Create your own Aspiring Administrators Symposium: here are eight quick and easy steps to setting up a grow your own administrator program to help your district fill open positions with qualified administrators.In September, our high school principal informed us that she was leaving to assume new job responsibilities at the county office. Cabinet members had been hearing through informal sources that she was considering a possible career change, but we refused to believe that one of our premier administrators would leave the high school for a district office support role. Nevertheless, we had less than one month to find a new principal. The administrative team at the high school consisted of six newly hired assistant principals, and promoting one of them to such a rigorous assignment didn't feel right. So we did what every district does: We posted the job on EdJoin, took out an ad in EdCal, and crossed our fingers! One month later we had five applicants; three were immediately dismissed due to lack of experience, and two were in-house candidates. It became apparent to us that we needed to fill this position with an interim principal until we could find a qualified candidate. We quickly realized that we were experiencing a larger problem--the lack of qualified people wanting to become school administrators. I had the knowledge and expertise to launch a "grow your own" administrator program from attending several ACSA ACSA Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture ACSA Association of California School Administrators ACSA Airports Company South Africa ACSA Apple Certified System Administrator ACSA Australian Curriculum Studies Association and CSBA CSBA California School Boards Association CSBA Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments CSBA Canadian School Boards Association CSBA California Small Business Association CSBA Canadian Swedish Business Association CSBA Customer Service Benchmarking Australia workshops that detailed program specifics. What [ didn't have, however, was the time or the manpower to set such a program in motion. A quick and easy format What follows is a highly successful, quick and easy format used to create an Aspiring as·pire intr.v. as·pired, as·pir·ing, as·pires 1. To have a great ambition or ultimate goal; desire strongly: aspired to stardom. 2. Administrators Symposium symposium In ancient Greece, an aristocratic banquet at which men met to discuss philosophical and political issues and recite poetry. It began as a warrior feast. Rooms were designed specifically for the proceedings. in our school district. Eight quick steps are offered to facilitate a start-up program that doesn't demand an incredible amount of time, and doesn't bury Bury (bĕ`rē), city (1991 pop. 60,785) and metropolitan district, NE England, located in the Manchester metropolitan area on the Irwell River and linked by canal with Bolton and Manchester. staff in paperwork or become bogged down with tons of minutia mi·nu·ti·a n. pl. mi·nu·ti·ae A small or trivial detail: "the minutiae of experimental and mathematical procedure" Frederick Turner. that cause overworked staff to wonder what possessed them to implement another new program in the first place. It doesn't have to be complicated. 1 Invite cabinet members and directors to conduct two-hour workshops related to their specialties. Ask each of them to develop and present an overview of their area of expertise as it relates to administration and leadership. Encourage them to make the event fun, hands-on, and presentable pre·sent·a·ble adj. 1. That can be given, displayed, or offered: presentable gifts; presentable attire. 2. Fit for introduction to others: presentable relatives. to those still in the teaching ranks. Give them a date and time. Our district's cabinet members were enthusiastic about presenting in their areas, and each member delivered an extremely professional and informative session. The following strands worked well for our administrative team: leadership, curriculum and instruction, personnel, finance, operations, organization/change/ conflict, and technology/assessment. 2 Write and send out a letter to all teaching and support staff inviting them to participate in this exciting opportunity. Don't get bogged down by setting rigorous selection criteria (permission from principal or enrollment in administration programs). Allow anyone who wants to participate to do so. Pick one day a month after school and let people know up front what the program expectations are. Excerpts from the letter we sent to all certificated teaching staff from the superintendent include: "... Have you ever wondered what the job of a school principal entails? For that matter, have you ever contemplated the idea of extending your leadership abilities beyond the classroom arena to become a school administrator? If for a second you've entertained en·ter·tain v. en·ter·tained, en·ter·tain·ing, en·ter·tains v.tr. 1. To hold the attention of with something amusing or diverting. See Synonyms at amuse. 2. these thoughts, please take a moment to consider an exciting opportunity. "Our district will be hosting an Aspiring Administrators Symposium. The purpose of this symposium will be threefold: "1. To develop a vehicle to 'grow our own' administrators; "2. To provide overview training to encourage prospective administrators; and "3. To create a place where we can get to know you better on a professional level. "Please take a moment to consider joining this exciting new leadership symposium. Whether you already possess an administrative credential credential verb To determine or verify titles, qualifications, documents, completion of required training, and continuing education, in those persons who function in a professional or official capacity–eg, ER physician, neurosurgeon, etc. Cf Credentials. , are considering the possibility of joining a program, or just want to know more about school administration, give this some consideration. If you are interested in becoming a participant, please forward your intent to register by e-mail. As soon as we have the names of interested teachers, we'll send out more information." 