An energetic group of civic and community leaders from across Orangeburg County went back to school on March 27, 2014 to participate in the “Principal for a Day^®” program in Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five. This was the fourth year for the program, which is designed to give community leaders a unique opportunity to directly experience the role that Principals play in leading a school and educating our children.

      Brenda Williams, Vice President of Strategy and Compliance at the Regional Medical Center, led the District as the “Superintendent for the Day^®” and was joined in service by sixteen “Principals for a Day^®” including Marion Glenn, Mayor of the Town of Bowman (Bethune-Bowman Elementary School); Joshua Nexsen, Administrative Director at the Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities (Bethune-Bowman Middle/High School); Bill Addison, GIS Manager with the County of Orangeburg (Dover Elementary School); Craig Williams, OCDC Board Member and President of AMTEC Controls (North Middle/High School); Jane Carson, Director of Public Relations at the Regional Medical Center (Brookdale Elementary School); Jennifer Hoesing, Executive Director of the Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association (Marshall Elementary School); Sherri Coates, President of the Southern Midlands Association of Realtors and Realtor with Century 21 – The Moore Group (Mellichamp Elementary School); Larry Hardy, Senior Photographer at the Times and Democrat (Rivelon Elementary School); Jeff Watford, Owner of W&B Enterprises (Sheridan Elementary School); Angel Howell, Executive Assistant to the County Administrator (Whittaker Elementary School); Chandra McPherson, Director of Victim’s Services with the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office (Clark Middle School); Terry Cook, OCDC Board Vice President and Owner of Media Security Services (Howard Middle School); Dede Cook, Executive Director of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce (Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School); Darrell Booker, Project Manager with the Orangeburg County Development Commission (The Technology Center); Keisa Gunby, Media Director with the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office (High School for Health Professions); and Marty Journey, Detective with the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office.

      The “Principals for a Day^®” reported to their schools at 7:30 a.m. where they met with their regular Principal and participated in the daily activities of the school as they occurred during the day. The “Principals” carried out a wide variety of duties that included such things as making the morning announcements, doing classroom observations, meeting with teachers and parents, participating in school assemblies, reading to children, and helping out with bus duty. Later that afternoon, they convened as a group to share their observations with District staff and administrators. Their experiences are summarized below.

      Brenda Williams served as the OCSD5 Superintendent for a Day^® where she received an overview of the District’s operations from Superintendent Cynthia Wilson. Williams stated, “We reviewed the budget and how she, her staff and the Board do budget planning and I walked away with the appreciation that they are miracle workers that use limited resources to support their mantra. Education of our children has to be the priority in this community we need to get behind the schools and let the school leaders do their thing because the future of our community economically and the quality of life depends on it. The children are our future and they are in great hands with our Superintendent.”

      Angel Howell, assigned to Whittaker Elementary School as Principal, stated, “It was very refreshing to see the passion of teachers and the eagerness to learn from the students.” She added, “For Whittaker Elementary School, this passion and eagerness is within the Principal (Dr. Cassandra Jenkins) and has trickled down to the staff, faculty, and students.”

      Mayor Marion Glenn was impressed by how much gets done every day at Bethune-Bowman Elementary School starting with getting children to school in the morning, instructing them in the classroom, feeding them in the cafeteria, and getting them back home safely at the end of the day. After observing Principal Lakekia Lewis and how she manages all of the schedules and priorities that come up throughout her day, Mayor Glenn smiled and said “When I look at the things she does from 7:30 in the morning until whatever time she leaves at the end of the day, I have no desire to be a Principal.”

      Marty Journey reflected “To be honest with you, going into the program I had a little bit of a negative attitude, but after today I’m very much an optimist. To see the respect that students have for Principal Pratt and the faculty is a great thing. He’s a very impressive man and he has my respect. I really learned a lot.”

      The President of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce, Dede Cook, was the Principal at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, the largest school in the District with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Cook shared “To see how Principal Collins takes a fine line between being a disciplinarian and a mentor, and sometimes being a pal or a friend to the kids was really special. It was a great experience.”

