Leader 2 Leader

   By: Adam Lane, Principal, Haines City High School A school is only as strong as its community and a community is only as strong as its school! I want to thank the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC) Four Corners Woman's Club for having me as their guest speaker, but also for their dedication to community improvement, volunteer services, and supporting my high school students in need of clothing, hygiene products, and school supplies.  https://gfwcfourcorners.org There was always a need for basic school supplies on our campus, but the more we got to know our kids, the more we discovered the additional needs they have. The school staff and community clubs came together to make a positive impact. This initiative began by identifying the exact needs and then supplying the resources and materials necessary to meet those needs. It’s all about students first. Your community school must serve as a home away from home and a support system, and part of that commitment is making

   By: Dr. Moira Sweeting-Miller, Assistant Principal, Monarch High School, Broward County    Today, I want to focus on the mental well-being of our youth. When you look at what takes place in schools, we focus on reading fluency and math fluency all to help the students grow up to be productive citizens. But what about mental health fluency? This is a much-needed part of the puzzle and probably the most important part. Since COVID, we have seen a lot of focus on the social and emotional well-being of not only adults but students. Both adults and students experienced the same trauma during the pandemic but as adults we know when we need self-care and know what to do to take care of ourselves. Young adults do not have that awareness and struggle when things are not going well. They find it hard to pinpoint the cause of their angst and thus cannot help themselves through the emotions. This is where mental health fluency comes into play. Mental health fluency involves teaching a child tec

   By: Carla L. Sparks, Ed.D.,   Faculty Lead and Program Director of Educational Leadership Programs at National Louis University’s Florida Regional Center   In my current leadership role, I have spent countless hours during the last two years on the phone and on zoom talking with teacher leaders, assistant principals, principals, principal coaches, school district leaders, charter school administrators, and educational leaders of service provider organizations. These conversations have ranged in emotion from utter despair to gritting teeth until the terror passes, to joy and enthusiasm about leading change. I have had conversations with leaders who are exhausted physically and emotionally and others who are energized and raring to make things happen. Some have cried and they shook their heads while others thrust their arms in the air and laughed. I have wondered about the range of thoughts and emotions among the leaders with whom I work. I have thought to myself: How is this broad ra

  By: Joyce Conley, Assistant Principal, Whispering Oak Elementary School, Orange County   We have spent the past two-plus years focusing on the social and emotional well being of our students and staff. As leaders, we are tasked with the work of providing an environment of a supportive and understanding culture. One that emphasizes collaboration, relationships, high expectations for both staff and students, data driven instruction, and so on and so on.  Let me be frank when I say that all of those tasks are exactly what drives student achievement and makes our staff want to stay. However, all of those initiatives, expectations, and verbs involve action from the leader. We lead by example; we put out what we expect. So if we are expecting our staff and students to be at the epitome of their game with our support, what are we doing to prepare for our monumental task?   What comes to mind is that old saying – you cannot pour from an empty cup. When’s the last time you walked into work fe