Name: Clint Smith

Title: Principal

Organisation: Provo City School District

BS in Multidisciplinary Studies, with a Minor in Elementary Education and Second Language Acquisition from Eastern Oregon University, LaGrande, Oregon, USA MAed. in School Administration from University of Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona, USA Eight years teaching grades Kindergarten (3); 1st (1); 2nd(2), 3rd (1), and 5th (1) Three years working as university supervisor of Elementary Education students completing their student teaching and internships at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA Seventeen years as Assistant Principal (2) and Principal of Elementary, K-8 schools (15) in Arizona and Utah, USA Speak, read, and write in English and Spanish

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Educational Leadership!

I hope Clint's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as an Educational Leader?

The challenges have changed over the course of my career, depending on where I worked, whether it was in a rural or inner-city setting. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, the challenge for me as an educational leader had to do with poverty and how to get families engaged in the educational process with their students. Working in rural settings was challenging because families were at times, just trying to get by and sometimes I felt like the home lives of students were holding them back due to lack of support at home. The same issues were present in the inner-city; poverty, crime, and drugs were prevalent and how to keep students engaged in their learning was difficult because of the issues previously named. In the inner-city, there were more students who had a hard time accessing the curriculum because of a lack of English language skills and dealing with understanding academic language. Currently, there are far more resources available to help with 2nd language acquisition than in the 1990s and early 2000s. There was an idea in some school districts where I worked that the sink or swim approach to language acquisition was the way to get students to learn English. Obviously, immersing students in a 2nd language is a good idea, but we needed to support them with tested academic programs that focuses, not on only learning English, but learning English in the academic setting. While these same challenges exist today, with the explosion of technology; phones, computers, smart watches, etc., it is hard to compete and hold students' attention in the academic setting. Every student has a phone, hooked to the internet, with every imaginable social media platform available for access with a touch of the screen. AI has become a real challenge with many students using it, not as a support tool, but as a means to speed through assignments without putting human thought into their completed projects. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I have seen a greater issue with students who have anxiety and depressive issues, with students often lacking grit, determination, and self-reflection. Unfortunately, students are missing school in greater numbers and students and parents are communicating constantly on their phones or smart watches, often during class, which distracts them from learning. The district I am currently in has adopted policy that makes it a rules violation to have phones or smart watches in operational mode during class. It is a new policy and there is pushback with it, but the district is holding firm and hopefully, this will affect classroom engagement to a high extent.

2. How did you become an Educational Leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

My wife started teaching in 1988 in California. She would always drag me into her classroom to help arrange furniture, put up bulletin boards, grade papers. After about six years of this, with my career going nowhere, I decided to go back to school to become a teacher. I finished my undergraduate degree in three years and began teaching Kindergarten in Milton-Freewater , Oregon, USA. I fell in love with the young students, who were mostly migrant students with little or no English language skills.. This was actually a district that had a dual language program. I taught these little students in English one day, the next day in Spanish. It was amazing to see these young students grow in their excitement for learning. To get to work, I had to travel a mountain pass, 45 miles each way. Unfortunately, it was a tiring and dangerous route wherein winter and icy roads existed from October through end of May each year. When an opening came in my hometown, I decided to take a job offer there. I taught two years there and in the meantime, my sister-in-law got her Masters Degree in a wonderful program in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. I decided I wanted to start my Masters in Educational Leadership in the same program and so we packed up and left for Phoenix. I taught three years there and the last two years, I entered the Educational Leadership Masters program, finishing in just under two years. I did my internship in a fast growing school district in Buckeye, Arizona, USA and when finished, the district hired me as an Assistant Principal and after two years, I moved into the Principalship. Seventeen years later, here I am, nearing the end of my career, with one or two years left.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