3 Inform the participants that they have been accepted. In our district of more 700 teachers, 75 expressed their desire to attend the symposium. The following letter was sent out: Dear Aspiring Administrator Participant, Congratulations to saying "yes" to joining the Aspiring Administrators Symposium. More than 75 people have expressed an interest in attending, this new venue to learn more about becoming educational leaders in our district. Again, thanks for taking that first step to learning more about school administration. Leadership strands will be presented by district and site leadership from 3:30-5:30. Our intent is for these sessions to provide an overview of the different themes that school administrators interact with on a daily basis. The first session will cover leadership. To better prepare you for this session, I am enclosing en·close also in·close tr.v. en·closed, en·clos·ing, en·clos·es 1. To surround on all sides; close in. 2. To fence in so as to prevent common use: enclosed the pasture. , one of my favorite My Favorite is an independent synthpop band from Long Island, New York. They released two CDs: Love at Absolute Zero and Happiest Days of Our Lives. My Favorite broke up on September 14, 2005, when singer Andrea Vaughn left the band. articles written by Roland Barth, entitled en·ti·tle tr.v. en·ti·tled, en·ti·tling, en·ti·tles 1. To give a name or title to. 2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: , "A Personal Vision of a Good School." During, the first session, you will be presented with the following: * An overview of the symposium * A notebook for you to hold any handouts received during the sessions * Inspiring stories from some of four school administrators currently in the ranks Our team is looking forward to getting to know you over the next few months. 4 Convene CONVENE, civil law. This is a technical term, signifying to bring an action. each session and persuade district office staff to attend. Encourage them to get acquainted with some of these aspiring administrators throughout the year. Our district held eight sessions, and the majority of district office administrators attended. 5 Borrow an evaluation form from your BTSA BTSA Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment BTSA Bonus to Selling Agent BTSA Benziger Thinking Styles Assessment BTSA Seaman Apprentice, Boiler Technician Striker (USN Rating) program and ask program participants to rate each session. Share the evaluation forms with presenters. All evaluations will be highly positive because each presenter will have worked incredibly hard to deliver a high caliber session, especially with their colleagues in attendance (see step No. 4). All eight sessions of our Aspiring Administrators Symposium were rated positively by participants and the following comments were generated: "The mock interview A mock interview is videotaped interview, and one of the very best ways to prepare for a real life employment interview. It allows you to gain experience and practice in answering questions which you are likely to be asked by the recruiter. was the best session so far." "Real answers to real questions." "Even if I decide not to become an administrator, I now have a feeling for some of the things my principal goes through." "This is better than my admin. classes." "I learned a lot from the discussion of where money comes from and how to get it." 6 During one of the sessions, stand up and promise to interview and hopefully hire some of these "aspiring administrators." While our district didn't have any openings at the time, two of our aspiring administrators applied for summer school administrative positions and one was promoted to summer school vice principal. 7 Hold a mini graduation Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the associated ceremony. The date of event is often called degree day. The event itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation. with food and certificates, with board members and principals in attendance. After eight sessions we really got to know some of these individuals on a professional level. This forum was an excellent venue for those wanting to network and meet district office staff in an informal arena. As the superintendent, I made it a priority to attend each session. As a result of my participation, I can personally name five or six candidates who I want to get to know better, and will seek them out this year and encourage them to gain leadership experience at their schools. 8 Keep this program going for a second year. Now that our district has a large number of "aspiring administrators," we are eager to enhance our program. Initial program planning efforts did not have to be complicated. I can't say with any degree of confidence that year-two planning will be as easy, but we are unquestionably un·ques·tion·a·ble adj. Beyond question or doubt. See Synonyms at authentic. un·ques  tion·a·bil motivated mo·ti·vate tr.v. mo·ti·vat·ed, mo·ti·vat·ing, mo·ti·vates To provide with an incentive; move to action; impel. mo to deliver an exciting and valuable second year. Plans are in progress to add more in-depth sessions, as well as supporting job shadowing opportunities for participants in the fall. Marilou Ryder is superintendent of Central Unified School district The Central Unified School District is a school district that is in Fresno County, California. List of schools Here is a list of all the schools in the Central Unified School District: Elementary schools
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