Name: Thomas Argersinger

Title: Head of School

Organisation: Community Christian School

Thomas Argersinger is an educational leader and designer with over 40 years of experience in urban, suburban and rural K-12 schools. He specializes in building and shepherding mission ready teams, discerning and communicating truth about worldviews and culture, and uniting people on mission through casting a compelling strategic vision and building durable relationships.

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

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

Cheers,

Jonno White

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

I would say that the most challenging aspect of being an educational leader in the 21st century is shepherding the often widely divergent viewpoints of various stakeholder groups so that a unified way forward may be found. The oft-discussed shifting in cultural narratives over the last decade has made finding common ground more elusive, even within stakeholder groups who generally share similar perspectives.

This can have an internal effect, as leaders strive to build resilient and mission ready teams, and externally as they work to honor differing viewpoints while staying true to the mission and vision of the school.

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

I began my educational journey over 40 years ago as a music and theatre teacher after growing up in a lower middle class family in New York. I was the first person in my family to attend college, and I was financially able to do that only because of the death of my father due to a military service-related condition.

God clearly had a plan, for over the years I came into contact with some amazing mentors who saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself (Bill Boykin, my Principal at Auburndale (FL) High School; Robert MacDonald at Florida Southern College; Robert Glidden at Florida State University).

My ability to contribute in areas of strategic vision and management of people were noted over the years, and this resulted in opportunities to lead departments and eventually divisions of schools. In 1993 I was blessed with the opportunity to begin my career as a Head of School, and I continue in that capacity today.

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

6:30 I try to rise without an alarm. I shower and get dressed, having laid out my clothes the night before. I spend time reading and meditating on the Bible and praying for a variety of people and for divine appointments that day. I practice intermittent fasting, so I don’t eat until about 10:00am.

My work day runs from 7:45am - 5:00 or 6:00pm, depending on the day. The sequence of my days vary somewhat, but in general they look like this: 7:45 Staff Prayer 8:00 Interact with stakeholders 8:25 Stand-up brief with my Executive Assistant 8:30 Work Bloc 1; Meetings with direct reports, parents and faculty 10:00 Break (I generally use a modified Pomodoro technique for organizing my work in 1.5 hour segments followed by a 5 minute break) 10:05 Work Bloc 2: Usually emails & calls (which I batch together twice a day as much as possible) and senior level meetings 12:00 Healthy prepped lunch + Professional development reading (I also make sure to move throughout the day, and work at a standing desk about 50% of the time.

12:30 Work Bloc 3 & 4: varies, but usually includes writing weekly articles for local publications, recording podcasts, and writing policy & process documents along with strategic visioning. 2:45 I usually spend time at student pickup to greet parents and kids and dialogue with the teachers on duty 3:15 I usually shift to another gear, working on projects that require uninterrupted focus or preparing for evening meetings and events ~5:00 I work out at a local gym or at home (I do this about 5 days a week) 6:30 Dinner and family time.

I am intentional most days about leaving work at work, but this is a challenge due to the emotional nature of school work, especially if you deeply care about your people and their challenges. To cope with this I spend focused time in prayer, play the piano, and sometimes talk with trusted friends and family. 10:00 I prepare for bed: lay out clothes, turn off screens, lay out lunch for the next day, engage in the spiritual practice of Examen and do some mobility exercises. 11:00 Lights out (when things are working smoothly!)

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

I am reminded every day that helping the people around you grow is the central function of mission ready leadership. In order to do that sustainably I am realizing that more and more that I need lots of help, from God, mentors, coaches and talented peers.

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?

Other than the Bible, I would say that “An Education for Our Time” by Josiah Bunting has had the most profound impact on my journey. In this beautifully written book, Gen. Bunting (Ret.) tells the story of a fictitious college launching in the Midwest with some unusual practices, values and goals that really resonated with me and my “out of the box” thinking about education.

It deeply inspired me as I was leading a talented team of educators to launch a unique new high school in 2006 (Community Christian High School in Tallahassee, FL). Also very formative for me was and is research from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, centered on new and more effective ways to do school.

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?

Don’t sacrifice your family or your own health on the altar of work. There will always be another meeting, another donor, another crisis that you are called to deal with. What is eternal is what will remain — your relationships with family and friends and with the God who gifted you to be a leader to begin with.

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

Back in the day I was teaching a class of young high schoolers, and there was one student with whom I could never seem to connect. He was withdrawn and uncooperative, and was a real challenge from Day 1 to the end of that school year. On the last day of a school, he had forgotten (again) to bring a required book to class.

I walked over to his desk and loaned him mine. He looked up at me and said, “I’ve been listening to you talk all year about how to live and how to treat people, and I never believed you until today. You shared your book with me, and now I know that you care.”

I will never forget that moment, for it taught me that all of the technique, knowledge and best practices in the world will have little effect if the people around you don’t believe you care about them and have their best interests in mind. And I continue to strive every day, even on my worst days, to live up to what that young man saw in me that day, to the greater glory of God.