From the time I was in third grade I knew I wanted to be a teacher. Throughout High School and my college years my heart was excited at the prospect of me being a future educator. When I graduated college and found a job while I was still a student teacher it thrilled me to no end. Furthermore, I started working at the elementary school that I went to. My family jokingly called me Mr. Kotter, from that old TV show, “Welcome Back, Kotter.” For the past 13 years, the place that made me love learning, has allowed me to give back to the community, and allow me to reconnect with some of the best educators in the city of Chicago. I am proud to call myself their student, colleague, friend, and extended family member. Alas, it has come the time for me to spread my wings and leave the nest. The best principal I have ever worked for made such an impact on me and told me it was time for me to do more with my career, and by that she told me I need to lead. I have been one of the school’s instructional leaders for a majority of my career and have found my voice and footing to be a coach, mentor, and leader to others. I want to inspire other teachers, like that principal inspired me. I want to serve my community in a different aspect and ensure that I am an honest, respectful, equitable, and kind leader who promotes fairness, consistency, and transparency to all students, staff, parents, and community at large. As a school leader, I plan on improving administration to staff, administration to students, and administration to community relationships. I want to honor these relationships with trust, professionalism, and dignity. I stand by five principles to make ethically and morally sound decisions as a leader. These principles include punctuality, communication, responsibility, leading by example, and fairness.
