|
October 2009
Almost anyone can remember a principal who was the epitome in grooming and couture. Waco ISD’s Bill Shepard is not one of them. You might say that any pair of jeans or slacks he wears on his torso is in protest. He may don a suit and tie for a formal event and look just fine, but be assured that it is he who is protesting. The fact is, what he wears below the shoulders is not what the principal of Waco’s Mountainview Elementary School considers of import. What’s keen to him is what’s happening from the eyebrows up — particularly his hats. No student who knows him will disagree. Flip through the Mountainview Elementary School yearbook. Notice that every time someone brought out a camera, he hauled out another hat. In one picture, he’s in a plumed pirate’s hat. Then he’s in a purple-and-green Mardi Gras number. In yet another photo, he’s exceedingly hairy, wearing something reminiscent of Chewbacca from “Star Wars” in desperate need of a clip. Then there’s his jester’s hat, his Santa cap and possibly creation’s ugliest straw hat. You’d think a former Aggie would look good in that. Shepard simply looks — memorable. And that’s the point: to be colorful and memorable. Shepard, who has been a small-school superintendent and a high school principal, often will remark that years from now his students won’t remember their school’s TEA rating. What they’ll remember is: Getting to fling toilet paper rolls at a designated school tree when TAKS was completed for the year. Upon completion of TAKS, hearing their principal via public address system order all students to stand in unison and scream with all their might. Having as many animals as paraprofessionals on campus. (That’s not to say paraprofessionals are grossly under-represented at Mountainview. No, it’s to say that at this elementary school, one will find a rooster, guinea pigs, rats, a cat, parakeets and wildly varying numbers of rabbits.) Hooting as their teachers saddled up on a campus-visiting camel. It’s not that Shepard dismisses any demands the state makes. He simply likes to push the envelope and add some joy and color to what could be a bone-dry learning experience if left up to policymakers’ dictates. He went strong to the hoop when Waco ISD opted for a pilot elementary component (Primary Years Programme) of the International Baccalaureate program. Hence, for two years, Mountainview has modeled the integrated curriculum that emphasizes foreign cultures and Spanish language. This is how Shepard wants to characterize his school — a place with broader horizons than the constricting requirements of long-distance control freaks. He wants a large sampling of fun to be a trademark as well. This can be problematic in the age of accountability. Should the principal file a written report on Doodles the Rooster if it crows during TAKS in April? (This is the state, after all, where the silent fidgeting and head-scratching of primary election voters was considered to be too disruptive on a school’s campus during state testing.) All of which raises the question: What’s more of a problem — a loquacious rooster and a lighthearted school, or a campus environment so heavy with anxiety that students hug the turf like quivering ground squirrels? Shepard will do everything in his power not to have the latter happen. I like that. We all want children to acquire basic skills. More importantly, we want them to enjoy coming to school, to think of it in terms of possibilities, rather than stifling limitations. To every principal who sees school in said terms, I offer a tip of many hats. JOHN YOUNG is a columnist for Cox Newspapers. You can see more of his work at www.johnyoungcolumn.com. He can be reached at jyoungcolumn@gmail.com. |