My work day begins with me waking up at 6:45 each morning and being at my office, usually by 7:30 latest. I am the principal over an online school and with that, my days are not nearly as hectic as an in-person school principal. My days vary as I have additional district office duties not related to my online school position. I am my district's Data Privacy Coordinator, which includes gathering Data Privacy Agreements with educational apps and websites so that the district and its educators are compliant with FERPA, COPPA, PPRA, and UFERPA- all state and Federal Privacy laws. I also write policy for the district and am the main Title IX Investigator. So, my days are not always structured clearly as things come up that need my attention. However, most of my time (currently) is planned around my online school and the varied needs of parents, students, and employees I work with. I have a very cohesive and adept team of office staff and teachers I work with and duties are shared across the staff. After working in my role(s), I take my 20 minute commute back home, often exercising when I get home, eating dinner, studying scriptures with my wife, and watching tv- generally news for the day. Then I usually retire by 9:00 p.m.

4. What's a recent lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of as an Educational Leader?

I have learned recently (since 2001) that we as humans are fragile and how to deal with students in today's climate is a great challenge. In today's climate, the consensus is that students have become more difficult in managing because of the extremely high incidences of anxiety, depression, and tech interference in their lives. It is almost, at times, like we are now living in an alternate universe, where sometimes it is hard to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Obviously, I cannot do my work as a principal the same as when I started my career 28 years ago. There is a need to be more tactful, less rigid, and be a better listener to the deepness of the issues facing students and their families. I have learned that programs are a dime a dozen and that we as educators are often willing to adopt the newest and latest program to try and "fix" students who are struggling. The turnover in curriculum and other programs is so frequent- like we are panicking when a program does not "fix" a student within a couple of years after implementation. Every school now has a pantry of food, clothes, and other necessities to give to students and families because of societal struggles. In a way, we have become counselors, doctors, nurses, grocery and clothing stores, etc. People in our society are hurting deeply, and this requires a different, softer, and more compassionate approach to educating students and their families.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your journey as an Educational Leader so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted you?

"How's the Culture in Your Kingdom" We are studying this books as a district administrative team and it has had an impact on my thinking. I think it has had an impact on me because it focuses on us, as individual leaders and how to take care of ourselves and those we have stewardship over in the educational system. It is a practical guide for leaders, modeling ideas from leaders in the Magic Kingdom of Disney who have experience of success in their positions working with their employees at their respective locations throughout the world. It is a nice, simple read with practical advice that I can apply to my craft, today.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young educator who aspires to be an Educational Leader, what would you say to them?

If you are going into Educational Leadership, know that you are going into a whole new world, one that does not stand still, but is ever-evolving. Know that communication skills are of utmost importance- you do not always have to be right. Learn to listen before you speak, especially when a student or their parents/guardians are upset about something, or if you have a teacher who needs to vent. Have compassion and do not be rigid, black or white, and monitor your tone when speaking to or responding to your stakeholders.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as an Educational Leader, so far?

In 2014, I was the Principal of an elementary school, a school of approximately 550 students. It was in November and I was out on medical leave for a serious surgery. I got an unexpected phone call of urgency by district office staff, informing me that one of my 5th grade students had committed suicide earlier in the morning. I remember the darkness that set in over me, my staff, and our school. I readied myself, even though I was still recovering from surgery, and I went to my school and was met by a host of district office staff, counselors, and other personnel. The mood was of course, very somber- shock ran through our school community with grief at its highest level. Up to this time, I did not know who the student was that committed suicide and when I was told, another shockwave went through me of unbelief and angst. The student was a beautiful, fun-loving, and bright child. I could not believe that this student was gone. The student would have been one of the last I would have thought of because of the lack of evidence that they were suffering to a point of taking their own life. The funeral was held about a week later and I was able to attend with several of my staff and a host of family, friends, and community members. The grief was palpable. However, I was able to support the family and my staff with a compassion that helped the healing process begin. The mother stayed in contact with me for several years after this tragic event, even though I would move onto to another position in my district, because she trusted me and felt I was a positive influence in her daughter's life, and in hers. I was not a hero, but I was able to, as an educational leader, support a grieving family, staff, and community with compassion and understanding. To this day, over a decade later, I still remember that student, their face, their personality, and reflect on how I was able to support their family and the teachers and staff that loved and missed her. so much