Principals - Friend or Enemy?
A quick word about principals. They come in all shapes, sizes and personalities, but their personal style sets the tone for the entire school.
Some are sweet little women dispensing hugs, while others are bullit-headed ex-football players. Some are bespectacled intellectuals and others are good old boys who can’t wait to get out and go fishing. I have worked with principals for twenty years and I have enormous respect for the job they do and a great deal of admiration for the vast majority. A few I count as dear personal friends. In coordinating programs, they can be your best friend ... or your worst nightmare!
Some will make you jump through hoops. You can only schedule on Fridays! Or only in the afternoon. Or only under a blue moon in the rain!
Try to be understanding. Schools have different scheduling issues to do with lunch times, and recess breaks, and gym times etc.
Some don’t want assemblies at all, and will fight against anything you try to do. I have never understood this mentality. High quality programs coming into the school augment the education of children in ways the value of which cannot be overstated. I have performed as Lincoln for kids for years, and I have spoken to school representatives years after a performance and had them tell me that kids still talk about the show. Most quality programs have a similar effect. Some kids have brains that just don’t learn in a traditional manner. Live programs touch their imaginations when nothing else will. But all kids benefit. None the less, you will occasionally find a principal who considers assembly programs a waste of time. What can you do? Not much. Move to a different school?
Luckily, most principals truly appreciate the value of educational assemblies and some take a very active role in planning them. I would always try to get a few minutes with the principal after school. We would go over the ideas we had together. The principal knows the school. They will let you know if you are on track or not, and be happy to make suggestions. In fact, many principals do all the scheduling themselves. Listen to them and enlist their assistance and everyone will be happy!
Geoff Beauchamp is the Regional Manager of Mobile Ed Productions where "Education Through Entertainment" has been the guiding principal since 1979. Mobile Ed Productions produces and markets quality educational school assembly programs in the fields of science, history, writing, astronomy, natural science, mathematics, character issues and a variety of other curriculum based areas. In addition, Mr. Beauchamp is a professional actor with 30 years of experience in film, television and on stage. He created and still performs occasionally in Mobile Ed's THE LIVING LINCOLN