A leader builds positive working relationships with members of the school community and local community.
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I'm very proud of the work I did as principal of Palliser's seventeen Hutterite colony schools. Over my six years I established very positive relationships with the German teachers and colony ministers. In 2014 I was approached by teacher Sandra Duncan (Hofman School, New York Colony) and Darcy Tamayosi (Communications Officer, U. of L. Faculty of Education) about doing a feature in the university's Legacy publication. (Sandra and I are both alumni.) Since Hutterite colonies are very private, the success of the project rested on the trusting relationship we had with the colony's leadership. The resulting feature can be linked here.
It's always been my practice when moving from one school to another, to minimize my contact with my previous school. I have not wanted to interfere with whatever new initiatives my successor might undertake. I wanted to be sure I was not a part of any comparisons that might occur - for better or worse. After a few years' absence from my role as colony principal, I sent Christmas cards to some of the German teachers with whom I had worked fairly closely. I was delighted to receive this card in kind at Christmas 2018.
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It was my custom at year's end to celebrate with a brunch for staff at my home. We ate, we laughed, we celebrated milestones. Sometimes it was a retirement, or the successful completion of a "first year", or the birth of a child to a staff member, or some other silly thing we could think of. The cards below indicate that staff members appreciated the time together.