information are important for the Superintendent to know as they make educated decisions in planning for the future.  As the economy and property values fluctuate it has an impact in the amount of funding the district will receive in each biennium budget.  The final components in the competency deal with the ability to build relationships and unite people behind needed change to improve instruction and student achievement.  For a Superintendent who is fortunate to be in a district for an extended period of time this is an especially unique challenge because they have school board changes in their time this is exactly what happened in my district during my internship.  When the most recent election occurred it became clear that there was a lot of work to be done.  To address this my Superintendent hosted several team of eight trainings which I was able to attend some of as well as taking the board to the Texas School Board Convention in an effort to unify the team and create a foundation to develop a working relationship.  Ultimately all his efforts were unsuccessful because they couldn’t get past their efforts to remove him from the Superintendent position.  This still ended up being a learning experience for me in relation to competency 10 in that once he had tried everything he could he had to realize the politics involved would prevent him from continuing in his position and he got what he could to retire early.  If I am fortunate to be a Superintendent as long as he is I know I will probably encounter a similar situation as the average tenure of a Superintendent is three years.  I am glad to be close to an individual who showed me how to handle this difficult situation with pride and dignity.  I feel blessed to have had this man lead me through my internship time and I learned a lot of lessons but this was the most important to not compromise your morals or ethics for anything even if it costs you your job.  At the end of the day I have to feel good about the things I do and how I provide for my family.