      Craig Williams told his peer Principals that he graduated from North High School thirty-four years ago that this was his first time back at the school. Williams said he was impressed with the facility and the entire staff at North Middle/High School. He added “I was overwhelmed to be honest. So much so, I asked to come back in a few years to do this again. I’m also on the Board of Directors for the Orangeburg County Development Commission and we have prospects that come to our community who want to see our public schools sometimes. I would be honored to give them a tour of North Middle/High School. A year ago I might have been a little skeptical, but now I would love the opportunity to take them.”

      Chandra McPherson was the Principal at Clark Middle School, the largest middle school in the District. Chandra was impressed by the creativity of the teachers she observed adding that she thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hoped to be a part of the program again next year.

      Larry Hardy volunteered to serve at Rivelon Elementary School where he was once a student. Hardy shadowed Assistant Principal Rena Bowman through a variety of school activities and concluded “I was totally impressed with the way she ran the school today.”

      Jane Carson was the Principal at Brookdale Elementary School. According to Carson, “The faculty and students are working diligently on improving the student’s reading comprehension, and from my observation, they are well on their way to achieving their goal.”

      Jennifer Hoesing spent her day at Marshall Elementary School. She said “What was most interesting to me was to see how the administrators are working at so many levels. I was all the more impressed to learn that Principal Sturgill gets up at 4:00 every morning to do this job. It’s the energy and dedication that it takes.”

      The Technology Center on Magnolia Boulevard was the host school for Darrell Booker, an Economic Development Project Manager with the Orangeburg County Development Commission. Booker was impressed with the way the school looked and equipment they had for the students. “I wish the community could see the quality of the students coming out of these programs. The neat thing about this school is that the students come out with certifications. They can go into the workforce and earn a good wage or they can go to college. They have options.”

      Terry Cook served as the Principal at Howard Middle School where he noted “Today was about developing strategies for getting kids ready to take the PASS tests. I sat in on meetings with the Assistant Principals and faculty and what I found, what amazed me, was the enthusiasm, concern, and the extreme, yes I said extreme, caring that the faculty showed for the students.”

      Joshua Nexsen said he was impressed with the community atmosphere at Bethune-Bowman Middle/High School. He added, “Teaching is a noble profession and it was an honor to see what goes into a Principal’s day.”

      Bill Addison spent his morning at Dover Elementary School in North and has a son attending school at North Middle/High School. Addison said “I’ve always been impressed by both of the schools in North. I have people ask me all the time what I think about the schools in North and public schools in general. I tell them that I went to school in North and I didn’t turn out so bad. I had great teachers.”

      Mellichamp Elementary School was where Sherri Coates spent her day shadowing Principal Hayward Jean. Coates noted that Jean seemed to know the names of each of the more than 300 children at his school. She had an opportunity to observe students creatively using iPads to complete class assignments and a father volunteering his time to the school reading to young children. She also noted the level of detail that goes into everything that Principal Jean does including a requirement for bulletin boards to be constructed in 3D to make them more appealing to the eye. Coates observed that this attention to small details is one of the things that helped Mellichamp earn an “A” on its last school report card.

      Keisa Gunby was the Principal at the High School for Health Professions where she observed students getting lessons on Spanish culture in anticipation of a student trip to Spain. Gunby also participated in a program designed to teach students about personal bias and how to solve problems.

      Jeff Watford was assigned to Sheridan Elementary School and shared a personal story about the unique duties that a school Principal can sometimes have. According to Watford, “My wife’s mother was a school teacher for 36 years in Charleston. When I went to her to ask for permission to marry her daughter, she said on one condition – the Principal has to marry you. So Principal Rose officiated at our wedding.” As you can see, it takes a special person to be a Principal.

            The “Principal for a Day^®” program is one of the ways that Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five reaches out to community members to build relationships and facilitate opportunities for communication about educational issues.   For more information about the Principal for a Day^® program, please contact Bill Clark, Director of Public Relations at (803) 533-7925 or bill.clark@ocsd5.net.