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Louisiana Principals' Office
Molly Stadalis
MOLLY STADALIS
Patterson Junior High School
680 students in Grades 4 thru 8
St. Mary Parish, Patterson
Teaching Experience and years in Administrative position:
Taught at M.D. Shannon and then at Patterson Junior High
for a total of 6 ˝ years. I have been a principal for a year.
What is the major education issue facing you this school year?
PJHS is a large school with a rather unique set up. We
house grades 4 - 8, and the school has basically run as two. Traditionally,
the 4th and 5th grades have been treated as an elementary school, and the remainder
of the grades are on a 4 X 4 block format. We are working hard this next year
to restructure with a middle school attitude. When we receive the kids at the
4th grade level, we are not seeing much growth from August until testing. Our
scores reflect this frustrating fact. The school improvement plan that we have
worked hard on and that we will adopt this past year focuses on providing for
departmentalization at the elementary grades, teacher collaboration, parental
involvement, tutoring, and higher order thinking skills. Like many schools in
Louisiana, our biggest issue that we must address is the constant improvement
of our teaching and learning. I recently read an article that said that schools
improve only by focusing on what is taught and how it is taught. Period.
What traits do you look for in teachers?
We all inherit a group of teachers, you know, when we accept
a principalship. I know and accept this, and I know that I can enhance the vision
of my school by focusing on the quality of the new hires. I look for teachers
who are electric. Have you ever walked into a classroom to see sparks of interest
fly around the room? Whew! I need to be able to hire honest and fair people
who truly believe that all children can learn. I look for dedication and concern
in the people that I hire. All must be willing to take risks and adapt teaching
methods if necessary, and all must be believers in Louisiana's accountability
system.
Who is your role model?
As I stop to think about this question, I have to honestly
say that I do not have a single role model. There are traits in many people
I know that I really admire. For instance, I admire my former principal because
he always seemed to know how to keep his cool with every parent and teacher
he dealt with...no matter how crazy, irate, or unprofessional the other one
was being. I admire my mom and dad, because no matter what is thrown their way
(kids dropping out of school, kids moving back home, or kids having babies),
they still keep going. I appreciate the kindness of my bookkeeper that practically
adopted me this past year and was able to sense when I needed lunch, a funny
story, or a quiet moment with my door closed. One of my teachers, who is full
of cancer, came to school with a smile on her face whether she felt like it
or not. Wow. These are a few of the people who inspire me on a daily basis.
I often think that if they can be so calm, collected, kind, and dedicated, then
I can too….maybe.
What do you do to relieve stress?
I had to laugh at this question, because many of my teachers
say that I must thrive on stress. I live and breathe it, for sure. Since my
husband is a principal also, much of our time during the school year is spent
at this activity or that ballgame. I really enjoy unwinding by getting on the
floor to play with my daughter, Kathryn, who just turned one. I also like listening
to my son's (Evan is 4) never-ending tales about red fishing and Spiderman.
One of my stress busters this past year was riding to and from school each day
with my 10-year-old daughter, Hannah. She and I spent many hours contemplating
which boy was cutest or which teacher was the nicest. By the time we would reach
the house, many times I had laughed away my worries as I listened to her rant
and gush about life in the 4th grade.
What qualities are necessary to be an effective leader?
Effective leaders are people that are willing to take risks,
accept responsibility, and set a good example for others. True leaders make
everyone on the team feel valued. Leaders inspire others to do their best. Leaders
lead.
A quote about leaders that I recently found and like…
"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds
against them." By Robert Jarvik, inventor of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart.
What makes your job worthwhile?
The following are just a few examples of why my job is the
best one around:
1) For days, Stephen, a fifth grader, carried around a certificate I presented to him at
an end-of-the-year awards ceremony and showed everyone who would look at his
very first award.
2) Joshua, a 17-year-old eighth grader, chose to let me help to get him into the Option 3
program instead of dropping out of school. He is doing well and is learning
a trade while studying for his GED.
3) Mr. T., one of my teachers, sent me an email just to tell me that he was lucky to teach
at Patterson Junior because he worked for someone who was dedicated and thought
of the children first.
4) Many days, I am awake BEFORE the alarm anxious to get to work.
5) Blake, an 8th grader, made the decision to come back to school to finish out the year
after his mother died (His father figure died 2 years earlier). Blake has been
in and out of trouble with the law and has run out of chances with many people.
I fought to keep him in school when his probation officer was ready to see him
carted off. He stopped by my office the other day after spending a day in summer
school to tell me what he just wanted to come see me. He sat in my office without
saying a word for a long time, got up to leave, and said, "Ok, I feel better
now. See ya." These are a few of my favorite reasons to come to work as a principal
each day. Even though I'd been handed things in this first year as principal
that many principals have not seen in their entire career (Email me. I'll share
the horror stories too. Haha), I still think I've got a good gig.
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