Community Leaders Experience Life as a Principal
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. 18, unless other arrangements were made.
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 as instructional leaders, 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 FWCS Family and Community Engagement Center, 230 E. Douglas Ave., where students in the FWCS Career Academy Culinary Arts program will prepare and serve a delicious meal.
“Principal for a Day is a great opportunity for community members to see for themselves what takes place in our schools every day,” Superintendent Dr. Wendy Robinson said. “It is an exciting time to be in education, and the work going on in our classrooms is much different than when these community leaders were in school. We appreciate those who are willing to take the time to see how hard our teachers and support staff are working to provide students the highest quality education.”
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 |
Anne Duff |
Secretary, FWCS Board of School Trustees |
|
Adams |
Rev. Joe Ayers |
Associate Pastor, Greater Mount Ararat Baptist Church |
|
Bill C. Anthis Center |
Curtis Smith |
Director of Community Outreach, Parkview Health |
|
Arlington |
Vernard Hollins |
President/CEO, Always 100 Basketball |
|
Blackhawk |
Kyle Winling |
Traffic Engineer, City of Fort Wayne |
|
Bloomingdale |
Maria Norman |
FWCS Board of School Trustees |
|
Brentwood |
Rep. Phil GiaQuinta |
State Representative-80 |
|
Bunche |
Steve White |
Technology Supervisor, Fort Wayne Community Schools |
|
CAS-Nebraska |
Alice Jordan-Miles* |
Director, Behavioral Health & Family Studies Institute |
|
Croninger |
David Amen |
General Counsel, Fort Wayne Community Schools |
|
Fairfield |
Rafi Nolan-Abrahamian |
Manager of Research & Evaluation, Fort Wayne Community Schools |
|
Forest Park |
Jen McKinney |
Children’s Librarian, Allen County Public Library, Tecumseh Branch |
|
Franke Park |
Kelli Warner |
Construction Engineer, Design Collaborative |
|
Glenwood Park |
Cheri Becker |
Vice President, Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Investor Services & Signature Program |
|
Haley |
Courtney Tritch |
Owner, Courtney Tritch Consulting |
|
Harris |
Tim Smith |
Vice President of Operations and IT, MedPro |
|
Harrison Hill |
Brian Souers |
Vice President/Community Banking District Manager, Wells Fargo |
|
Holland |
Ginny Flora |
Gethsemane Lutheran Church |
|
Indian Village |
Michael McAlexander |
Chief Deputy Allen County Prosecutor |
|
Irwin |
Andrew Brooks II |
Brooks Construction |
|
Jefferson |
Sarah Gnagy |
St. Joseph Township Trustee |
|
Kekionga |
Alexus Tucker |
Special Assistant to Sen. Joe Donnelly |
|
Lakeside |
Jessica Shannon |
CEO, Center for Life Transitions |
|
Lane |
Steve Bercot |
Vice President, Bercot-Gibson Construction Company, Inc. and Bercot, Inc. |
|
Lincoln |
Rev. Stephen Terry |
Senior Pastor, New Life Church of God |
|
Lindley |
Bo Gonzalez |
Owner, Bravas |
|
Maplewood |
Jane DeHaven* |
Summit City Chevrolet |
|
Memorial Park |
Randy Strebig |
President, Strebig Construction, Inc. |
|
Miami |
Paula Autry |
CEO, Lutheran Hospital |
|
New Tech Academy |
Capt. Mitch McKinney |
Director of Community Relations, Fort Wayne Police Department |
|
North Side |
Greg Mohr |
President & CEO, MidWest America Federal Credit Union |
|
Northcrest |
Julie Hollingsworth |
President, FWCS Board of School Trustees |
|
Northrop |
Dr. Wylie Sirk |
Educational Leadership Program Director, Purdue University Fort Wayne |
|
Northwood |
Sen. Andy Zay |
State Senate-17 |
|
Portage |
Chris Darby |
Multimedia Journalist, WANE-TV |
|
Portage |
Melissa Harring |
Director of Video Production, Fort Wayne TinCaps |
|
Portage |
Bryan Stine |
Senior VP of Sales Operations, Fort Wayne Mad Ants |
|
Price |
Evan Hyndman |
Controller/Administrator, Home Nursing Services |
|
Scott |
Ron Howard |
Community Development Manager, Fort Wayne Mad Ants |
|
Shambaugh |
Rev. Bill Campbell |
Life Bridge Church |
|
Shawnee |
Ken Hilliard |
Director of Operations, Shadow for Success |
|
Snider |
Dana Berkes |
Public Affairs Manager, NIPSCO |
|
Snider |
Steve Corona |
Vice President, FWCS Board of School Trustees |
|
South Side |
Marc Levy |
Executive Director, Questa Foundation |
|
South Wayne |
Jordan Lebamoff |
FWCS Board of School Trustees |
|
St. Joseph Central |
Dr. Ronald Elsenbaumer |
Chancellor, Purdue Fort Wayne |
|
Study |
Patti Hays |
CEO, AWS Foundation |
|
Towles |
Howard Skip Balkenbusch |
CEO, Associated Anesthesiologists of Fort Wayne |
|
Washington |
Sean Martin |
Commander, Whitley County Jail |
|
Washington Center |
Jason Holliday |
Lead Pastor, Living Grace Community Church |
|
Wayne |
Jorge Ortiz |
Regional Director, Office of U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly |
|
Waynedale |
Mark Bloom |
Attorney, Beckman Lawson, LLP |
|
Weisser Park |
Mike Gorman |
CEO, 21centuryedtech llc |
|
Whitney Young |
Todd Stewart |
President, One Resource Group |
* Attending on alternative date.