EDUCATORS RELY ON TEAMWORK; APOLLO LEADERS IN SYNC TO SHAPE STUDENTS' LIVES.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

It takes a while for a new team to gel in such a way that every move is anticipated and everyone moves as one toward a common goal.

But in just a few weeks, the new administrative team at Apollo Continuation High School, Principal Nidia Grijalva-Imbler and Assistant Principal Mel Vines, has fallen into a working relationship that could have taken years to cultivate.

Although they are physical opposites she stands a foot shorter than he and bring different life experiences to their jobs, Grijalva-Imbler and Vines are alike in so many ways.

``He has an easygoing personality, soft-spoken and is a calming presence,'' said Grijalva-Imbler, who comes across exactly that way herself.

``He's able to discipline our kids without being overbearing,'' she added. ``He listens to the kids. And he has high behavioral expectations for our kids, just like all of us do. That's a philosophy I shared for the kids.''

Of his new boss, Vines said she is the reason he believes he has been able to ease into the position since he replaced her in the assistant principal's office in October.

``The relationship I have here is that of a team,'' said Vines, 45. ``But what heads the team is Nidia and her innate ability to relate to people in various situations. In that way it's made it a very comfortable and rewarding place to work.''

Some of the synergy the two have may be explained by the fact their two career paths in education have converged more than once although they'd never met until Vines interviewed last summer.

They both held the dean of students job at Wilson Middle School in Pasadena, though several years apart. And they both left that position for the assistant principal's chair at Apollo.

``I knew there was some type of connection between the school and myself; I just couldn't pinpoint it,'' Vines said, describing a feeling he had in his job interview before the coincidence was revealed.

Grijalva-Imbler, also 45, said the only thing she misses about the assistant principal's job is that Vines now gets to meet the new students before she does.

But that doesn't mean she's given up being the head of her school's welcoming committee, accompanying new students to their classes and introducing them to teachers.

For that, Apollo students give her the ultimate teen compliment. To them, they say, ``She's dope.''

Katie McCammond, 17, a second-year Apollo student, said Grijalva-Imbler and Vines are more like friends than administrators to her and most of her fellow students.

She said the two make it a practice to chat when they meet students in the halls, to ask about their lives and to remember the small things that students have told them.

``It's easier to talk to them when you have problems,'' Katie said. ``You can ask them for help and not worry about what they're going to say. They're not going to judge you.''

Because most of the students who transfer to Apollo have had discipline problems or bad grades at traditional high schools, the teachers and administrators have to be innovative in their teaching methods, they said.

The school enrolls 350 students, grades 9 through 12, who are working to earn high school diplomas.

``Our kids are really verbal,'' said Grijalva-Imbler, a native of Mexico. ``They're usually very free thinkers. And rather than try to stifle their creativity, we try to channel that in a productive way. Instead of trying to keep them quiet, where nobody wins, we try to engage them into what we're doing. They have the chance to express themselves. They have a chance to be heard.''

Grijalva-Imbler and Vines both said the key to connecting with the students is to develop a personal relationship with each of them something they and all the school's faculty and staff try to do.

One of Vines' first acts as assistant principal was to find a yearbook so he could start matching faces with names.

He also implemented a new mentoring program, called ``Raising the Foundation,'' that pairs teachers with students who are having an especially difficult time in school.

Vines said so far 15 of the school's 18 teachers have signed up to take on that responsibility. He said it is important for the students to receive the personal attention because it shows someone cares how they are doing.

``I want them to get excited about getting to school, getting to the next class,'' Vines said. ``Because with excitement, everything else falls into place.''

He said the secret to his success with the teens is his ability to put himself in their shoes. He said if a student comes to him with issues related to living in a one-parent household or a death in the family, he can understand because he's experienced it himself.

Apollo students cited that empathy as one reason they consider him a friend.

``He's had a pretty rough background, and I have, too, so I guess that's what it is,'' said Kyle McClure, 16. ``And he has a sense of humor. Not a dry sense of humor like most adults. He's funny.'' Similarly, Grijalva-Imbler said her background as a dean to 1,200 students in Pasadena showed her she was meant to be at a small school like Apollo.

``I had always felt when I was the most effective in changing student behavior was when I was able to form a relationship with that student,'' she said. ``It used to be a little frustrating to me at times I didn't have the time to give that personal attention to each one of those kids.''

``As I started researching schools and tried to decide where my life should go, I chose a continuation school because I felt this is where I could be most effective,'' she added.

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PHOTO Principal Nidia Grijalva-Imbler and Assistant Principal Mel Vines work well together as Apollo Continuation High's new administrative team. The Simi Valley school enrolls 350 students in grades 9 through 12.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News