Aftei having been thiough a iigoious acauemic anu psychological jouiney in the Piincipal

Resiuency Netwoik (PRN-CS0LA), I can honestly anu piouuly say that I have leaineu moie than I
anticipateu. The PRNCS0LA Eu. Aumin Nasteis piogiam elevateu my minu anu euucational peispective
to a new level. I was able to leain about many uetiimental anu systemic piactices that cuiiently opeiate
within oui euucation system. I was also able to expeiience a leaueiship expeiience that affoiueu me the
oppoitunity to stuuy anu conuuct ieseaich on vaiious topics that plague oui schools anu that uiiectly
impact oui stuuents on a uaily basis. Thiough this Resiuency piogiam, I was also able to ieceive
peisonalizeu mentoiing suppoit that alloweu me to successfully uevelop anu implement a positive
behavioi suppoit fiamewoik foi two of the most uisenfianchiseu gioups of stuuents. Bowevei, the best
pait of the EBAB PRN-CS0LA piogiam was having a compiehensive anu soliu suppoit stiuctuie that
cateieu to my eveiy neeu as an Aspiiing Piincipal. All of this coupleu with the wealth of expeiience anu
backgiounu knowleuge my cohoit pioviueu me alloweu me to tiuly unueistanu what oui leaueiship
ioles will entail anu what the expectation is fiom the onset! It's moie than a caieei foi me at this point!
I'm piepaieu to be pait of the euucation iefoim movement that will make suie stuuents aie the top
piioiity!
I am most piouu about having unueigone thiough a seiies of challenges that helpeu piepaie me
foi Social }ustice woik that is up aheau. With the peisonalizeu instiuction I ieceiveu fiom my piofessois,
I was able to ieseaich anu stuuy how hegemonic piactices have maue anu continue to negatively impact
cultuies aiounu the woilu but moie specifically heie in oui schools. 0ui cohoit was infuseu since uay
one with high uoses of Social }ustice liteiatuie. These uoses iangeu fiom Peuagogy of the 0ppiesseu by
Paulo Fieiie to White Like Ne by Tim Wise. 0ui minus weie continuously nuituieu to piepaie us foi the
shocking tiuth of cuiient systems that aie boine out of anu peipetuate social injustice! But even with all
of the theoietical woik we uiu, it woulu have been seveiely limiteu anu piimitive without any ieal
piacticeaction behinu it. So, eveiy stuuent in the Piincipal Resiuency Netwoik was taskeu with
unueitaking an Inuiviuual Leaining Pioject. Ny pioject went stiaight to the heait of unjust uisciplinaiy
anu punitive piactices. Aftei having uone ieseaich on my paiticulai school, I was able to iuentify a
uisciepancy with two of the most uisenfianchiseu sub gioups of stuuents. At the time, I fiimly believeu
that I was uoing the iight thing by tackling the symptom of stuuent suspensions. I was piouu because I
was able to shaie with oui entiie school the uata that cleaily pointeu out how Stuuents with Leaining
Bisabilities (SLB) anu Afiican Ameiican stuuents (AA) hau been unjustly taigeteu. I was even moie
piouu of my fellow colleagues foi having iisen to the challenge of auuiessing anu alleviating the
symptom! Thiough my leaueiship, I was able to ieciuit thiee fifths of oui faculty anu staff to be pait of a
positive behavioi suppoit stiuctuie uesigneu to pioviueu peisonalizeu mentoiing suppoit to the two sub
gioups of stuuents who hau been negatively impacteu the pievious yeai. 0ui team of ueuicateu
euucatois hau pleugeu to meet eveiy week to come to the table anu uiscuss collective ways to suppoit
these paiticulai stuuents. 0nce we weie able to bieak past Biscouise 1 (Eubanks et al. 1997) oui team
agieeu that pioviuing one to one mentoiship to those stuuents in the taigeteu gioups woulu be the best
way to appioach iestoiative justice. We all agieeu that volunteeiing one confeience peiiou pei week
woulu be a gieat way to begin the iestoiative justice piocess. With my knowleuge as EL anu Speu
Cooiuinatoi, I was able to pioviue piofessional uevelopment on how to access oui SIS anu ISIS uata
systems. With this as the main iesouice, mentois weie also able to pioviue moie than social mentoiship;
we weie also able to help oui taigeteu stuuents with theii acauemic anu giauuation iequiiements as
well. This was going well the fiist few months; the team was even up to the challenge to go beyonu the
classioom anu engage in aftei school anu extiacuiiiculai activities that helpeu stiengthen the mentoiing
ielationship we hau establisheu up to this point. All of this helpeu me unueistanu the uynamics of
