Position and Leadership Goals

Position Goal:

            When I began this program I was an athletic trainer looking for administrative experience to begin a foundation for a lengthy career in educational leadership.  During the course of this program I have been promoted to assistant athletic director and then assistant principal and AVID district director.  These positions allowed me to manage the budget and interact more frequently with the school board.  Moving forward I feel these positions have helped me gain the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful campus principal.  In this position I would be able to impact more students and teachers as the lead learner of the campus.  Prior to leading district I feel it is important to lead a campus.  I personally feel it would be harder to run an entire district without leading one building in a district.  Therefore, I would like to do that in the next three years and within the next five years I would like to be an assistant superintendent.  In doing this I feel I will gain knowledge of running a district as well as a resume that reflects what a school board or district looking for a Superintendent would be looking for.  On another note, as a person who has completed the Lamar program I would like to be an IA and/or teach in this program to help develop leaders of the future.

Leadership Goal:

            As an individual with a disability there have been people in my life who have doubted my ability to do certain things as well as individuals who were positive influences in my life.  More than anything else I want to be someone who leading others to achieve their potential.  I believe we have a responsibility to develop leaders of the future.  Had it not been for those who took interest in helping me succeed I would not be where I am today and I would like to pay that forward for future generations.  As a parent of young children I also know I will not be in education forever and my children and grandchildren will need leaders who challenge them to achieve their highest potential.  I hope when people reflect on my career as a leader that they see me as an individual who treated people well and helped improve all schools and location I was at leaving a lasting impact.

            I believe a constant desire to improve and be my best is what motivates me to lead.  After 10 years as a teacher I began to have a desire to impact a greater student population than I was and I decided to get my Master’s degree.  Once I heard and saw that I had the components to be a successful principal, I questioned whether I was selling myself short and I could actually do more and I challenged myself to get my Doctoral Degree and Superintendent Certificate. I know see that I have pushed myself to be the best I could to provide better for my family and set an example of what commitment and hard work can do. 

            During my internship I felt fortunate to work in a small district with a Superintendent who had been in education over 30 years.  He always had his door open to me and he was honest in what it took to work with the board and lead a district.  Since I feel he did not sugar coat anything I feel I was able to learn about difficult boards, budgets, and personnel all things that take a large part of a Superintendents time.  In addition, we had multiple campuses on growth plans throughout my internship.  These experiences are hard to replicate if you do not have a struggling school and I feel they have prepared me to make difficult decisions to ensure we are leading campuses and our district to improvement.