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Fort Wayne Community Schools welcomes 54 community members into our schools to serve as guest principals for the annual Principal for a Day event. Guests representing local businesses, elected officials, service organizations and community groups, will visit their assigned schools the morning of Thursday, Oct. 19.
The guest principals will visit the schools from the beginning of the school day until noon, experiencing what a principal goes through in a day. From welcoming students into a building to dealing with concerned parents to working directly with teachers to improve academic achievement, principals do it all. The guests will see the amount of time principals spend in the classroom, a key component to ensuring each student is educated to high standards.
Following the shadowing experience, the principals and their guests are invited to lunch at the Family and Community Engagement Center, 230 E. Douglas Ave., where students in the FWCS Career Academy Culinary Arts program will serve a delicious meal.
“I always enjoy showing off what is going on in our schools,” Superintendent Wendy Robinson said. “Principal for a Day takes it to an extreme with guests in every single building on the same day. Our guests are often surprised by what they see because schools are so different today than when they attended school. I love hearing the excitement our guests have after spending a morning in our schools; excitement that often turns into new long-term community partnerships.”
The guest principals come from a variety of occupations, leadership positions and organizations in our community. The following is a list of the schools participating and their guest principals:
| SCHOOL | NAME | AFFILIATION |
| Abbett | Dude Walker | K105 Morning show |
| Adams | Kyra Nolan | Student Placement Manager, FWCS |
| FWCS Career Academy | Eric Doden | CEO, Greater Fort Wayne Inc. |
| Arlington | Melissa Beber | Director of Business Advocacy, Greater Fort Wayne Inc. |
| Blackhawk | Carol Helton | Attorney, City of Fort Wayne |
| Bloomingdale | Austin Knox | Chief Deputy Township Trustee, Wayne Township |
| Brentwood | Rena Burden | Chief Development Officer, Turnstone |
| Bunche | Maria Norman | Board Member, FWCS Board of School Trustees |
| Center for Academic Success at Nebraska | Laura Swanson | Vice President of Child & Adult Services, Park Center |
| Croninger | Jacquie Downey | Vice President Business Development, Lifeline Youth and Family Services & Crosswinds Counseling |
| Fairfield | Deb Dolsen | Manager, HR Operations, Fort Wayne Community Schools |
| Forest Park | Tiffany Winling | Owner, Tiffany & Company Studio of Dance |
| Franke Park | Stephanie Veit | Commercial Loan Officer, Three Rivers Federal Credit Union |
| Glenwood Park | Marcia Haaff | Chief Executive Officer, The Lutheran Foundation, Inc. |
| Haley | Dr. Simran Kapur | |
| Harris | Sen. Andy Zay | Indiana State Senator, District 17 |
| Harrison Hill | Jennifer Baran-Prall | Chief, Medical Administration Service at Veteran Affairs (VA) Northern Indiana Health Care System |
| Holland | Michael Nutter | President, Fort Wayne TinCaps |
| Indian Village | Rev. Cheryl Garbe | Pastor, First Wayne Street United Methodist Church |
| Irwin | Jordan Lebamoff | Member, FWCS Board of School Trustees |
| Irwin | Patrick Harris-Fool | Realtor, Century 21 Bradley Realty |
| Jefferson | Justin Swanson | Vice President, Bose Public Affairs Group |
| Kekionga | Jennifer Rohlf | Director of Empowerment, YWCA |
| Lakeside | Brandon Steffen | President and CEO, The Steffen Group |
| Lane | Jeremiah Hatfield | Associate Architect, Design Collaborative |
| Lincoln | Theresa White | Director of Development and Communications, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Indiana |
| Lindley | Sen. Liz Brown | Indiana State Senator, District 15 |
| Maplewood | Bernard Pollard* | NFL player for 9 seasons |
| Memorial Park | Wendy Stein | Co-Owner, Stein Ad Promos |
| Miami | Michael Packnett | President & CEO, Parkview Health |
| New Tech | Monty Richmond | Director of Human Resources & Safety, Brooks Construction |
| New Tech | Jeff Austin | Project Superintendent, Brooks Construction |
| North Side | Rachel Blakeman | Director of Community Research Institute, IPFW |
| Northcrest | Amos Norman | Executive Director, Renaissance Point YMCA |
| Northrop | Dick Conklin | Fort Wayne Sister Cities International, Inc. |
| Northwood | Anne Duff | Secretary, FWCS Board of School Trustees |
| Portage | Jayson Maples | Founder, Heroes and Legends Wrestling |
| Portage | Steve Wilson (Kongo Kong) | Professional Wrestler, Impact Wrestling |
| Price | Lisa Hollister | Director, Trauma & Acute Care Surgery, Parkview |
| Scott | Terra Brantley | Anchor, WANE TV |
| Shambaugh | Michelle Merritt | President & CEO, Merrfeld Career Management |
| Shawnee | Sam Schwartz | Co-founder, Eagle Marsh |
| Snider | Christophe Dessaigne | Senior Executive Manager of the Non-Profit Portfolio, Ambassador Group |
| South Side | Jason Barnes | Scout, Seattle Seahawks |
| South Wayne | Phillip Colglazier | Executive/Artistic Director, Fort Wayne Civic Theatre |
| St. Joseph Central | John Caywood | Allen County Building Commissioner |
| Study | Nikki Sprunger | Special Education Director, Fort Wayne Community Schools |
| Towles Intermediate | Barrie Peterson | Anthony Wayne Rotary |
| Washington | Magistrate Lori Morgan | Allen County Superior Court |
| Washington Center | Joel Pierce | General Manager and Chief Flight Instructor, Sweet Aviation LLC |
| Wayne | Greg Mohr | President/CEO, MidWest America Federal Credit Union |
| Waynedale | Julie Hollingsworth | President, FWCS Board of School Trustees |
| Weisser Park | Phil Henry | CEO, Paragon Tube Corporation and Midwest Scrap, LLC |
| Whitney Young | Dan Swartz | Founder, Wunderkammer Company |
* Visited on Tuesday, Oct. 17.