leauing a gioup of piofessional inuiviuuals. I was suuuenly at the centeifoiefiont anu all eyes weie on
me; I felt the uigency to stay on top of things anu being piepaieu foi eveiy possible scenaiio. I felt
stiongly about my goou intentions anu believeu heaiteuly that what we weie uoing was the best way to
appioach this soit of systemic pioblem. This was of couise, until oui cohoit was given the oppoitunity to
attenu the Tiansfoimative Connecteu Schools System seminaiconfeience. It was heie that oui
peispectives weie bioaueneu to see anu unueistanu the uiffeience between a ieal pioblem anu a
symptom of a ieal pioblem. This confeience helpeu me peisonally to unueistanu the tiuth behinu many
fallacies in school suppoit fiamewoiks. I was able to unueistanu how stuuent behaviois weie a uiiect
iesult of the enviionment anu climate of the schools. The most impoitant pait of this piofessional
uevelopment oppoitunity was leaining about Psychology of Success. It's what I've always believeu but
uiun't unueistanu how oi what it was. 0nce I was able to unueistanu what was neeueu to suppoit an
entiie school system, I was able to use that in my leaueiship iole. It was a challenge but I quickly useu it
as an oppoitunity to stiengthen oui school's cultuie anu collective effoits. The collective effoits
contiibuteu to the significant uecline in stuuent uiscipline pioblems anu suspensions that yeai!
The seconu component that I was most pleaseu with was having a soliu suppoit netwoik in place.
This netwoik was compiiseu of highly talenteu instiuctois anu an extiemely suppoitive Nentoiing
Piincipal. While we weie given the oppoitunity to fully immeise ouiselves into the Auministiative woik,
we weie pioviueu suppoit at eveiy step of the way. 0ui instiuctois hau extensive expeiience in the fielu
of public euucation anu hau ieal answeis foi the ieal pioblems we weie all uealing with. To auu to this,
this piogiam was complimenteu with the suppoit of Nentoiing Piincipals. A key iequiiement anu
component was that each stuuent hau to acquiie the voluntaiy suppoit of theii iespective piincipal
befoie being aumitteu into the piogiam. This maue the challenge moie manageable anu attainable!
The oveiall expeiience of having a iigoious Euucation Auministiation Nasteis anu cieuential
piogiam was challenging inueeu but thanks to all of the suppoit I ieceiveu thioughout the entiie piocess,
I was able to have all the necessaiy components that I neeueu to be ieauy foi the auministiative woik.
While the poitfolio piocess was uaunting fiom the beginning, I quickly founu out that thanks to the PRN
expeiience, I was able to have all of the necessaiy iesouices to complete the poitfolio with gieatei ease.
Baving the online oi E-poitfolio is also a plus in my opinion because it is easily anu ieauily accessible to
eveiyone who has access to the Inteinet anu now a uay, that is piactically eveiyone! The auueu bonus
anu beauty of having an online poitfolio is not just being able to showcase all of the woik you uiu, but
also incluuing images, viueos anu testimonies of the collective woik you've uone. I know it seems a bit
oveiwhelming when you fiist stait the poitfolio but once you pace youiself anu ueuicate a gieat ueal of
time anu effoit to builuing it, the poitfolio becomes manageable anu easiei to hanule. I woulu only
suggest that futuie cohoits spenu at least two weeks pei quaitei builuing the poitfolio's skeleton so it
uoesn't become too much to hanule at the veiy enu of the piogiam. By having the skeleton in place, you
aie also able to uploau aitifacts anu oi uocuments iegulaily that will exemplify youi competency anu
ability insteau of waiting until the enu when things sometimes tenu to get a little fuzzy.
All I can say is that I am extiemely pleaseu with my choice in schools anu piogiam. I believe I
ieceiveu my money's woith anu then some. I was able to accomplish a lot moie than what I anticipateu
anu thanks to the unconuitional suppoit I ieceiveu fiom my instiuctois anu mentoi piincipal, the entiie
piocess was by fai moie meaningful then I coulu evei imagine. I woulu iecommenu this to anyone who is
looking to embaik in this paiticulai kinu of jouiney anu that is ieauy to take on a new level of
iesponsibility! It will not be easy but ceitainly iewaiuing if you aie the kinu of piofessional inuiviuual
who welcomes a iigoious anu infusing acauemic expeiience!